Microsoft is releasing a new Windows 11 build that is heading out to both the Beta and Dev channels. Build 22000.168 brings a few improvements such as new Chat languages for the integrated Teams experience, a new Microsoft 365 widget for enterprise users with AAD accounts, and a bunch of bug fixes. What this build doesn’t add is support for running Android apps. It is anybody’s guess if that feature will make it in time for release this year at all, at this point.
With the release of Windows 11 now nearing, it is not surprising to see the firm begin focusing on bug-fixing releases, without adding major features. Dev channel users are also being asked to gear up to test bits that are slated to be added to the OS in a future release. The company has begun cautioning Dev channel users that the upcoming builds will be “less stable”.
Here is the complete list of improvements made in build 22000.168:
We are delighted to announce Chat with Microsoft Teams now supports multiple languages. Starting today, you can use Chat app either with OS language setting and/or independent Teams Language setting. Chat with Microsoft Teams will support following languages: Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK), English US, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian (Bokmal), Norwegian (Nynorsk), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian Latin, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Valencian, Vietnamese, and Welsh.
We’re introducing the new Microsoft 365 Widget! This widget brings relevant documents, news and meeting recordings (with more to come!) to enterprise users. This widget will only be available if you are signed in with your AAD account on your PC running Windows 11. In a time when information overload is a major concern for most workers, this personalized list will help users stay on top of their work and find the information they need with ease. To check it out just open widgets and click the “Add Widgets” button and select the Microsoft 365 Widget. We hope you love it!
As expected, there are more bug fixes being made to address issues being reported by Insiders running these builds. Here is the complete list of fixes, categorized by area of improvement:
Search:
We’ve addressed an underlying issue in the last couple flights for pen enabled devices that was resulting in Search getting into a state where it wasn’t possible to launch apps from the results.
Settings:
We fixed an issue where typing certain phrases into the search box in Settings were crashing Settings sometimes.
Widgets:
When using the Family widget, you should no longer unexpectedly see a message saying ‘connect a device to see screen time activity’ despite there being available activity to display.
Chat from Microsoft Teams:
We fixed the issue where sometimes videos would freeze or display a black image during video calls.
We also fixed the issue where if you switched between calls, the previous call is not automatically put on hold, so audio and video streams continue with both calls.
With every build, the company is also listing the known issues that users must be aware of. While the list is still long, expect these to gradually be addressed in the next few builds as the firm prepares the OS for general availability, which is expected to happen in October.
Here is the complete list of known issues:
[REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.
[BETA CHANNEL] We’re investigating reports from Insiders in the Beta Channel where after upgrading to Windows 11, they are not seeing the new Taskbar and the Start menu doesn’t work. To workaround this if you are impacted, please try going to Windows Update > Update history, uninstalling the latest cumulative update for Windows, and the reinstall it by checking for updates.
We’re working on a fix for an issue that is causing some Surface Pro X devices to bug check with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.
Start:
In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.
System and Windows Terminal is missing when right-clicking on the Start button (WIN + X).
Taskbar:
The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
Search:
After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.
Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.
Bluetooth:
We’re investigating reports from Insiders with paired Bluetooth LE devices that are experiencing an increase in Bluetooth reliability issues and bugchecks after resume from hibernate or when Bluetooth is turned off.
Widgets:
The widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.
Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.
Store:
We are working to improve search relevance in the Store including resolving an issue where in some cases the ordering of search results is inaccurate.
The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.
Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.
Windows Sandbox
Within Windows Sandbox, the language input switcher does not launch after clicking the switcher icon on the Taskbar. As a workaround, users can switch their input language via any of the following hardware keyboard shortcuts: Alt + Shift, Ctrl + Shift, or Win + Space (the third option is available only if Sandbox is full-screened).
Within Windows Sandbox, the IME context menu does not launch after clicking the IME icon in the Taskbar. As workarounds, users can access the functionalities of the IME context menu with either of following methods:
Accessing the IME settings via Settings > Time & language > Language & region > (e.g. Japanese) three dots > Language options > (e.g. Microsoft IME) three dots > Keyboard options.
Optionally, you may also enable the IME toolbar, an alternative UI to quickly invoke specific IME functions. Continuing from above, navigate to Keyboard options > Appearance > Use IME toolbar.
There is an issue where some Insiders may be some missing translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.
Chat from Microsoft Teams
Arabic and Hebrew languages currently does not allow changing Teams Settings. To change Settings in Teams, please sign out and switch to another language.
When you make an outgoing call, while you do not hear a ring tone, the user interface shows that the call is getting connected.
Microsoft has also begun rolling out a Store update for Dev channel users that improves the UI of the offering. These include bringing the Spotlight design for its promoted products and improving the performance of the Library section.
Windows 11 builds slated for release later this year will eventually stop being offered for the Dev channel, with the firm focusing on the Beta channel alone. It will not be surprising to see the OS head to Release Preview channel users in the next few weeks.
