Microsoft has confirmed that the latest Windows 11 preview build from the Canary Channel has a bug related to the Task Manager and system handles. As @XenoPanther (Twitter) discovered, Task Manager in Windows 11 build 25336 fails to terminate handles, resulting in handle accumulation far beyond any reasonable amount and subsequent severe system slowdowns and crashes.
Seeing how the Task Manager handles leak affects low-end hardware. 4.1 million handles in and the machine is super jittery
— Xeno (@XenoPanther) April 9, 2023
A Microsoft engineer replied to Xeno's post on the Feedback Hub, saying that the company has detected the problem's cause and it is working on resolving the situation in upcoming updates:
Appreciate your patience—we have figured out the cause and are working on a fix.
If your PC with build 25336 suffers from handles leaks, look out for a new update this week. Hopefully, Microsoft will include the necessary fix in the upcoming releases. This story is yet another reminder that you better run Windows 11 preview builds on a spare computer or virtual machine and avoid installing Dev or Canary releases on mission-critical devices.
You can learn about what's new in Windows 11 build 25336 in our dedicated coverage.
