Not too long ago, Microsoft bluntly offered a few tips for gamers to turn off some Windows 11 features to gain some extra performance. As we just found out, they did. But now, the company is back with more on this.

Or, rather, with tips on how to use the Search feature in the OS.

Windows 11 build 25236 is available for Insiders in the Dev channel of the preview program. It includes the usual changes, fixes, improvements, and a few known issues. In between all of this, Microsoft has snuck in a neat little feature.

As the announcement post makes clear, this is pretty much the only new addition.

It involves trying different ways to provide tips on using Windows Search via the taskbar. The company says this improves the value of Search shortcuts while also reducing friction in the broader Windows Search experience.

This is how this classic way of showing tooltips, which was so popular in the Windows XP days, now looks:

Redmond notes that only some English-speaking Windows Insiders in the US will see this, which makes sense since this is just the company trying things out to gather feedback.

If you do get in, be sure to provide via the Feedback Hub.

Other than that, this build has the usual splattering of bug fixes, including one in Narrator, where an issue was causing natural voices like Guy or Jenny to not even speak. Plenty of changes for the Taskbar and System Tray are also included for the File Explorer and Settings.

Please keep in mind that Windows 11 build 25236 is still version 22H2 since Sun Valley 3 development has seemingly been canceled in favor of releasing a major new version of the OS every three years.

This version will probably launch as Windows 11 23H2 later next year.

With tips, tips, everywhere!

Microsoft recounts these changes in the announcement post in elaborate detail.

As you can see, this build does not contain anything new, but it contains a bunch of other changes and improvements, many of which we have seen before in other releases and even leaks and rumors.

For starters, we have the tablet-optimized taskbar that Redmond began rolling out with build 25197. It is now available to all Insiders in the Dev channel of the preview program. Accompanying this are the very welcome System Tray improvements, including drag-and-drop, that first arrived with build 25211.

We also have the cloud suggestion feature for the Simplified Chinese IME, which began rolling out with build 25217 and is now available for all Insiders in the Dev channel.

Other changes include the improvement to the spelling dictionary that began rolling out with build 25179. It now uses a language-neutral word list and syncs across all devices that use the same Windows account.

Moving on, this build includes a small array of fixes, the details of which you can check at the link above. The same goes for the known issues that have been discovered.

Microsoft does state that even though some of these fixes are rolling out in the Dev channel initially, they may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

In fact, the two main features of this build are the addition of badges in the Start Menu and the different positions of the headers for the Widgets board.

This version of the preview just landed for Insiders in the Dev channel.

And as Microsoft notes in the announcement, it has also released ISO files for this build in case someone wants to start afresh. In case you do, you can do so by downloading them here.

Back to the build, then.

Things start with improvements to update management in the OS. To that end, the company has taken steps to improve the predictability of restarts by making a few changes to a component that goes by the Update Stack Orchestrator.

The Deadline calculation for both quality and feature updates is now based on the time the client’s update scan initially discovered the update. Previously, it was based on the release date of the update for quality updates and the reboot pending date for feature updates.

Also, the Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts Group Policy settings have also been split into two separate settings to align with the existing configuration service provider (CSP) policies.

Then we get to the more consumer-facing changes.

Here, Microsoft is trying out a small change to the Start Menu, where some Insiders will see badging on their user profiles, notifying them that certain actions need to be taken.

The Widgets board also received some touchups, with Microsoft optimizing things by using monoline icons for the header with the new icons. The idea is to bring a consistent and clean look with icons that are not only accessible but also communicate the actions and features via simple visuals.

This build includes a few other changes and improvements in addition to a bucketload of fixes and the usual array of known issues, the details of which you can gather yourself.

Build 25227 arrives after a wait period of two weeks, as Microsoft was forced to hold the launch of a new preview build last week after it discovered a blocking bug that it had to chase down at the eleventh hour.

So, while this version may not be high on new features, it is still very welcome.

This particular version is still 22H2, as the Sun Valley 3 development that was destined to become Windows 11 23H2 has seemingly been canceled in favor of launching a major new version of the OS every three years.

For this reason, the Dev channel is sticking with version 22H2, which may eventually take shape as the feature update release for 2023.

As Microsoft notes, build 25217 is primarily about taking care of a number of bugs. A few remain open, but the company has gotten around to fixing many of these issues reported in recent weeks.

The bug fixes section highlights these fixes, which will only show up if the tablet-optimized taskbar is enabled on your device. This feature is still rolling out to Windows Insiders, and not everyone has access to this UI improvement.

