In this article, we will talk about the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build for the Canary Channel, which is Build 27686.
Things that you need to keep in mind in the Canary Channel:
- The builds that Microsoft releases to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as they 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 Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a small subset of Insiders.
- Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
- To get off the Canary 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.
New Windows Sandbox
This build includes the new Windows Sandbox Client Preview that is now updated via the Microsoft Store. As part of this preview, we’re introducing runtime clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host at runtime. You can access these via the new “…” icon at the upper right on the app. Additionally, this preview includes a super early version of command line support (commands may change over time). You can use ‘wsb.exe –help’ command for more information.
General Changes
- Some features that were previously rolled out to Insiders in the Canary Channel may disappear as we flight newer 27xxx series builds. These features should begin rolling out again to Insiders over time.
- Microsoft made optimizations to improve battery life for PCs running Build 27686+ in the Canary Channel.
Settings Changes
- Microsoft has added a detach virtual hard disk (VHD/`VHDx) button to Settings making it much simpler to detach your VHD/VHDx as needed. This option is available under Settings > System > Storage > Disks & Volumes, in the properties for your VHD/VHDx.
- Build 27686 updates HDR settings: a new option to “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” is present.
- One small visual change to disks & volumes settings in build 27686: the “Create volume” button for unallocated disk space now has rounded corners and the chevron animates.
- Build 27686 adds support for ReFS version 3.15.
Networking
- Your device may periodically run network tests in the background to collect diagnostic data. These tests will use a small amount of data (up to 10MB/day) and will only run on Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections that are not marked as metered. This will only occur on PCs in the Canary Channel running Build 27686 and higher.
Storage
- When formatting disks from the command line using the format command, we’ve increased the FAT32 size limit from 32GB to 2TB.
Fixes in this Build
Dev Drive
- Fixed an issue where Dev Drive VHDs weren’t automatically re-mounting when the underlying volume was dismounted and brought back online.
Lock Screen
- Did some work to help address an issue where the battery icon displayed on the lock screen might be out of sync with the actual battery level of your PC.
Windows Security
- Fixed an issue in the Windows Security app where if you browsed the networks under Firewall & Network protection, it showed a broken glyph (a rectangle) next to the network name rather than a network icon.
Settings
- Fixed an issue under Settings > System > Storage > Disks and Volumes, where there was no space between the Create and Attach VHD buttons.
- Fixed an issue where the power mode option in Settings > System > Power & Battery was showing in cases where it couldn’t be changed, leading to a blank dropdown.
- Fixed an issue where if you searched in Settings for Kiosk and clicked the result for setting up kiosk mode, it wouldn’t navigate to the correct page for doing that.
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).
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.
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