After taking one week off from builds, Microsoft just shipped six Windows Insider builds to wrap up the week. New features and fixes await Insiders across several different channels.
Given the more linear nature of the revamped Windows Insider Program, we've already seen several of the features included in today's builds. For example, Insiders in the Beta (26H1) Channel can now try Screen tint. That same feature already shipped to Insiders in the Experimental Channel, so we've gone hands-on with Screen tint.
I'll focus on the features in Experimental Preview Build 26300.8687 here, but you can follow the quick links to see the full change logs for all of today's builds.
The biggest change in this update is that Microsoft is laying the groundwork for your PC to receive fewer updates. Microsoft plans to reduce the number of times you need to reboot your PC each month by coordinating driver, .NET, and firmware updates to align with other Windows updates.
The update improves File Explorer by adding support for middle clicking to open a folder in the Address Bar. Search is now "more forgiving" of typos, dropped letters, and partial words.
Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8687
Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out
Windows Update
- As announced in the Windows Update announce blog, we are now bringing a new unified update experience to reduce the number of reboots you see per month. We are starting by coordinating driver, .NET, and firmware updates to align with the monthly quality update, reducing the update experience to a single monthly restart. See the blog for more information.
File Explorer
- Middle click to open a folder in a new tab is now supported in the Address Bar and the Home page for a more consistent and efficient tabbed navigation experience across File Explorer.
- Improved screen reader announcements for conflict resolution dialog ("Which files do you want to keep?") when moving / copying files.
- Made some more improvements to how File Explorer responds to increased text scaling.
Search
- Finding apps is more forgiving. Search is better at handling typos, dropped letters, extra letters, and partial words for apps. Queries like “utlook” can still find Outlook.
- Settings results are improving. We’ve made ranking improvements to help more relevant settings appear higher in results.
Taskbar
- Improved reliability of loading the system tray area of the taskbar.
- Fixed an issue where tooltips might unexpectedly appear on top of the Start menu icon in the taskbar when using the taskbar in an alternate position. Also fixed a few other visual polish issues when using the taskbar with small icons.
Windows setup
- The digital safety of users and supporting families is central to how we think about the Windows experience. We're improving information on parental controls and their availability during Windows setup, so families can more easily understand available protections and make informed choices from the very beginning.
Input
- Update: The emoji panel (Windows key + period (.)) now uses GIPHY as the GIF provider, delivering a smoother GIF browsing and sharing experience following the deprecation of Tenor.
- Fixed an issue which was causing the mouse cursor to potentially move in the wrong direction in recent Insider builds on secondary monitors when set to portrait mode.
Remote Recovery Management
- Adding recovery remote management plug-in for extending WinRE management capabilities for MDM providers
Audio
- Fixed an issue resulting in audio not working for some Insiders after the latest flights.
Settings
- Fixed an issue impacting the reliability of Settings > Apps > Installed Apps after the latest flights.
General Reliability
- If you were experiencing freezes in the previous flight when interacting with search, Notepad, or certain other scenarios, that should be resolved now.
Other
- When using dark mode, if you open "Run new task" from Task Manager it will now show in dark mode too.
Which Windows Insider Channel are you in?
With so many changes to the Windows Insider Program, I'm curious which types of builds you receive on your PC. Are you in an Experimental channel or a more stable one? Or do you just catch up on release notes and keep your PC on a public release build?
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.