Microsoft releases Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.730 and 22623.730

Microsoft has release Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.730 and Build 22623.730 ( via KB5017385) to the Beta Channel. Build 22623.730 has features on and 22621.730 has the new feature switched off. The build has an improved tablet experience and updates to the system tray. In previous beta releases the feature enabled build was 22622 so this build brings down the new build automatically.

The improved tablet taskbar was introduced a few weeks ago to the dev channel and gives you the option to collapse the taskbar on tablet devices, and then when you swipe up it shows a tablet optimised task bar:

You will find the setting in Settings, Personalization, Taskbar, Taskbar behaviours called “Optimize taskbar for touch interactions when this device is used as a tablet”.

The other change is with the system tray, you will see a rounded focus and hover treatment on all icons in the lower right.

Here are the other changes and known issues:

Changes and Improvements in Build 22623.730

[File Explorer]

• Home now searches more recently opened Microsoft 365 cloud files for users who are signed with their Microsoft account or have their Microsoft account connected to the profile via Settings. Home search now shows recent file activity for cloud files when in details view. Microsoft 365 cloud files can now be searched using additional file properties such as file location, extension, and activity.
• File Explorer search will now show results as you type. The full search results page will update live without needing to press enter.

Fixes in Build 22623.730

[System Tray Updates]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if tablet-optimized taskbar with System Tray updates is enabled on your device. Please see above for details on the tablet-optimized taskbar and System Tray updates, which is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

• The taskbar should no longer flash because of changes in the system tray in non-tablet-optimized scenarios.
• Fixed an issue that was causing parts of the taskbar or its icons like search to get stuck in the wrong theme’s colors when switching between light and dark themes.
• Date and time should no longer get stuck cutting off on the side of the screen from system tray changes.

[Start menu]

• Fixed an issue which was causing Start menu crashes for some Insiders.
• Fixed an issue where the Start menu recommended section might unexpectedly show one column instead of two.
• If you change the app associated with a particular file type, the icon for any of those file type displayed should now update in the recommended section.

Fixes for BOTH Build 22621.730 & Build 22623.730

• We fixed an issue that affects some processors. This issue occurs when you turn on Hyper-V and kernel Direct Memory Access (DMA) protections.
• We fixed an issue that affects the Microsoft Japanese input method editor (IME). Text reconversion fails when you use some third-party virtual desktops.
• We fixed an issue that might cause an application to stop responding. This might occur when the input queue overflows.
• We fixed an issue that stops you from signing in to various Microsoft Office 365 apps. This affects Outlook, Word, Teams, and so on.
• We fixed an issue that affects graphics drivers that use d3d9on12.dll.
• We fixed issues that cause updates to the Microsoft Store to fail.
• We fixed an issue that affects the LanmanWorkstation service. It leaks memory when you mount a network drive.
• We fixed an issue that affects the Miracast UI. Sometimes it closes too soon when you cast to devices that use the DeviceObjectType:Aep.
• We fixed an issue that affects Task Manager. It stops working when you switch between light and dark mode or change the accent color.
• We fixed an issue that affects the font of three Chinese characters. When you format these characters as bold, the width size is wrong.
• We fixed an issue that affects input method editors (IME) from Microsoft and third parties. They stop working when you close the IME window. This occurs if the IME uses Windows Text Services Framework (TSF) 1.0.
• We fixed an issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode. It stops you from opening webpages. This occurs when you enable Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) and you do not configure Network Isolation policies.
• We fixed an issue that affects Microsoft Edge when it is in IE Mode. The titles of pop-up windows and tabs are wrong.
• We fixed an issue that stops the credential UI from displaying in IE mode.
• We fixed an issue that affects certificate mapping. When it fails, lsass.exe might stop working in schannel.dll.

Known issues

[General]

• We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders in recent Beta Channel builds.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

• The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
• The taskbar takes longer than expected to transition to the touch-optimized version when switching between desktop posture and tablet posture.
• Using the left or right edge gestures can result in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
• When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
• When there are no running windows on the desktop, the taskbar can sometimes collapse, when it should be expanded.

Via