Microsoft has once again graced us with a fresh update, rolling out the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3930 (KB5040550) to the Beta Channel.

As always, these updates are pivotal in shaping the final versions that reach your devices, offering a glimpse into the future of Windows.

Let’s dive deep into what this build brings and how it can enhance your computing experience.

The Evolution of Windows 11: Beta Channel Updates

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Microsoft continues to refine and enhance the Windows 11 experience for those in the Beta Channel.

The latest update follows the trend of version 23H2, introduced via an enablement package (Build 22635. xx). Insiders can toggle settings to receive features as soon as they are available. This progressive rollout ensures that early adopters can test and provide feedback while others receive these enhancements gradually.

New Features Gradually Rolling Out

Shared Content in File Explorer Home

File Explorer is evolving to become more intuitive and connected. The new feature allows users to access files shared with them quickly. Whether you’re signed in with a personal Microsoft account or a Microsoft Entra ID for commercial users, you can now see shared files directly from the File Explorer Home under the ‘Shared’ tab. This includes files from email, Teams chats, and other Microsoft services, making collaboration seamless.

Additionally, File Explorer now supports various file types in the Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections. This means that files from Designer, Loop, Power BI, and Forms, among others, will be more accessible, enhancing productivity.

Taskbar & System Tray Enhancements

The taskbar and system tray receive a notable upgrade with a simplified system tray highlighting the date/time in a shortened form and showcasing the notification bell icon based on your Do Not Disturb (DND) status. This minimalist approach reduces clutter, though you can revert to the traditional view through settings if preferred.

Moreover, Microsoft has refined the previews that appear when you hover over taskbar apps, enhancing the animations based on user feedback. First-letter navigation on the taskbar is another nifty feature, allowing users to quickly jump to apps by pressing the corresponding letter key. This is especially useful for power users who rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts.

Windows Studio Effects

Windows Studio Effects is pushing the boundaries of what AI can do for your camera and audio. Available on devices with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), these effects can now be accessed more conveniently via a new icon in the system tray.

Clicking this icon launches the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings, streamlining access and usability. This enhancement ensures that users can quickly adjust settings during video calls or recordings, improving overall user experience.

Windows Share

Sharing content with Android devices has never been easier. The Windows share window’s UI has been updated, moving the option to share with Android devices under “Nearby Share.” This feature requires pairing your Android device with your Windows PC using the Link to Windows app, facilitating seamless content transfer between your devices.

Narrator Performance Improvements

For users relying on Narrator, Microsoft has significantly improved scan mode, particularly enhancing its performance in Microsoft Edge and large documents. These changes ensure that the Narrator is more responsive, making it a valuable tool for users who depend on it for navigation and reading.

System Info (msinfo32) Update

To make Windows more accessible, System Info (msinfo32) now adheres to your text size preferences set under Settings > Accessibility > Text Size. This change ensures that vital system information is easier to read for users with visual impairments.

Fixes Gradually Rolling Out

Start Menu Fixes

The start menu sees improvements, particularly addressing issues where screen readers didn’t read the All apps list correctly and some apps were not sorted properly under certain display languages.

Taskbar & System Tray Fixes

Issues where keyboard focus might get lost while navigating the taskbar with Shift + Tab have been resolved. This fix enhances the overall usability for keyboard-centric users.

Fixes for Everyone in the Beta Channel

A critical fix addresses an issue where users couldn’t view or interact with the taskbar after installing KB5039302 on Windows N editions. This problem, specific to editions lacking most media-related tools, has been rectified, ensuring smoother operations post-update.

Known Issues to Be Aware Of

As with any new build, some known issues persist. For the simplified system tray, if the “Show notification icon” setting is greyed out, toggling “Notifications” off and on again should resolve it.

Certain issues with shared file visibility, keyboard focus, and Narrator functionality have been identified in File Explorer. The team is actively working on fixes for these areas.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

It’s crucial to remember that updates in the Beta Channel are experimental. Features and experiences may change, evolve, or be removed based on feedback and testing outcomes. This iterative process helps Microsoft fine-tune the user experience before a broader release.

