Microsoft releases Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25992 & 23585

Microsoft have two new builds for Windows Insiders. The new builds are 23585 for Windows Insiders on the Dev channel and 25992 for Windows Insiders on the Canary channel.

UPDATE: Here is my hands on video

Build 25992 for the Canary channel

Microsoft has made some interesting changes to SMB (Server Message Block) with this build:

• SMB Firewall Rule Changes: The default behaviour of Windows Defender Firewall has been modified when creating SMB shares. Instead of automatically enabling the “File and Printer Sharing” rules, it now configures the new “File and Printer Sharing (Restrictive)” group, which doesn’t include inbound NetBIOS ports 137-139. This enhances network security and aligns with Windows Server’s “File Server” role behaviour. Administrators can still configure the old rule or modify the new one.
• SMB NTLM Blocking Exception List: The SMB NTLM blocking feature introduced in a previous build now allows administrators to specify exception lists for NTLM usage. This enables blocking NTLM usage by default while allowing specific servers that don’t support Kerberos to continue using NTLM.
• SMB Alternative Client and Server Ports: The SMB client now supports connecting to an SMB server over alternative network ports, such as TCP, QUIC, or RDMA, in addition to the default ports. This offers more flexibility for network configurations. While Windows Server does not support configuring alternative SMB server TCP ports, third-party applications like Samba do.
• SMB over QUIC Client Access Control Certificate Changes: The SMB over QUIC client access control feature now supports using certificates with subject alternative names, not just a single subject. This allows for the use of Microsoft AD Certificate Authority and multiple endpoint names, making it more versatile and eliminating the need for self-signed test certificates.

Other Changes and Improvements

[File Explorer]

• Did some work which should help noticeably improve the performance of opening large .zip files in File Explorer.

Fixes for known issues

• We fixed the issue causing blank options to show on the Personalization and Privacy & Security settings pages, where if clicked on it would crash Settings.
• Fixed an issue causing the context menu to draw off screen when invoked using touch or pen on the side of your desktop.
• Fixed an issue where Settings Home might show a prompt to sign into your Microsoft account, and fail to sign in if you tried to use it, even though Settings itself showed you were already signed in.
• If you were experiencing Quick Settings crashes and WIN + A not working in the previous flight, that should be resolved now.
• Fixed an issue that was causing taskbar icons to disappear after switching desktops.

Known issues

• [REMINDER] Some popular games may not work correctly on the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on these builds.
• We’re working on a fix for an issue where attempting to reboot into safe mode hangs on the boot logo.
• [NEW] Attempting to navigate to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad on this build will crash Settings.

Build 23585 for the Dev channel

On the Dev channel there are just a few minor changes, the main one being you can now uninstall many of the apps that ship with Windows including Camera app, Cortana, Photos app, and People app, and Remote Desktop (MSTSC).

The fixes are:

• Fixed a few issues leading to explorer.exe crashes.
• Fixed an issue causing the context menu to draw off screen when invoked using touch or pen on the side of your desktop.
• Fixed the issue causing the purple Chat button to show up again on the taskbar after updating to Build 23580.