Celebrate 10 years of the Windows Insider program with two Windows 11 builds and a hidden feature

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Celebrate 10 years of the Windows Insider program with two Windows 11 builds and a hidden feature

What you need to know

  • Microsoft released two Windows 11 Insider builds recently.
  • Build 22635.4291 is available through the Beta Channel and includes a few small changes and some general fixes.
  • Dev Channel Insiders can install Build 26120.1912, which adds support for 6GHz connections through the Windows Mobile Hotspot feature.
  • The Beta Channel build also includes parts of a feature that allows you to resize elements in the taskbar, but the feature needs to be enabled through a third-party tool.

As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech industry, I have seen countless updates and builds from Microsoft, but the latest Windows 11 Insider builds are particularly intriguing. The 10-year anniversary of the Windows Insider Program is a testament to Microsoft’s commitment to continuous improvement, and it’s exciting to see what’s next on their roadmap.

Today marks a decade since the inception of the Windows Insider Program! Over these years, this program has seen the testing of countless updates, numerous innovative features, and provided valuable user feedback for both Windows 11 and Windows 10. To honor this milestone, why not install an Insider build on your computer? Yesterday, Microsoft released two builds – one each for the Beta Channel and the Dev Channel.

In simpler terms, the recent Dev Channel update (Build 26120.1912) extends the capabilities of the Windows Mobile Hotspot feature, now enabling 6Ghz connections for sharing your PC’s internet connection with other devices. This functionality is not related to either Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile. Previously, this hotspot only supported 2.4GHz and 5 GHz frequencies.

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A potential enhancement, deemed quite intriguing, is a previously unannounced capability found within Windows 11 Build 22635.4291. This build, accessible through the Beta Channel, hints at an early implementation of a feature that enables adjustable sections on the taskbar.

Hidden Windows 11 feature

Besides the recently released Insider builds, we have a sneak peek at potential upcoming features for Insiders. A user named phantomofearth on X (previously Twitter) posted a screenshot of a new Taskbar feature that seems to be in development. If you’re using the latest Beta Channel build of Windows 11, you can activate a function allowing you to minimize taskbar buttons. Currently, this option merely reduces the size of the buttons without altering the size of the taskbar itself. It’s possible that Microsoft may also include an option to resize the taskbar along with shrinking taskbar buttons in the future.

To activate this particular function, you might need to employ an external application like ViveTool. Keep in mind that it may not be beneficial to activate these specific functions unless your pastime involves trying to anticipate the evolution of Windows 11. Microsoft frequently works on features that still have remnants of coding from before they are fully ready for release. If the features pass Microsoft’s standards and remain on the Windows 11 development plan, they typically become available in future Insider updates.

Windows 11 Build 22635.4291: Changes and Improvements

Task Manager

  • We’ve updated the design of the Disconnect and Logoff dialogs in Task Manager to now support dark mode and text scaling.
  • In the Performance section we now label listed disks with their type.

Settings

  • Tailored Experiences is becoming Personalized offers in OOBE. The new setting can be found on the Recommendations and offers page under Settings > Privacy & security. Personalized offers will let users opt-out of allowing Windows to use info about their devices and how they use them to enhance Windows.

Windows 11 Build 26120.1912: Changes and Improvements

General

  • This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Mobile Hotspot

  • The Windows Mobile Hotspot has been enhanced to support 6 GHz connections. The new band requires chips that support the feature and updated drivers; not all chips that support 6 GHz Wi-Fi in general will support the 6 GHz mobile hotspot. The change will be visible under Settings > Network & internet > Mobile hotspot when you edit the mobile hotspot properties. For compatibility with existing devices, the mobile hotspot will only use 6 GHz when explicitly enabled.

Other

  • [Open Source Software] This update adds attributions to txt files for Rust OSS components.
  • [Task Manager]
    • Its Settings page might have a white background when it should not.
    • It stops responding when you switch from a high contrast theme to a normal theme.
  • [Input Method Editor (IME)] When a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.
  • [WebView2 apps] They do not detect input from Xbox 360 and Bluetooth controllers.

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2024-10-01 17:25