In this article, we will talk about the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build for the Canary Channel, which is Build 25931.
Microsoft is releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here.
New Features from the Dev Channel
This build includes new features from the Dev Channel such as Unicode Emoji 15 support, voice access is available to use on more areas in Windows such as the Lock screen, and more.
DC location changed
Microsoft previously announced the deprecation of both Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) and Remote Mailslots (see this blog post here for information on Remote Mailslots). These deprecations are legacy technologies that are no longer secure in today’s environments. As part of these deprecations, DC location in your environment may be affected mainly because many legacy applications still specify short NetBIOS-style domain names when trying to locate a domain controller (DC). To help ease this transition with these deprecations, we are making two improvements to the DC locator algorithm in Windows.
More info is in this article from the Microsoft Blog.
General Changes
- Insider Preview Build Expiration: The expiration date for Insider Preview builds flighted to the Canary Channel has been updated to 9/15/2024 starting with Build 25931. Please make sure you are updated to the latest build in the Canary Channel.
- In addition to the Camera app and Cortana, the Photos app, People app, and Remote Desktop (MSTSC) client can be uninstalled.
File Explorer
Added more fields to show in the Details pane, including image dimensions for pictures, number of pages for .docx, space used and free information for drives, and many others.
Dynamic Lighting
You can now instantly sync your Windows accent color with the devices around you with the “Match my Windows accent color” toggle under “Effects” for Dynamic Lighting via Settings > Personalization > Dynamic Lighting.
Windows Spotlight
After doing an OS update, in certain cases such as using the default Windows 11 background or a solid color – Windows Spotlight may be enabled for you. If you decide you don’t want Windows Spotlight enabled, you can turn it off and in future OS updates it should not be enabled for you again unless you choose to re-enable the experience.
Search UI Changes
System components are now labeled in the search UI in build 25931, this change is also present in recent Dev builds.
Start Menu Changes
Start menu previews/tooltips have been fixed in 23521, this simpler one now displays properly when no thumbnail preview is available/you’re using a local account or MSA.
New OOBE Experience
Build 25931 includes the new Presence sensing updates seen in Dev 23516 and Beta 22631.2129, here’s the privacy settings toggle for it in OOBE.
The last 3 Changes were discovered by PhantomOcean3 on Twitter.
Fixes in this Build
We fixed a major issue where you could no longer connect over SMB to a third-party storage device using guest (no username or password) credentials.
For more information about this Build, you can check this article from the Microsoft Blog.
For a more in-depth presentation, you can watch the video below from the youtube channel.
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