At least four such problems have been reported in this build, related to issues where the taskbar sometimes collapsed when it should expand and instances where it crashed explorer.exe while switching apps.

In other news, Microsoft has given the green signal for developers to start building third-party widgets that are now supported on Windows 11. The company even put together a bunch of articles to guide developers through the basics.

To that end, the WinAppSDK 1.2 preview 2 release is in town that will allow developers to create widgets for their packaged Win32 software and test them locally on the Windows 11 Widgets board.

Redmond is also trying out some changes that enable users to easily type fresh, hot, and popular words in Simplified Chinese. Improved cloud suggestions and integrated search suggestions are to thank for this welcome new addition.

Finally, be sure to glance at the known issues section, which is rather short this time around, before you install this build on your test system.

This time around, the company has made available build 22621.730 and build 22623.730, with the latter arriving as KB5017385.

Of course, both follow the newfound philosophy of one version rolling out new features and the other taking them off by default. As the announcement post clarifies, build 22623.730 has new features on, and build 22621.730 has them off.

Only in this case, build 22622 has been changed to build 22623.

Microsoft elaborated on this change below:

“Insiders who were previously on Build 22622 will automatically get moved to Build 22623 via an enablement package. The enablement package artificially increments the build number for the update with new features getting rolled out and turned on to make it easier to differentiate from devices with the update with features off by default. This approach is being used for the Beta Channel only and is not indicative of any changes or plans for final feature rollouts.”

Good change!

So, what’s new? Build 22623.730 introduces a few new features. Its main highlight is the introduction of the tablet-optimized taskbar, which the company says is designed to make you feel more confident and comfortable using your device as a tablet.

We also have updates to the System Tray that now affect all device types, not just 2-in-1 machines. With this change, users will see a rounded focus and hover treatment on all icons in the lower right due to the continued modernization of this experience.

Of course, this change makes it impossible to drag and drop or rearrange your system tray icons, but this is something that will be addressed in a future build.

Rounding things up is the usual array of bug fixes and known issues that are part of almost every Windows 11 build release.

But at least, they are not split across both Beta builds, as was the case at the very start of the month.

That is the ability to bring up the Task Manager with a right click.

This is one of the many features that was lost to code debt when Microsoft decided to build the Taskbar anew in Windows 11. The user base has been very vocal about bringing it back, just like it was in previous versions of the operating system, like Windows 10.

Well, as the announcement post announces, it is back!

We start with the Widgets setting first. The company has separated the widget picker and widget settings to make it easier for you to find and interact with each view. Now, the widget picker is opened by the + button, and the widget settings are opened by the Me button.

When you open Widgets settings by clicking the Me button (shown above), you will see three taskbar behaviors that you can toggle on or off.

With this behind us, we can now focus on the link to the Task Manager that is now available when right-clicking on the taskbar.

This build also includes preliminary support to rearrange system tray icons, with Microsoft promising further improvements to this experience soon. Of course, these are not available for all users just yet, but they should be soon.

There are a whole bunch of bug fixes in this build 25211, too. Most of these relate to File Explorer, Start, Taskbar, Input, Settings, the Task Manager, along with a bunch of other areas of the operating system like increased CPU usage and screens going black.

A handful of known issues, as well, that you might want to take a look.

At least as far as widgets are concerned.

If anything, this is the prime focus of this new build, as Redmond is trying out some new changes that amp up the widget experience on Windows 11. We now have an expanded view in Widgets—perfect for those who spend their whole day looking at these marvelous creations.

If you are one such user and need more space in your widgets board because you can’t quite see everything at a glance, then this expanded view should be right up your alley.

This is how it looks:

The expand and collapse buttons are up there in the top right corner of the board, next to the add widgets button. This can help you expand or collapse the size of your widgets board, which is thankfully remembered.

Meaning, if you prefer your widgets board to always show more content, you can leave it expanded, and it will open like so the next time.

On the topic of widget improvements, we also have some for the newly released Game Pass widget, which introduces the ability to sign in with your Xbox profile.

If you are already signed in to the Xbox app on PC, the Game Pass widget will be signed in with your Xbox account. And once signed in, the widget will show the full range of Game Pass games available to you and the most recent set of PC Game Pass titles you have played.

This provides a way for gamers to quickly get right back into the action, so welcome improvements all around for this neat little widget.

Moving on, we have several other small changes and improvements in build 25201, including some related to File Explorer, where search will now show results as you type. The full search results page will update live without needing to press enter.

Microsoft is also experimenting with adding more cloud files to search results from Home.

