New Windows 11 Build 26120.1542 – New Taskbar Design, New Camera Options, and Fixes (Dev)

In this article, we will talk about the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build for the Dev Channel, which is Build 26120.1542.

There some changes to the Dev Channel:

• this is just an Enablement Package, KB5037898, on top of 26100, not a full new build (26100 is still RTM)
• this will likely head to the Beta Channel at a future date, it comes from the ge_release_svc_betaflt_prod1 branch, packages refer to the Enablement Package as a Beta EKB and it shows up in update history with a title mentioning “Beta Channel”
• the purpose of this EKB and CUs is to test the remaining features for the initial 24H2 release in September as well as features planned to come after GA
• Feature Drops will probably return under a new codename (not Moments anymore).
• For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update.

New Taskbar Design

Microsoft is beginning to roll out a new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side.

Taskbar and System Tray

Updated the taskbar to now support first letter navigation, so when keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. Pressing the letter multiple times will jump to the subsequent app which starts with that letter, if there are multiple apps for that letter. For those using uncombined taskbar, rather than app name, the first letter navigation will use window name. Along with this, pressing Home and End will now move keyboard focus to the first and last (respectively) items in the taskbar.

New Camera Options

Windows 11’s Camera settings page will be getting an advanced camera configuration section, with two new options: multi-app camera and a basic mode for debugging.

Windows 11's Camera settings page will be getting an advanced camera configuration section, with two new options: multi-app camera and a basic mode for debugging. (disabled by default, Dev 26120.1542.) pic.twitter.com/XwIdByB2tG

— phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth) August 19, 2024

Fixes in this Build

Input

• Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenated).
• Fixed an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Other

• Fixed an issue in Registry Editor where when editing a DWORD or QWORD if you pasted in a HEX value into the text box and saved it, the value saved might not be the one you had entered (for example, pasting 0x1 would become 0x411).
• [Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
• [Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
• [NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes.
• [Share button] On USB controllers, the button might not work with Game Bar.
• [GPU-Paravirtualized VM or Container] After you restart it, graphic allocation creation might fail. Because of this, the VM and Container are not as reliable as you expect.
• [Domain Name System (DNS)] This update hardens DNS server security to address CVE-2024-37968. If the configurations of your domains are not up to date, you might get the SERVFAIL error or time out.
• [PowerShell and VBScript] The issue stops you from using Windows Update Agent (WUA) APIs in your scripts.
• [BitLocker] A firmware update might fail if you turn on BitLocker.

General

• Fixed an issue where adding additional languages or optional features might fail with error 0x800f081f in the last few flights.

For more information about this Build, you can check this article from the Microsoft Blog.

For a more in-depth presentation of the New Build, you can watch the video below from the YouTube channel.