Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 build for the Dev channel, serving build 22471. As has been the case with these recent builds, there are no new features. There are, however, a bunch of bug fixes that the firm says will eventually make it to the version of Windows 11 releasing tomorrow. It is not clear when the fixes from the Dev channel will make it to the stable release since these fixes haven"t headed to the Beta and Release Preview channels either.
Today"s build comes from the rs_prerelase branch, which is not tied to any specific Windows 11 release. The build from the Dev channel will soon become more unstable as the firm begins adding new features and testing components that will be baked into the OS for later. For now, though, it"s mainly fixes and improvements that are minor. What the Dev channel build still doesn"t have is support for running Android apps.
With that out of the way, the fixes being made in this build bring improvements to the taskbar, File Explorer, windowing behavior, and more, which are always welcome improvements. Here is the complete list:
[Taskbar]
- We fixed an underlying issue that was causing the Taskbar’s hidden icons flyout to have sharp corners instead of rounded corners sometimes.
- Using the down arrow when interacting with the Desktops flyout’s context menu should now move focus down the menu instead of dismissing it.
[File Explorer]
- Fixed an issue that was making explorer.exe crash sometimes when closing File Explorer windows.
[Input]
- Addressed an issue where voice typing might fail with an error message citing a network connection issue when that was not actually the cause of the failure.
- If you’re using the touch keyboard in “Kana” key mode for the Japanese IME, the key labels will now correctly show the character that will be input when you’re holding Shift.
- Mitigated a race condition that was causing textinputhost.exe to crash on launch sometimes.
[Windowing]
- Typing wt from the Run dialog will now open Windows Terminal in the foreground instead of the background.
- Addressed an issue that could lead to apps getting stuck in a minimized state after disconnecting an external monitor and resuming the system from sleep.
[Other]
- Addressed a network issue for Insiders running certain traffic optimization software. This should lead to improved performance on websites utilizing HTTP/3.
- Fixed and issue where some devices were failing to update to a newer build with error code 0xc1900101. If you are still experiencing this error code, please file a new piece of feedback in Feedback Hub.
- Updated the “reboot needed” dialog for Windows Update to now say Windows 11. Please note that you will only see the results of this change when prompted to reboot for the next flight, as you need to be on a build with the change.
- Fixed a DWM crash that could happen when enabling a contrast theme.
- Corrected an issue for ARM64 PCs that could result in certain apps not responding to display language changes if they were installed prior to upgrading to Windows 11.
- Addressed an issue where when explorer.exe is launched from an elevated process was using a lower memory priority, impacting the performance of all processes launched after it (Issue #55).
As usual, there are a bunch of known issues that users must be aware of. This is expected since these are pre-release builds that are in active development. Here is the complete list of known issues:
[General]
- Users updating from Builds 22000.xxx, or earlier, to newer Dev Channel builds using the latest Dev Channel ISO, may receive the following warning message: The build you are trying to install is Flight Signed. To continue installing, enable flight signing. If you receive this message, press the Enable button, reboot the PC, and retry the update.
- Some users may experience their screen and sleep timeouts being reduced. We’re investigating the potential impact that shorter screen and sleep timeouts could have on energy consumption.
[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.
[Taskbar]
- The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
- We’re investigating reports that Notification Center will get in a state in recent builds where it doesn’t launch. If you are impacted by this, restarting explorer.exe may resolve the issue for you.
[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.
[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.
Those running Release Preview and Beta channel builds might receive more fixes in the next few months before Microsoft moves those users to a newer branch of builds. However, select Windows 10 users running supported hardware will begin receiving Windows 11 as a free upgrade starting tomorrow. As the rollout is a staggered one, expect it to be measured and slow, which means that not many devices will see the update before the start of next year.