Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2200 (KB5044376) to the Dev Channel.
Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.
Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*
[Windows Studio Effects]
Windows Studio Effects delivers AI-based camera and audio enhancements on devices equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Today, you can access Studio Effects in Quick Settings from the system tray of the taskbar. To further streamline your experience, an icon will now appear in the system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera. Simply click on this icon to launch the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings. Additionally, hovering over the icon will display a tooltip indicating which application is utilizing the camera.
New Studio Effects icon shown in system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera.
[Dynamic Lighting]
When no compatible devices are attached, the Dynamic Lighting settings page will now show a placeholder message and Brightness and Effects controls are disabled.
On the Dynamic Lighting settings page, we have added Forward, Backward, Outward and Inward direction options to the Wave effect, and added the Forward direction option to the Gradient effect.
Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*
[Start menu]
Fixed an issue where if you clicked or tapped on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break.
[Taskbar]
Fixed an issue where explorer.exe was crashing for some Insiders when hovering over certain open apps in the taskbar.
[Settings]
Fixed an issue where there was a blank entry in Privacy & Security and clicking it would crash Settings.
[Input]
Updated the mouse option “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key”, so that the circles displayed are now DPI-aware, and aren’t really small on high DPI monitors.
Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel
[Other]
[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] Fixed: This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
[HTML Applications (HTA)] Fixed: HTA optional components (OC) are now in ARM64 Windows PE.
[Live kernel debug files (dumps)] Fixed: sys creates live kernel debug files when it should not.
[User interface (UI)] Fixed: You cannot view some parts of the UI when you run certain apps.
[Winlogon] Fixed: A stop error occurs during shutdown.
[sfc /scannow command] Fixed: You get errors every time you run the command.
[Windows Disk Cleanup app] Fixed: This update addresses some of the causes for the wrong free space estimates and improves its accuracy.
Known issues
[Start menu]
[NEW] You may see there is an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu apps list.
[Dev Drive]
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue leading to Dev Drives potentially not being accessible within WSL.
Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channe are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