Additionally, many features start in the Beta Channel but may not be fully localized initially. Localization issues can be reported via Feedback Hub, contributing to a more polished final product.

Conclusion

The Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3930 represents Microsoft’s commitment to continuous improvement and user-centric design. By gradually rolling out new features and improvements, Microsoft ensures that Insiders can test and provide valuable feedback, shaping the future of Windows 11.

As always, your feedback is invaluable. Whether through the Feedback Hub or community forums, every piece of input helps refine and perfect the Windows experience.

Stay tuned for more updates and happy testing, Insiders!

Microsoft is ramping up the action with fresh preview builds for Windows 11 and Windows 10 Insiders on the Release Preview Channel today.

Let’s dive into the details and see what’s new.

For those of you testing Windows 11, there are two noteworthy builds: the 22H2 build 22621.3951 and the 23H2 build 22631.3951.

These updates include various improvements that enhance the user experience, particularly within File Explorer, the Start Menu, and Windows Share.

Highlights for Windows 11 Insiders:

• File Explorer Enhancements: One of the standout features is the introduction of Duplicate File Explorer tabs. When you right-click on a File Explorer tab, you’ll see a brand-new option to duplicate it. This small but mighty addition can significantly streamline your workflow, allowing for quicker navigation and multitasking within File Explorer.
• Start Menu Tweaks: Microsoft has also made pining apps to your taskbar more intuitive. You can drag apps directly from the Pinned section of the Start Menu and drop them onto the taskbar. This improvement simplifies the process and enhances the customization of your workspace.
• Nearby Sharing Notifications (China-specific): Another interesting update caters to our users in China. If Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned off when you enable Nearby Sharing, Windows 11 will now prompt you to turn these features on. This ensures a seamless sharing experience without diving into settings manually.

Windows 10 Updates:

Let’s not forget about our Windows 10 Insiders. Microsoft is also flighting the Windows 10 22H2 build 19045.4713 to Insiders on the Release Preview and Beta Channels.

This build is particularly exciting for those who recently joined the Windows 10 Beta Channel, as it invites you to toggle on new features early via Windows Update.

• Taskbar Fix: One of the key fixes in today’s build addresses an issue with the taskbar on secondary monitors. When the search box setting is enabled, it will now display correctly on secondary monitors, enhancing usability and consistency across multiple displays.
• Bug Fixes: In addition to the taskbar fix, this build includes several bug fixes for Insiders on both the Beta and Release Preview Channels. Although not all the fixes are worth detailing, it’s important to note that Microsoft has resolved issues affecting Windows Backup and Universal Print clients, ensuring smoother operation in these areas.

Additional News:

If you missed it, yesterday also saw a noteworthy release. Microsoft rolled out Windows 11 build 26252 for Insiders on the Canary Channel.

This build brings a fresh design for lock screen widgets and introduces new energy recommendations specifically for devices with HDR displays. These updates are part of Microsoft’s ongoing effort to refine and enhance the user experience.

These latest builds showcase Microsoft’s commitment to continuously improving and evolving the Windows ecosystem. Whether you’re a Windows 11 or Windows 10 Insider, there are plenty of exciting updates to explore and provide feedback on. Stay tuned to The Redmond Cloud for more updates and insights into Microsoft’s latest developments.

Happy testing!

One key area ripe for innovation is the File Explorer.

This article explores the potential of revolutionizing File Explorer in Windows 12 by integrating intuitive and powerful AI-driven organizational features, offering a glimpse into a future where file management is more efficient, user-friendly, and intelligent.

Introduction

File management is a fundamental aspect of any operating system, and Microsoft’s Windows has been at the forefront of evolving this feature.

With Windows 12 on the horizon, there’s an opportunity to revolutionize File Explorer by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more intuitive and powerful file management system.

This article delves into the potential enhancements that could be integrated into Windows 12’s File Explorer, transforming it into a tool that stores and retrieves files and intelligently organizes and manages them.

