Microsoft has enabled a number of new features, changes, and improvements for the earlier released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.961. It is available in the Dev channel since June 14, 2024.
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Currently, all the new stuff is available only to Insiders who have enabled the option Get the latest updates as soon as they're available option in Settings > Windows Update. But keep in mind that the feature roll-out is coming gradually to a small percentage of Insiders. So it is hard to predict when and what feature you will get even with the option enabled.
Features for Dev channel insiders with the toggle enabled
Narrator users can use Voice Access to type hands-free
Narrator users can now use the Voice Access feature in Windows 11 to type text with their voice and hear what was actually recognized and typed. In addition, using “Voice Access” you can give commands to “Screen Narrator”, for example, “speak faster”, “read the selection”, “read the next line” and so on.
For a full list of Narrator commands supported with Voice Access, click the help button on the Voice Access panel and go to the Narrator command view.
To get started:
- Launch and set up Voice Access by downloading the required voice pack.
- check out the list of available commands.
- Change the microphone state for Voice Access.
- Start typing with your voice and listen to what was actually typed.
Tip: If you don't use headphones to listen to Narrator, the sound output from the screen reader may be picked up by the microphone when Voice Access is running, causing unwanted effects.
Automatic restart of Voice Access and a new command for searching in Windows
Microsoft has implemented an automatic restart of Voice Access when there is a problem, so that people with disabilities can quickly get back to using the feature. From now on, you will not have to resort to alternative assistive technologies or help from others to get Voice Access working again. If the feature restarts automatically, the system will send information about the failure to Microsoft so that engineers can investigate and fix the problem.
In addition, new commands for searching in Windows have been added - "Search "Entity", "Search Windows for "Entity"" and "Search for "Entity". With their help, you can quickly find the desired application or file.
Changes and improvements
Start Menu
Microsoft is rolling out a new account manager to the Start menu. If you're signed in with a Microsoft account, the new design lets you quickly see the benefits of your account. The new manager also makes it easier to manage your account settings.
Microsoft is rolling out the ability to copy files from the Share window in Windows. A new Copy button has been added for this purpose.
Users can now generate QR codes for URLs and links to files in the cloud from the Share window, making it easier to transfer web pages and files between devices. To try out the new feature in Microsoft Edge, click the Share button in the toolbar and select Windows Share Menu.
To prevent accidental closing of the Share window, clicking outside the window will no longer cause it to close. To close the window, click on the corresponding button in the upper right corner.
If your Microsoft account uses a Gmail address, you can now send an email to yourself from the Share window and have it sent to your Gmail account.
Emoji 15.1
Added support for the Emoji 15.1 standard, which added several brand new emoji, including a head bobbing horizontally and vertically, a phoenix, a lime, a brown mushroom, and a broken chain. Unicode also decided to revert family couples to character-like forms. Windows decided to keep the existing style, which uses people in family couples. Also added support for updated directions for person, man, or woman, walking, kneeling, using a cane, running, in a manual or motorized wheelchair.
Windows Backup
If you enable the Personalization and Other Windows settings options in Settings -> Accounts -> Windows Backup, many of your sound settings (including your selected sound scheme) will be saved in the backup, which you can then restore using the Windows Backup application.
Settings
- To ensure you don't lose access to your Microsoft account, a new banner will appear in Settings → Accounts with an Add Now button to add a backup email address if you haven't already done so. It will only appear if you are signed in with a Microsoft account.
- We've begun rolling out updated designs for the Rename PC and Change Date and Time dialogs to better match the visual style of Windows 11.
Fixes
Task Manager
- Updated DDR memory speed units (from MHz to MT/s).
- Fixed an issue where the Safely Remove Hardware option for USB drives did not work if Task Manager was open.
- Made some improvements to make Task Manager release process handles more quickly when processes terminate.
- Additional improvements have been introduced to improve the stability of Explorer.
- Improved performance when changing sort order.
- Numerous improvements have been made to make Task Manager compatible with accessibility features, such as keyboard focus, tab navigation, text scaling, item names spoken to screen readers, and more.
- Made it easier to resize the Task Manager window when trying to do so from the top of the window.
Graphics
Fixed an issue where some monitors would lock the refresh rate at 60Hz and be unable to set a higher refresh rate even if the monitor supported it, due to the Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) feature being stuck.
Multiple desktops
Fixed an issue where the option to set different wallpapers on each desktop did not work.
Other
- Fixed an issue that prevented some apps from autostarting even if they had it enabled in the Startup section of Settings.
- Fixed an issue where the location permission dialog would not appear, which could cause problems with apps that require location information.
- Fixed an issue where in previous flights some Insiders were experiencing GSOD with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error.
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