Windows 11 Build 22635.2841 (Beta) allows disabling the news feed in Widgets

Microsoft has officially introduced the option to disable the News feed in Widgets in Windows 11 Build 22635.2841 (Beta). It is released with KB5032286 and also brings with it improvements to Nearby Share and Task Manager.

What's new in Windows 11 Build 22635.2841 (Beta)

Microsoft ships two sets of features to Insiders in the Beta channel, depending on the Settings > Windows Update > Get the latest updates as soon as they are available option state. Some features are only available to users who has enabled the option.

Changes for Insiders with the toggle option enabled

• Steps recorder is now officially deprecated and will show a warning about this change. Microsoft offers Snipping tool, Xbox Game bar or Microsoft Clipchamp instead of it.
• If you turn on nearby sharing via quick settings or directly in Settings and you have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, it will turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on so nearby sharing will work as expected. If you turn off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, it will also turn off nearby sharing.

Fixes for Insiders with the toggle option enabled

• Did some work to help improve the performance when expanding the navigation pane in Task Manager.
• Fixed an issue which was causing a Task Manager crash when changing Always on Top mode.
• Fixed an issue where the dropdowns in settings would float up the screen if you scrolled.

Changes for all Beta channel Insiders

Widgets

1. A new option allows adding widgets on your widgets board right from its settings.
2. You can now select the account you want to use for your Microsoft Start powered widgets and feeds.  You can easily manage the account used by Microsoft Start by navigating to ‘Microsoft Start’ settings under the ‘Personalize your content’ section in your widgets board settings.
3. Finally, you can disable the News feed by turning off Microsoft Start under Show or hide feeds.

Changes and improvements

Optional features previously listed under Settings > Apps has moved to its own page under Settings > System.

Fixes

• New! You can use Copilot in Windows with ALT + Tab. When you press ALT +Tab, the thumbnail preview for Copilot in Windows appears among other thumbnail previews of open windows. You can switch between them using the Tab keystroke.
• New! You can use Copilot in Windows across multiple displays. Press the Copilot in Windows taskbar button on the taskbar of the display where you want Copilot in Windows to appear. To show Copilot in Windows on the last display that it was on, press WIN + C. If you use a keyboard, press WIN + T to put the keyboard focus on the taskbar. Then go to the Copilot in Windows button to open it on any display.
• New! In the coming weeks, you might see Windows Spotlight set as the default background. This might occur when your background is set to an inbox Windows image.
• This update addresses an issue that might affect the cursor when you write in Japanese. The cursor might move to an unexpected place.
• This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer. The options in the left pane show the wrong state.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Remote Desktop web authentication. This issue might stop you from connecting to sovereign cloud endpoints.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Settings. It stops responding after you turn off Device Encryption.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the cursor. Its movement lags in some screen capture scenarios.
• This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer windows. When you do not expect them, they appear in the foreground.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Sandbox. If the locale of your machine is not US English, File Explorer stops responding.
• This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer. When you press Shift + F10, the shortcut (context) menu does not open.
• This update affects the shortcut (context) menu. Its performance is now better when you open it on the desktop and in File Explorer.
• This update addresses an issue that affects .RAR files. They display as if they are empty in File Explorer.
• This update addresses an issue that causes IE mode to stop responding. This occurs when you have multiple IE mode tabs open.
• This update addresses an issue that affects IE mode. A webpage stops working as expected when there is an open modal dialog.
• This update addresses an issue that causes IE mode to stop responding. This occurs if you press the left arrow key when an empty text box has the focus and caret (cursor) browsing is on.
• This update addresses an issue that affects 32-bit GDI based applications. They stop responding. This occurs when they run on 64-bit Windows OSs that use more than 2 GB of memory.
• This update addresses an issue that affects apps that you download from Microsoft Store. They stop responding and will not update.
• This update addresses an issue that affects hardware that uses the PresentAt feature. Power use grows when you play a video in full screen.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Copilot in Windows icon on the taskbar. It does not show as active when Copilot in Windows is open.
• This update improves how fast Copilot in Windows opens from the taskbar.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Trusted Sites Zone logon policy. You cannot manage it using mobile device management (MDM).
• This update affects Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE). It enables Conditional Access (CA) scenarios.
• This update affects the Netherlands time zone. It adds the recent man-made landmass outside of Rotterdam to the shape files.
• This update addresses a leak in volatile notifications. This might stop you from signing in to your machine.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) decoder. It does not work well on some websites that set the wrong input sampling rate.
• This update addresses an issue that affects remote direct memory access (RDMA) performance counters. They did not return networking data on VMs in the right way.
• This update addresses an issue that stops you from reconnecting to an existing Remote Desktop session. Instead, you get a new one.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows LAPS. Its PasswordExpirationProtectionEnabled policy fails to turn on the setting.
• This update addresses app cursor issues. The cursor changes from a hand to a cursor when it should not, or the cursor disappears. These issues occur when apps use the WebView2Standalone XAML control.
• This update addresses an issue that might affect Microsoft OneNote. When you use a pen right-click to open it, that might fail.
• This update affects Dynamic Lighting. It reduces the amount of power it uses on your device.
• This update addresses an issue that affects certain PCs. It stops them from downloading speech recognition packages.

Known issues

• [NEW] The Microsoft 365, Outlook Calendar, and To Do widgets get stuck in an error state when the Microsoft Start feed is disabled.
• [NEW] You may experience a loading delay when the Microsoft Start feed is reenabled.
• [NEW] Announcements from the Microsoft Start feed are still shown on the taskbar after the feed is hidden.
• [NEW] The Widgets Board should automatically close and reopen when enabling or disabling feeds.
• [NEW] Keyboard navigation from settings subpages back to the top-level Settings page is broken.
• [NEW] Incorrect spacing and fonts used in some settings pages.