This build also has a long list of bug fixes and known issues, somewhat longer than other builds, so you might want to take a look before you deploy this fresh new release on your test system.

Happy downloading!

As per the norm, these are split into two builds: one with features turned off by default and the other with new features rolling out. In this particular case, build 22621.598 has these new additions off, while build 22622.598 has them on.

The announcement post from Microsoft details this confusing state of affairs.

Perhaps the only change worth mentioning in this second release—build 22622.598—is that you will not be able to uninstall apps with interdependencies. This basically means programs that rely on dependencies to function.

For example, Steam and gaming software that runs on Steam.

The same holds true for repairing Win32 software. If you go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps to remove or change your installed applications, you can’t do it.

The company has not detailed what exactly is the reason for this little problem, but it does mention that this is a temporary hurdle and Insiders will need to endure this for the time being. One could be forgiven for thinking that this niggle will be taken care of by the time the next release makes its way out.

Speaking of which, this build includes a couple of fixes, including one that prevented a small set of Insiders from launching File Explorer.

Another problem fixed is where command bar items like copy, paste, and empty Recycle Bin were unexpectedly not enabled when they should have been.

Both builds also received fixes for a duplicate print queue and an issue with Roaming User Profiles.

There is one particular known issue that you must be aware of. It involves clicking the network icon on the Lock Screen, not working, and crashing it altogether. The company says that this may require you to reboot to log in. After doing so, you can switch between wireless networks as needed.

In other words, it’s packed to the brim.

It’s not overflowing, but this still makes it one of the bigger new releases of recent times.

Things start with the return of the touch-optimized taskbar for tablet users, which the company has reintroduced to make users feel more confident when using their device as a slate. The taskbar has two states: collapsed or optimized.

And this is how they look:

The idea behind this feature is to ensure that the taskbar is out of your way in the collapsed state, providing you with more screen real estate while also preventing you from accidentally invoking it when you are holding your tablet. In the expanded state, the taskbar allows easier touch interactions.

We also have some welcome system tray updates that affect all types of devices in this version. In particular, you will see a rounded focus and hover treatment on all icons in the lower right.

This change does not allow you to drag and drop or rearrange your system tray icons, but Redmond promises that it has heard feedback on this and is working to address it in a future preview build.

This is, simply put, a modernization of the experience that Microsoft is currently pursuing as it streamlines and optimizes the Windows 11 user interface.

Continuing in this vein, the company has begun rolling out animated icons and illustrations in the Settings app. This may be a small cosmetic change, but the software titan describes it as a way to transform familiar interactions from purely functional to delightful.

Delightful!

Finally, Microsoft has also announced a small tweak: It has improved the key repeat rate for the traditional touch keyboard layout as well as the default keyboard layout. The new rate of 20 keys per second makes for a more responsive feeling.

There is a long list of bug fixes in this build—too many to list. Likewise, we have a fairly long list of known issues, many of which relate to the new tablet-optimized taskbar that Microsoft discovered early.

You can get an idea of what all this is in the announcement post.

This is odd, seeing as the whole point of splitting the Beta channel and releasing two builds concurrently was to test all the new additions in one specific build. One build comes with new features enabled, other comes disabled.

Confusingly, Microsoft seems to have taken this approach with the fixes this time — the fixes in both these new versions of the preview are also split between the two builds.

You can locate the official blog post here.

It has Microsoft talking about what these two new builds, build 22621.590 and build 22622.590 (KB5017846), come packing. Build 22622 was supposed to receive new features, but since these releases are all about fixes, they are split between both.

Not evenly, of course.

Windows 11 build 22622.590 is the one that comes with the majority of fixes, including an issue where the Control Panel failed to launch from the Start Menu, Search, or if it was pinned to the Taskbar in the previous flight.

Redmond has also disabled the ability to share a local file directly to OneDrive using the built-in Windows share feature that it recently rolled out to Insiders.

This is also the case with the latest Dev channel release, Windows 11 build 25193, so no surprises here!

Moving beyond, we have several fixes for the good old Taskbar, including one where the overflow flyout now follows your accent color like the rest of the Taskbar. The company also took care of a number of issues that could lead to sporadic explorer.exe crashes.

There are only a couple of fixes for both build 22621.590 and build 22622.590, including one minor one that affects Robocopy.

Wrapping things up, there are a few known issues that you might want to be aware of. The first of which is rather severe in the sense that audio stopped working altogether for some users. Other niggles include the inability to open File Explorer and a problem where command bar items are not enabled.