Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7523 now Available for Dev and Beta Channels
Microsoft releases Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7523 (KB5072043) to Dev and Beta Channels. These two channels at this moment are enjoying the same builds based on Windows 11, version 25H2.
While the pending builds are aligned, Insiders within the Dev Channel have an opportunity to experiment with the Beta Channel for a while. It will, however, close once the Dev Channel moves to a higher build number.
New Features In The Pipeline
These features will gradually be made available to Insiders who have opted to receive the newest releases as they come.
- Ask Copilot on the Taskbar (for M365): Opt-in experience for Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses for commercial customers is rolling out. It lets you launch M365 Copilot, AI agents, and search right from the taskbar.
- Agents on the Taskbar: Users can now see how AI agents, like Researcher in M365 Copilot, are doing right from the taskbar. Hovering over the icon gives real-time status information.
- Agent Launchers Framework: A new framework for developers lets apps register their AI agents to be discoverable and used across Windows, including in "Ask Copilot."
- Narrator Personalization: Users now control what Narrator says for UI elements (buttons or checkboxes) and change the order in which properties- name, role, and state- are spoken.
- Enhanced Voice Typing on Touch Keyboard: The voice typing of the touch keyboard has improved; it now has animations straight on its dictation key instead of full-screen overlay display.
- Discovery Widget: A new widget under development that relays quick tips about features in Windows. It can be placed either on the Widgets Board or the Lock Screen.
General Changes and Improvements
- Settings Agent: Language increased to include German, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Chinese (simplified).
- Click to Do: The prompt box now supports Microsoft 365 Copilot that analyzes on-screen content.
- Input: The Arabic 101 keyboard layout now enables the AltGr layer for accessing additional symbols.
- Voice Access: A more streamlined setup flow has been introduced to help users get started more easily.
- File Explorer: With Microsoft account, people will see people icons under 'Activity', showing recently interacted file via the new Windows People Card.
Key Fixes in This Build
- Taskbar: Resolved problems where the app window grouping was not working properly in the overflow area and where the label for apps with multiple windows did not show correctly.
- File Explorer: Eliminated a very noticeable flash of white when navigating, improved search performance, and fixed an issue preventing opening OneDrive files through RemoteApp sessions.
- Windows Update: Fixed an issue that caused an increase in error 0x800F0922 for some Insiders during updates.
- Login Screen: Broke problems that could have caused the login screen to hang.
- Activation: Fixed a bug that might lead to an invalid migration of a valid license during the upgrade.
Known Issues
- Taskbar: Start menu doesn't open on click by some users (works with the Windows key). Apps may not be visible in the system tray when they should be. [NEW] The autohiding taskbar may be unexpectedly activated and block the bottom of the screen.
- File Explorer: Explorer.exe might crash for some users when the context menu is opened.
- Bluetooth: A fix is underway for the transmission on the battery levels of Bluetooth devices.
- Click to Do: [NEW] The M365 Copilot prompt box for images may not work if the Copilot app is not running.
- Agents on Taskbar: The Researcher agent may sometimes appear to be unresponsive if a user clicks its taskbar icon while the agent is busy working on its task.
Paint App Update
Paint application has been released with a new version (11.2511.281.0) featuring a collapsible toolbar. This allows users to automatically hide the ribbon for more space on their canvases and show it only when needed.
