Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26058 (Canary and Dev Channels)

[TWF Bot]

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26058 to the Canary and Dev Channels. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. Insiders in the Canary Channel will receive Build 26058.1000 while Insiders in the Dev Channel will receive Build 26058.1100 (KB5036078) as we test delivery of a full build and a servicing update at the same time. There is no difference between the two of these as Build 26058.1100 does not include any additional code. Please read the known issues below. This build still has the issue impacting Dev Drive users. We have also added a few issues based on feedback from last week’s flight and an issue with using the ISOs being released today to do an upgrade. The Canary and Dev Channels receiving the same builds is only temporary. During the times in which the Canary and Dev Channels are on the same builds (e.g. Build 26058), the window is open for Insiders in the Canary Channel to switch to the Dev Channel. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump to higher build numbers and the window will be closed. NOTE: Some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel even if the two channels have the same build.

What’s new in Build 26058​

Pointer Indicator: New accessibility setting for low vision Windows users​

Low vision users on Windows can now easily locate and use their cursor. This will allow these users to be more productive and efficient when using a Windows device. [caption id="attachment_176872" align="alignnone" width="622"] Mouse pointer indicator shown over Settings in Windows 11.[/caption] To enable this experience, go to Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch and enable the Pointer indicator setting. You can also search for the setting by name. When the setting is enabled, you can toggle it on/off with the keyboard shortcut, Win + Ctrl + X. [caption id="attachment_176873" align="alignnone" width="616"] Settings shown for turning on the mouse pointer indicator.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Accessibility Settings.

Widgets board improvements​

We’re continuing to evolve the widgets board experience and you can now have more space for your favorite widgets and stay on top of current events with a feed that helps you discover the world around you. With the introduction of the new navigation bar on the left, you can switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like Discover. Give it a try and let us know what you think using the feedback button at the top of the board. [caption id="attachment_176874" align="alignnone" width="642"] We've added a new Navigation Pane on the left that allows you to switch to My Widgets dashboard.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_176875" align="alignnone" width="642"] A full widgets only experience from your favorite apps and services.[/caption] [We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels today, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

New notification badging for Widgets ​

We’re beginning to roll out a new badging experience for Widgets. Widgets badges will notify you when you miss an important notification on your taskbar. Below is an example of a notification badge for Widgets that shows that there are three missed notifications. [caption id="attachment_176876" align="alignnone" width="285"] Widget badging on the taskbar showing three missed notifications.[/caption] When you open the Widgets board you can see details for the notifications you missed in the top left corner of the board. [caption id="attachment_176877" align="alignnone" width="413"] Missed notifications at the top left of the widgets board.[/caption] [We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels today, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment  > Widgets.

Richer weather experience on the lock screen​

If you are in the Canary Channel, you should start to see the richer weather experience on your lock screen. This includes dynamic, interactive weather updates. So, as you hover over the weather experience on your lock screen, you will see more information. When you tap or click on the weather card and sign in, Microsoft Edge opens with the full forecast in MSN Weather. If you already use Weather under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Lock screen status, there is nothing for you to do. Also, this new experience will be on by default. Should you not want to see this experience, you can change your lock screen status to “None.” This rich weather experience is available when you lock your screen no matter which personalization option you select (Windows spotlight, Picture, or Slideshow). [caption id="attachment_176800" align="alignnone" width="621"] Richer weather experience on the lock screen.[/caption] [We are currently rolling this out starting with EN-US only, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders in the Canary or Dev Channels just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Changes and Improvements​

[General]​

• WIN + CTRL + S will now open voice access instead of Windows Speech Recognition (WSR). Windows 11 is transitioning from WSR to voice access. WSR is being deprecated.

[File Explorer]​

• To make it easier to use the File Explorer context menu, labels have been added to previously unlabeled actions such as cut, copy, paste, rename, share, and delete.

[caption id="attachment_176878" align="alignnone" width="322"] Labels added to previously unlabeled actions in the File Explorer context menu.[/caption]

[Command Prompt]​

• If you run winget, or any other package manager configured to do so, Command Prompt (CMD) will now look for changes to the PATH and update your current session. To enable a package manager to have this logic in CMD, simply add the package manager .exe name to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor\KnownPackageManagers.

Fixes for known issues​

• Fixed an issue causing an increase in Insiders to experience black screens after Build 26040 (particularly when waking a device from sleep). Please file feedback if you continue experiencing issues after installing this build.
• Fixed an issue where all the added features under Settings > System > Optional Features were showing 0 bytes in the previous flight.
• Fixed an issue where focus sessions continued to show as running in the notification center after they had ended.
• Fixed an issue causing Windows Sandbox to unexpectedly show Windows Sandbox could not be initialized. (0x800736b3) for some Insiders in the previous flight.
• Fixed an issue where the last checked time showing for Windows Update in Settings was wrong.

Known issues​

[General]​

• [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GAMERS – UPDATED!] Some popular games may not work correctly and cause a bugcheck (green screen) when launched on the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on these builds.
• IMPORTANT NOTE FOR DEV DRIVE USERS: Insiders on Build 26052+ who have Dev Drives and might need to rollback will need to back up their Dev Drives BEFORE rolling back as rolling back will cause Dev Drives to break and data on them to be lost.
• A Display Connection section is incorrectly showing up under Settings > System > Display > Graphics that when clicked, will crash Settings. This section will be removed in a future flight.
• [NEW] Using the ISOs released today for this build to upgrade instead of doing a clean install may not work if you choose “Keep nothing” in the Windows Setup experience. To upgrade to the latest build in the Canary and Dev Channels, please use Windows Update.
• [NEW] We are investigating an increase of reports of insiders rolling back when attempting to install the latest build (with error code 0xC1900101).
• [NEW] Some Insiders may experience an issue where the network icon in the system tray shows they do not have an internet connection when connected to some VPNs even though the internet connection is working. Some apps might also think there isn’t an internet connection when there really is.
• [NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing the input switcher (WIN + Space) design to revert back to an older style and draw in the wrong location.
• [NEW] After this build is installed, there is an issue where the build will not be listed under Settings > Windows Update > Update history like it should.

[Widgets]​

• [NEW] You may at times experience your widgets-only dashboard not rendering any content.

For developers​

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

• .NET TFM packages for use in .NET apps as described at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk
• C++ packages for Win32 headers and libs per architecture
• BuildTools package when you just need tools like MakeAppx.exe, MakePri.exe, and SignTool.exe

These NuGet packages provide more granular access to the SDK and better integration in CI/CD pipelines. SDK flights are now published for both the Canary and Dev Channels, so be sure to choose the right version for your Insider Channel. Remember to use adaptive code when targeting new APIs to make sure your app runs on all customer machines, particularly when building against the Dev Channel SDK. Feature detection is recommended over OS version checks, as OS version checks are unreliable and will not work as expected in all cases.

Reminders for Windows Insiders​

• The Canary and Dev Channels receive builds with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
• Many features in the Canary and Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in these channels.
• As the Canary and Dev Channels receive the same builds, some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel.
• While the Canary Channel is now on Windows 11, version 24H2, this is just temporary. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump ahead to receiving new builds not matched to any specific release in a higher build series.
• To get off the Canary or Dev Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

• Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

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