- Microsoft released Windows 11 Build 26100.1297 to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel recently.
- The update includes many new features and changes, including several improvements to Windows Share.
- This build brings together many of the changes seen in the other Insider Channel that have been in testing over the past several months.
Windows Insiders in the Release Preview Channel have a new build of Windows 11 to install. Windows 11 Build 26100.1297 shipped this week, and it includes several new features, changes, and improvements.While the Release Preview Channel is the final stop before shipping features to general availability, Microsoft has not shared an exact date for when these features will roll out. Our sources say Microsoft is targeting September or October for the release of Windows 11 version 24H2, so there’s a good chance many of the features seen in this week’s Release Preview Channel build ship this autumn.dragging files between breadcrumbs in File Explorer, and improvements to Windows backup.Even if you’re running the latest Windows 11 Insider build on your PC, you may not see all of these features. Some of them are rolling out gradually, while others are available to everyone running the latest build. Microsoft breaks all of the changes down in an Insider blog post.<h2 class="article-bodysection” id=”section-windows-11-build-26100-1297-gradual-rollout”>Windows 11 Build 26100.1297 (gradual rollout)
Lock screen
- New! Sports, traffic, and finance content will appear along with weather. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.
- New! The new account manager is on the Start menu. When you use a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows, you will get a glance at your account benefits. This feature also makes it easy to manage your account settings.
- New! You can now also pin apps from the Start menu to the taskbar by dragging and dropping items directly to taskbar from the pinned section in the Start menu.
File Explorer
- New! You can now use your mouse to drag files between breadcrumbs in the File Explorer address bar. A breadcrumb shows the path to your current file location in the address bar. For example, there are three breadcrumbs in the path This PC > Windows (C:) > Program Files.
Emoji
- New! This update adds support for Emoji 15.1. Windows supports Unicode symbol-like shapes for family groupings. But Windows will keep using people for them. Also, you can choose the right or left facing direction for some people emoji. The new emoji are:
- Horizontal and vertical head shake
- Phoenix
- Lime
- Brown mushroom
- Broken chain
Windows Share
- New! This update adds a feature that stops you from accidentally closing the Windows share window. Clicking outside of the window will no longer close it. To close it, select the close button at the upper-right corner.
- New! You can directly share to specific Microsoft Teams channels and group chats in the Windows share window. To do so, you must sign in using a Microsoft Entra ID.
- New! You can now create quick response (QR) codes for webpage URLs and cloud files from the Windows share window. Select the share button in the Microsoft Edge toolbar and choose “Windows share options.” Then, you can share the URLs and files across your devices.
- New! You can now send email to yourself from the Windows share window. You will receive the email at the email address that is in your Microsoft account.
- New! You can now copy files from the Windows Share window. Just click the new Copy
Windows Backup
- New! Windows will now back up many of your sound settings (this includes your sound scheme). This only occurs if you turn on Remember my preferences and select the checkboxes for Personalization and Other Windows settings. To find these, go to Settings > Accounts > Windows backup. Then, you can use the Windows Backup app to restore those settings on a new device.
Settings
- New! This update adds a new Game Pass recommendation card on the Settings home page. This home page shows on Home and Pro editions when you sign in to Windows using your Microsoft account. The card appears if you actively play games on your PC.
- New! This update adds a page to Settings > Accounts called Linked devices. On it, you can manage your PCs and Xbox consoles. This page only shows on Home and Pro editions when you sign in to Windows using your Microsoft account (MSA).
- New! This update puts the “Add now” button in Settings > Account. When you select it, you can add a recovery email address if you have not added one for your Microsoft account yet. The button only shows if you sign in to your Microsoft account.
- New! This update includes updated visuals for the “Rename your PC” and “Change date and time” dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals.
Task Manager
- This update changes the units for DDR speed from MHz to MT/s.
- This update addresses an issue that affects USB devices. Ejecting them using the Safely Remove Hardware option fails. This occurs when Task Manager is open.
- This update affects process handles. Task Manager releases them more quickly when it stops a process.
- This update makes Task Manager more reliable.
- This update affects the sort order of processes in Task Manager. Performance is better when you change the order.
- This update makes Task Manager more accessible by improving: Keyboard focus, Tab key navigation, Text scaling, The readout of item names by screen readers, High contrast heatmaps and more.
- This update makes resizing the Task Manager window easier when you grab the top of its window.
<h2 class="article-bodysection” id=”section-windows-11-build-26100-1297-normal-rollout”>Windows 11 Build 26100.1297 (normal rollout)
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