New Xbox One Insider Preview activates mouse and keyboard support

Microsoft is releasing a new Xbox One Insider Preview build for those on the Alpha ring today (181021-1920). The build adds some new features that were promised a month ago when the firm announced version 1811 for the console.

Most notably, this build should activate mouse and keyboard support, and the first game to support it is Warframe. There will be a Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to try it out. The feature is enabled by game developers, so you won't be able to use a mouse and keyboard for everything. After all, it can cause an unfair advantage on some games, so Microsoft is leaving it up to the developers.

Search is being expanded to support more sources. It will show results from games that are ready to install, along with games that are available from subscriptions you have, like Xbox Game Pass. There's also a new family setting, which allows a non-adult without a parent to add a parent.

Of course, there are a bunch of fixes:

Audio

• We made a change to the workload scheduling of Mixer and Audio to reduce audio glitching issues. Let us know if there are any regressions in Game DVR or Mixer audio.

My Games and Apps

• We have fixed the issue in which game and app updates were not automatically downloading and installing.

Notifications

• We have fixed an issue with users being prompted and spammed by a “Welcome to Game Pass” notification.

Power

• We have fixed issues in which the console is fully powering off when it is placed into Instant On mode.

System

• Stability fixes in this build.

And of course, there are a couple of known issues to be aware of:

Avatars

• It can take up to 10 seconds to view an Avatar on the profile screen after creating a new Avatar.

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

As indicated by the version number, Xbox One version 1811 should be available in November, 2018. There likely won't be any other new features added, as it's a minor feature update. Those on the Skip Ahead subset of the Preview Alpha ring are already getting builds from the next development branch, which is 19H1, and those Insiders are also getting the new features today.