The Current State of File Explorer

Since its inception, File Explorer has undergone numerous changes, evolving from a simple file management tool into a more complex and feature-rich application. Despite its advancements, areas remain for improvement, particularly in managing the ever-growing volume of data and the need for more efficient search and organization methods.

Vision for Windows 12 File Explorer

AI-Driven Organization

The integration of AI could revolutionize how users interact with their files. AI-driven organization features could automatically categorize files based on content, usage patterns, and user preferences. For instance, documents related to a specific project could be grouped together regardless of their format or the folders they are stored in.

Enhanced Search Capabilities

AI could also enhance the search functionality in File Explorer. Instead of relying solely on file names or manually tagged metadata, the search feature could use natural language processing to understand the context and content of files, allowing users to find documents by typing queries based on the file’s content or its relation to other files.

Predictive File Management

Predictive algorithms could suggest file organization strategies based on user behavior. For example, if a user frequently accesses certain types of files at specific times, the File Explorer could prioritize these files in the view or suggest archiving files that are seldom used.

Customization and Learning from User Behavior

An AI-enhanced File Explorer could learn from individual user behavior, customizing its interface and functionality to match user preferences and work patterns. This personalized approach could significantly increase productivity and user satisfaction.

Security and Privacy

Incorporating AI into file management also raises concerns about security and privacy. Ensuring these AI systems are secure and respecting user privacy will be paramount. This could involve local processing of AI tasks or clear user consent and control over what data is shared.

Technical Challenges and Considerations

Implementing these AI-driven features in File Explorer will pose technical challenges. These include ensuring the AI algorithms are efficient and do not significantly impact system performance, integrating seamlessly with existing file systems, and ensuring compatibility across different device types and configurations.

Conclusion

The potential for AI-driven enhancements in Windows 12’s File Explorer is vast and exciting. Such innovations could redefine how we interact with our files, making file management more intuitive, efficient, and personalized. As we move closer to the release of Windows 12, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft embraces these possibilities, potentially setting a new standard for file management in operating systems.

The company has been updating both these versions regularly.

It released a refresh again this week, with new builds for folks to check out. They are build 22621.586 and build 22622.586 (KB5016701), the details of which you can gather yourself from the official blog post.

These new versions of the preview launched alongside the Dev channel build 25188, which brought many new features and improvements, only some of which the company officially cataloged.

Anyway, getting back to the Beta channel builds, build 22622.586 is the one that has new features rolling out, while build 22621.586 has the new features off by default. This is par for the course for Microsoft after the split.

As the announcement post outlines, both builds have plenty of improvements, bug fixes, and known issues.

Redmond primarily fixed a problem that caused DWM crashes, which led to black flashes or content stuck on the screen. It also fixed an issue that caused SQL Server Management Studio to fail to launch.

However, the development team paid special attention to File Explorer, which received the bulk of the attention.

The company fixed an issue that prevented the left half of the File Explorer title bar from being draggable via mouse or touch. Selecting multiple folders and then using the context menu to open them now does that instead of opening the first folder in a new tab and all the others in a new window.

Microsoft also made a problem history that caused Home, Documents, Pictures, and potentially other folders to become unexpectedly duplicated.

Also fixed is an issue that suddenly caused the Delete key to stop working on files in File Explorer. Redmond also vaporized a problem where the min/max/close button was not visible in File Explorer when using a contrast theme.

These are pretty standard releases, but very necessary.

Get these versions if you are enrolled in the Beta channel of the Windows Insider program.

Among them was an integration of tabs in File Explorer, which was one of the most significant additions to the default file manager in the operating system in years — if not decades. Tabs and a new home view are the two new changes to an app that has largely remained unchanged.

At least since the release of Windows 8.

The idea behind this small new feature is to allow you to easily work on multiple folders and directories in a single File Explorer window.

Insiders have been testing this new feature for a while now, some lucky few.

This recently changed, as Microsoft has now started pushing the tabbed File Explorer to everyone in the preview program. But even then, this new option is yet to arrive for folks in the production channel, which can only mean one thing.

