Windows 11 Build 26100.3025 is now available for Insiders on the Release Preview channel. It represents Windows 11 version 24H2, and comes with plenty of various improvements and fixes. Those include taskbar preview thumbnails, Windows Studio Effects, File Explorer quality of life improvements, 6GHz Mobile Hotspot, and much more.
What's new in Windows 11 Build 26100.3025 (Release Preview)
Changes that come gradually
Taskbar
- Improved thumbnails that appear when you hover over apps on the taskbar. The update also improves their animation.
Windows Studio Effects
- A special icon has been added to the system tray that will be displayed when using any application with a camera that supports Studio Effects. Clicking on the icon will open the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings. In addition, hovering over the icon will display a tooltip with the name of the application using the camera.
Fonts
- A new simplified Chinese font, Simsun-ExtG, has been added, containing 9753 characters and supporting Unicode extensions G, H, and I. In particular, it includes the long-awaited character for noodles "Biangbiang" (U+30EDD), which is known for its difficulty, as shown in the image below.
The font covers the following Unicode ranges:Advertisеment
- Unicode G: 30000-3134A (4939 characters)
- Unicode H: 31350-323AF (4192 characters)
- Unicode I: 2EBF0-2EE5D (622 characters)
- A new simplified Chinese font, Simsun-ExtG, has been added, containing 9753 characters and supporting Unicode extensions G, H, and I. In particular, it includes the long-awaited character for noodles "Biangbiang" (U+30EDD), which is known for its difficulty, as shown in the image below.
File Explorer
- You can now quickly access items that others have shared with you. Shared items include files, emails, Teams chats, and more. To see them, you need to sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra ID. To see these shared items, go to the Home page in File Explorer and select the Sharing tab. If you sign in with a Microsoft Entra ID, you'll have more options for what you can see. For example, you'll see files you've shared with others. You'll also see a wider range of file types in the Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections of the page.
- Added a "New Folder" option to the context menu that appears when you right-click on a location in the navigation pane.
- Fixed an issue where performing a search could cause the search to repeat unexpectedly.
- Fixed an issue where the date and time in file properties would unexpectedly update after copying files.
- Fixed an issue where the icons in the Details panel would not respond correctly to theme changes, making it difficult to tell whether you had switched from dark to light theme or vice versa.
- Fixed an issue where performing a search could cause the search to repeat unexpectedly.
Mobile hotspot
- Windows Mobile Hotspot (Access Point) has been upgraded to support 6 GHz connections. This range requires chips that support this feature and updated drivers. Not all chips that support 6 GHz Wi-Fi will be able to create a mobile hotspot in the 6 GHz range.
You can see the change in Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile Hotspot when editing the hotspot properties. To ensure compatibility with existing devices, 6 GHz will only be used if the user has enabled it.
- Windows Mobile Hotspot (Access Point) has been upgraded to support 6 GHz connections. This range requires chips that support this feature and updated drivers. Not all chips that support 6 GHz Wi-Fi will be able to create a mobile hotspot in the 6 GHz range.
Settings
- The ability to change time zones is again available for regular users (non-administrators) under Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time.
Domain
- Fixed an issue where devices might fail to join a domain.
Mouse
- Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor could disappear when hovering over text fields in some applications.
- Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor could become invisible and have a black rectangle behind it if the mouse trail feature was enabled.
- Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor could move jerkily even when not using a lot of resources.
Chinese Pinyin IME
- Fixed an issue where the IME language may change from Chinese to English when switching application windows.
Snipping Tool
- Fixed an issue where screenshots taken with the Snipping Tool could be distorted when using two or more monitors with different screen scaling.
Task Manager
- Fixed an issue where closing applications took too long.
Microsoft Excel 2016
- Fixed an issue where Exscel would get stuck on the loading screen when opening certain files.
Dam.sys
- Fixed an issue where a watchdog timeout error could occur when resuming from sleep.
Installing Windows updates
- Fixed an issue where installing cumulative updates could fail with error code 0x800736b3. This occurred if the system was unable to install an additional component.
Changes available to all users
Windows Backup
When you restore settings from a backup during the Windows 11 Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), the taskbar will be loaded with the default set of apps. You can still find the apps you want in the Start menu and through Search, and then pin them to the taskbar.
HDR
Fixed a major issue where colors in some games could appear oversaturated when using Auto HDR.
Support us
Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:
