New Windows 11 Update 22000.556 (KB5011493) – Performance and Security Improvements, New Settings and Fixes

In this article, we will talk about the latest Windows 11 Update for the Main Release, which is Build 22000.556 or KB5011493.

For those of you who are not familiar with how Windows 11 Updates for the Main Release work, I will explain it to you in the following lines.

Every month Windows 11 has a B and a C Release for Windows 11. Usually, the B Release is launched on the second Tuesday of the month and contains all the features that were tested in the previous month’s C Release.

Because this is the B Release of the month that is released every second Tuesday of the month, we will receive all the improvements and changes from the previous month’s C Release, which can be found in this article.

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5010414 (released February 15, 2022) and also addresses the following issues: 

• Addresses a known issue that occurs when you attempt to reset a Windows device and its apps have folders that contain reparse data, such as Microsoft OneDrive or Microsoft OneDrive for Business. When you select Remove everything, files that have been downloaded or synced locally from Microsoft OneDrive might not be deleted. Some devices might take up to seven (7) days after you install this update to fully address the issue and prevent files from persisting after a reset. For immediate effect, you can manually trigger Windows Update Troubleshooter using the instructions in Windows Update Troubleshooter.

This update also makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

For more info about this new Build, you can check the official announcement from Microsoft about this one.

The list of improvements in this Build:

• New! Provides the ability to shares cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge. 
• New! Adds the clock and date to the taskbars of other monitors when you connect other monitors to your device.
• New! Adds weather content to the left side of the taskbar if the taskbar is aligned in the center. When you hover over the weather, the Widgets panel will appear on the left side of the screen and will disappear when you stop hovering over the area.
• Updates an issue that affects dialog boxes in Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode.
• Updates an issue that causes Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode to stop working when you press the F1 key.
• Updates an issue that displays right-to-left (RTL) language text as left justified on File Explorer command menus and File Explorer context menus.
• Updates an issue that might cause the time zone list in Settings to appear blank for users who are not administrators.
• Updates an issue that displays right-to-left (RTL) language text as left justified on File Explorer command menus and context menus.
• Updates an issue that causes incorrect tooltips to appear in an empty area on the taskbar after you hover over other icons like battery, volume, or Wi-Fi.

Important: To ensure that some new features in this release work as expected, the Windows Web Experience Pack from the Microsoft Store must be current. If the App Settings > App updates setting is enabled, the latest version of the pack will be automatically installed. You can also manually install the current Windows Web Experience Pack. For information about updating the Windows Web Experience Pack and enabling automatic updates from the Microsoft Store, see How to update the Windows Web Experience Pack in the Microsoft Store.

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

• New! Provides the ability to shares cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge.
• New! Opens Microsoft Office files that are in the Start menu’s recommended section in the browser. This occurs if the device does not have an appropriate Microsoft Office license and the file is stored in Microsoft OneDrive or Microsoft SharePoint. If there is a license, the file will open in the desktop app instead.
• New! Adds the clock and date to the taskbars of other monitors when you connect other monitors to your device.
• New!  Adds weather content to the left side of the taskbar if the taskbar is aligned in the center. When you hover over the weather, the Widgets panel will appear on the left side of the screen and will disappear when you stop hovering over the area.
• New! Adds the ability to quickly share open application windows directly from your taskbar to a Microsoft Teams call.
• New! Adds support for hot adding and the removal of non-volatile memory (NVMe) namespaces.
• New!  Adds the ability to instantly mute and unmute a Microsoft Teams call from your taskbar. During a call, an active microphone icon will appear on the taskbar so that you can easily mute the audio without having to return to the Microsoft Teams call window.
• Addresses an issue that occurs when Windows Server 2016 runs as a terminal server using certain cloud computing virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). As result, the servers randomly stop responding after running for a period of time. This also addresses a regression that proactively checks to ensure that the CSharedLock in rpcss.exe is set correctly to avoid a deadlock.
• Addresses an issue that might cause the time zone list in Settings to appear blank for users who are not administrators.
• Addresses an issue that affects the Windows search service and occurs when you query using the proximity operator.
• Addresses an issue that fails to show the Startup impact values in Task Manager.
• Addresses an issue that prevents ShellWindows() from returning the InternetExplorer object when iexplore.exe runs in the Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode context.
• Addresses an issue that affects dialog boxes in Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode.
• Addresses an issue that causes Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode to stop working when you press the F1 key.
• Addresses an issue that causes the improper cleanup of Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) objects. This prevents session teardown and causes a session to stop responding.
• Addresses an issue that prevents printing from operating properly for some low integrity process apps.
• Introduces support for Windows Hello for Business Cloud Trust. This is a new deployment model for hybrid deployments of Windows Hello for Business. It uses the same technology and deployment steps that support on-premises single sign-on (SSO) for Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) security keys. Cloud Trust removes the public-key infrastructure (PKI) requirements for deploying Windows and simplifies the Windows Hello for Business deployment experience.
• Addresses an issue that prevents you from unloading and reloading drivers when the drivers are protected Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI).
• Addresses an issue that affects the Silent BitLocker enablement policy and might unintentionally add a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) protector.
• Addresses a reliability issue that affects the use of the Remote Desktop app to mount a client’s local drive to a terminal server session.
• Addresses an issue that displays right-to-left (RTL) language text as left justified on File Explorer command menus and context menus.
• Addresses an issue that prevents you from reaching the LanguagePackManagement configuration service provider (CSP) using the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Bridge.
• Addresses an issue that causes a mismatch between a Remote Desktop session’s keyboard and the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client when signing in.
• Addresses an issue that causes incorrect tooltips to appear in an empty area on the taskbar after you hover over other icons like battery, volume, or Wi-Fi.
• Addresses an issue that occurs when you try to write a service principal name (SPN) alias (such as www/FOO) and HOST/FOO already exists on another object. If the RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROPERTY is on the SPN attribute of the colliding object, you receive an “Access Denied” error.
• Addresses an issue that disconnects Offline Files on the network drive after you restart the OS and sign in. This issue occurs if the Distributed File System (DFS) path is mapped to the network drive.
• Addresses an issue that displays the authentication dialog twice when you mount a network drive.

Also if you are interested, you can watch the video from the youtube channel about this new Build.