That being, Microsoft is preparing the feature for a release sometime in the fall of 2022.

Reports suggest that Windows 11 version 22H2 will land in the last week of September, ahead of a wider rollout in October or November. With that in mind, it is becoming clear that File Explorer tabs will not arrive with this first major feature update for the operating system.

In fact, tabs support is currently missing in the RTM build of Windows 11 22H2. The recent changes to File Explorer are all about polishing and fixing a variety of bugs and glitches, including one where folders were suddenly duplicated.

So, what is going on?

All this is a clear indication that this feature will arrive at a later date.

It is very likely that Microsoft plans to turn on the integration of tabs in File Explorer via a cumulative update of some sort after the launch of Windows 11 version 22H2. They will quite possibly arrive at a later date, after thorough testing and polish, before the year is out.

This is a bit of a bummer, all things considered, but quite in line with expectations.

It would have been great if File Explorer tabs had been the marquee new feature in Windows 11 version 22H2, the OS’s first-anniversary update.

But it is what it is!

Available in the Dev channel, this version is still 22H2.

That’s because the development of Sun Valley 3 has been canceled in favor of releasing a major new version of Windows every three years. So, for now, the Dev channel is sticking with version 22H2, which will eventually be released sometime in 2023.

Most likely as version 23H2 naming, if things go to plan.

For this build, things have gone to plan

As Microsoft confirms in the announcement post, build 25179 does not include any new features. Instead, this version introduces a set of changes and improvements in addition to the usual dose of bug fixes.

There is plenty of new stuff here, including the spelling dictionary, which now uses a language-neutral word list that is synced across all devices that use the same Windows account.

Redmond is also rolling out File Explore tabs and navigation updates that arrived with build 25136 to everyone in the Dev channel. If you have yet to see these features, then the company suggests rebooting your device.

The software titan is also trying out different experiences in File Explorer to show search results.

Getting to the bug fixes, the list is fairly long, including a fix for an issue the caused a machine to hang and crash in apps like Excel when attempting to print. This problem crept up in the last few flights but has been resolved.

When right-clicking ISO files, the Mount option should now show an icon in the context menu. Also fixed is an issue where the minimize/maximize/close buttons were not visible in File Explorer when using a contrast theme.

This build contains a number of known issues that you should familiarize yourself with if you are considering deploying it on your test system.

Unlike the past few releases that arrived nearer to the weekend.

As you can imagine, this is still version 22H2. That’s because Sun Valley 3 development has been canceled in favor of releasing a major new version of Windows every three years. So, for now, the Dev channel is sticking with 22H2, which will eventually be released sometime in 2023.

Likely under the Windows 11 version 23H2 version naming.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, not when there is a shiny new Windows 11 build to dissect.

As Microsoft notes in the official blog post announcing build 25174, this new iteration of the preview brings in plenty of changes and improvements to go with the usual dose of bug fixes. Most of the attention this time is on the reliable File Explorer.

But before that, an introduction.

Microsoft has introduced the new Game Pass widget, which will serve as a window to the extensive PC Game Pass library for gamers who are into it. They will be able to keep tabs on the latest additions, titles leaving soon, and other games from the highlighted categories.

The widget will then take them to the Xbox app, where they can install these games, read reviews, and buy them all at once.

Available in preview, Redmond wants you to test this out from the Widgets board and provide feedback on it if they see something strange or unexpected in the widgets experience.

Getting back to File Explorer, the company has fixed an issue that would cause explorer.exe to crash when opening a new File Explorer window. Also taken care of, is a problem when launching File Explorer certain way while using the dark mode.

Several other anomalies related to File Explorer have also made history.

These go well with the rest of the issues that the software titan has mended, including those related to the Taskbar, the Setting app, and other areas of the operating system.

For now, we still don’t know when Microsoft will formally make it available to all.

But this progress is good news.

Tab support in the operating system’s default file manager has been a public demand for more than a decade. After a false start with Sets—an ambitious feature that was in development a couple of years back before being canned—Redmond finally got it right.

