Microsoft has released an optional update for Windows 11 21H2 (that"s the generally available version) that updates Windows 11 to build 22000.918. It is a Cumulative Update, (KB5016691), referred to as "C" release and does not contain any security fixes. It is the same update that was offered to Windows Insiders a week and a half ago in the Release Preview Channel.
This update will eventually make its way to the Patch Tuesday release in September, but you can install it now if you want. The update brings improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, file compression, Microsoft Edge for IE mode, and more.
Here are the major highlights in this update:
- Addresses an issue related to USB printing that might cause your printer to malfunction after you restart it or reinstall it.
- Addresses an issue that prevents Windows 11 SE from trusting some Microsoft Store applications. This might prevent you from downloading the untrusted app.
- Addresses an issue that might cause certain Bluetooth audio headsets to stop playing after a progress bar adjustment.
- Addresses a known issue that causes Microsoft Edge to stop responding when you use IE mode. This issue also prevents you from interacting with a dialog.
Here are the fixes:
- New! We gave IT admins the ability to remotely add languages and language-related features. Additionally, they can now manage language scenarios across several endpoint managers.
- New! We compressed a file regardless of its size if you have configured Server Message Block (SMB) Compression.
- New! We enhanced Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s ability to identify and intercept ransomware and advanced attacks
- We fixed an issue that causes ServerAssignedConfigurations to be null in a few full configuration scenarios.
- We fixed an issue that affects the automatic high dynamic range (Auto HDR) feature for cross-adapter resource scan-out (CASO)-capable GPU drivers.
- We fixed a known issue that causes Microsoft Edge to stop responding when you use IE mode. This issue also prevents you from interacting with a dialog.
- We fixed an issue that prevents virtualized App-V Microsoft Office applications from opening or causes them to stop working.
- We fixed an issue that might cause the deployment of the Windows Hello for Business certificate to fail in certain circumstances after you reset a device.
- We fixed multiple issues related to USB printing, such as:
- A printer malfunctions after you restart or reinstall it
- Being in the wrong mode after you switch from an Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Class Driver to an independent hardware vendor (IHV) driver
- Experiencing bidirectional communication issues that prevent you from accessing device features
- We fixed an issue that affects the ProjectionManager.StartProjectingAsync API. This issue stops some locales from connecting to Miracast Sinks.
- We fixed an issue that degrades BitLocker performance.
- We fixed an issue that prevents Windows 11 SE from trusting some Microsoft Store applications.
- We fixed an issue that prevents HyperVisor Code Integrity from being enabled automatically on systems that have Arm64 processors.
- We fixed an issue that stops non-Windows devices from authenticating. This issue occurs when they connect to a Windows-based remote desktop and use a smart card to authenticate.
- We fixed an issue that causes the Resultant Set of Policy tool (Rsop.msc) to stop working when it processes 1,000 or more “File System” security settings.
- We fixed an issue that causes the Take a Test app to remove all policies related to lockdown enforcement when you close the app.
- We fixed an issue that causes the Settings app to stop working on server domain controllers (DCs) when accessing the Privacy > Activity history page.
- We fixed an issue that might cause certain Bluetooth audio headsets to stop playing after a progress bar adjustment. This issue affects modern systems that support Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) offload.
- We fixed an issue that prevents devices from receiving an offer from Windows Update for the same extension driver when that extension driver is already installed without the base driver.
- We fixed a race condition that causes the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) to stop working on Active Directory domain controllers. This issue occurs when LSASS processes simultaneous Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) over Transport Layer Security (TLS) requests that fail to decrypt. The exception code is 0xc0000409 (STATUS_STACK_BUFFER_OVERRUN).
- We fixed an issue that affects a lookup for a nonexistent security ID (SID) from the local domain using read-only domain controller (RODC). The lookup unexpectedly returns the STATUS_TRUSTED_DOMAIN_FAILURE error instead of STATUS_NONE_MAPPED or STATUS_SOME_MAPPED.
- We fixed an issue that might cause the Local Security Authority Server Service (LSASS) to leak tokens. This issue affects devices that have installed Windows updates dated June 14, 2022 or later. This issue occurs when the device performs a specific form of service for user (S4U) in a non-Trusted Computing Base (TCB) Windows service that runs as Network Service.
Microsoft also disclosed that it contains a new service stack (from a previous build) that should improve the quality of Windows Updates:
Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22000.910
This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.
There is one Known Issue for this build, however it mainly only applies to IT admins, and shouldn"t affect consumers (home users).
After installing this update, XPS Viewer might be unable to open XML Paper Specification (XPS) documents in some non-English languages, including some Japanese and Chinese character encodings. This issue affects both XML Paper Specification (XPS) and Open XML Paper Specification (OXPS) files. When encountering this issue, you may receive an error, "This page cannot be displayed" within XPS Viewer or it might stop responding and have high CPU usage with continually increasing memory usage. When the error is encountered, if XPS Viewer is not closed it might reach up to 2.5GB of memory usage before closing unexpectedly.
This issue does not affect most home users. The XPS Viewer is no longer installed by default as of Windows 10, version 1803 and must be manually installed.
There"s a couple of ways to get this update, you can Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. In the Optional updates available area, you’ll find the link to download and install the update. You can also grab it from the Microsoft Update Catalog and install it manually for ARM and x64 versions of Windows 11.
The official update notice is linked here.