As the company announced back then:

“To help you work across multiple locations at the same time, the title bar of File Explorer now has tabs. We’d love your feedback on which tabs features you’d like to see next.

File Explorer is also introducing a refreshed layout of the left navigation pane which makes it easy for you to navigate to folders that matter to you. The updated organization provides easy access to your pinned and frequently used folders (Quick access) and your OneDrive cloud profiles added to Windows.”

In other words, this is a complete UI refresh for File Explorer, and it’s a very welcome one.

Tabs in File Explorer, previously only available for Dev and Beta users of the Windows Insider Program, have quietly made their way to the Release Preview ring as well.

This has been reported by the German site Dr. Windows, with a confirmation that the feature is enabled in the latest Windows 11 preview build in this final channel. And with this development, there is solid evidence that we are on the cusp of launch.

Although there has been no official confirmation of any sort, there is solid evidence that the public availability of the File Explorer tabs feature could be announced as part of Windows 11 version 22H2.

It makes perfect sense that this marquee feature could be included in the first update for Windows 11, which, coincidentally, is currently in the Release Preview.

Good times!

One such feature is the highly requested arrival of tabs in File Explorer.

The public has been demanding a tabbed File Explorer for decades now. And it appeared that they were about to get their prayers answered with Sets — a feature that Redmond was developing that added such an option to various elements in the operating system.

But it sadly turned out to be a false dawn, and the feature was unceremoniously dumped.

Now, however, we have confirmation that the company has finally developed a capable solution that will make life easier, particularly for power users who need to access several folders simultaneously on their computers.

With build 21536, which was released earlier this month, we got our first taste of this new tabbed interface for the operating system’s default file management application.

Further testing has revealed that not only does this amp up productivity for people who have multiple instances of File Explorer open, but there is an unexpected side effect of this whole deal in that the memory usage is significantly reduced.

The feature apparently reduces the RAM usage of File Explorer, requiring just 1 MB for each new tab open.

So, if you are one of those folks who like to have multiple tabs open as you breeze through your files and folders in Windows, then doing so will only increase your memory usage by a few megabytes. This will be most noticeable and appreciated on systems with relatively small amounts of RAM installed.

A pretty welcome development, this.

Although the tabbed File Explore is not yet available for everyone, it will soon be.

The Explorer upgrade is part of the Sun Valley 2 development, which should be in our hands as Windows 11 version 22H2 in the next few months. And while this upcoming release is not as high on new features as it could have been, it is nice to see that what it brings is properly optimized.

One of which is the highly anticipated tabbed interface for File Explorer.

Point your browser to the announcement post for all the details regarding build 25136, which is part of the Sun Valley 3 development branch. Of course, this is the version that will eventually be released in 2023.

The main highlight of this build is support for tabs in File Explorer, to go with the addition of what is being called the Dynamic Widget on the Taskbar.

Getting down to business, the long-awaited tabbed UI for the file management program is designed to help you work across multiple locations simultaneously. These tabs can be found in the title bar and provide quick access to your favorite content.

Interestingly, this feature seems to be in A/B testing phase at the moment, meaning it will not be available to all Insiders enrolled in the Dev channel just yet.

And this is kind of odd, as it negates the point of the Dev channel, which is the ring of the preview program designed for enthusiasts to test out new features before anyone else. Limiting features like this makes sense during wider testing but certainly not in this inner ring of the preview program.

Oh well.

In addition to the tabbed experience, Microsoft has also refreshed the layout of the left navigation pane to make it easier for you to navigate to the folders that matter to you. You get access to your pinned and frequently used locations and your OneDrive cloud profile added to Windows.

The second new feature in this build relates to widgets.

Microsoft is trying out dynamic widget content on the taskbar. This means that in addition to seeing live content from the weather widget, you will also be able to see updates about sports and finance, as well as breaking news.

All in a bid to make it easier for you to know when something important happens.

As usual, the build comes with a wide range of changes, fixes, and improvements. These are primarily centered around input, Taskbar, Start, settings, and more. A few known issues have also crept in that you should be aware of.