insider preview

Microsoft has pushed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) to Insiders, matching the Beta-channel preview that landed on January 16, 2026 and now appearing in the Dev Channel as well; the update delivers modest but meaningful UI modernizations, practical feature additions...

Windows Insiders received a cothepact but consequential preview package this month: KB5074157 (Build 26220.7653), a cumulative preview that briimages a string of reliability fixes to the shell and Settings while surfacing a handful of visible polish items — most notably WinUI-based Account...

Microsoft began rolling out Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) to the Beta Channel on January 16, 2026, a focused preview quality update that brings WinUI‑based modernized dialogs for Settings > Accounts > Other users, faster Copilot suggestions in Click to Do on eligible...

Microsoft has pushed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) into the Dev Channel — the same 25H2 enablement-package build Microsoft previously published to Beta — and with it shipped a modest set of visible polish, Copilot-era experience tweaks, and a broad collection of...

Microsoft has quietly added native support for .webp images as desktop backgrounds in the Insider channels, a small but practical tweak that removes a long-standing friction point for users who collect web-sourced wallpapers — while the more eye-catching idea of native video wallpapers remains a...

Microsoft has quietly restored a small but meaningful piece of modern web compatibility to the Windows shell: Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) now accepts .webp images directly as desktop backgrounds, removing a long-standing friction point for users who source wallpapers...

Microsoft’s latest Insider Preview for Windows 11 tightens visual seams and ships a batch of small but meaningful fixes that push the OS toward a more consistent, modern look—while reminding enterprises and power users that these changes remain staged, gated, and not yet suitable for broad...

PCMag’s “All About AI” framing arrives at a moment when the PC market is redefining itself around on‑device intelligence, and the result is a new purchasing calculus: raw CPU/GPU numbers still matter, but NPUs, TOPS, and Copilot+ integration now shape which machines deliver genuinely different...

Microsoft’s Copilot is quietly moving closer to the center of the Windows desktop: recent Windows Insider preview builds contain inert UI resources and a faint, hover-only hotspot in File Explorer tied to an internal control labeled AppAssistantLaunch and human-facing strings such as “Chat with...

Microsoft’s in‑Explorer Copilot experiment has moved from rumor to tangible preview artifacts: hidden UI strings and inert controls in recent Windows Insider builds point to a “Chat with Copilot” entry embedded directly in File Explorer, paired with a “Detach Copilot” affordance that implies a...

Microsoft has quietly given IT administrators a supported, one‑time way to remove the consumer Microsoft Copilot app from managed Windows 11 devices — but the escape hatch is deliberately narrow, gated by multiple checks, and designed as a surgical cleanup tool rather than a fleet‑wide “kill...

Microsoft's rapid-fire Insider flights landed again on June 30, 2016, when the company pushed Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14379 to the Fast ring for both PC and Mobile — a small-but-significant maintenance release that fixed several user-facing bugs while highlighting some persistent mobile...

Microsoft has quietly added a dedicated Music section to the Windows Store as part of its long-running push to turn the Store into a single, unified shopping portal for apps, games, movies, TV and music — a move visible to Windows Insiders on recent preview builds and confirmed in Microsoft’s...

Microsoft has finally given administrators a supported way to remove the consumer Microsoft Copilot app from managed Windows 11 devices — but the escape hatch is tightly controlled, limited to Insider Preview builds, and intentionally designed as a one‑time, surgical cleanup rather than a...

Microsoft has quietly given administrators a way to remove the consumer Copilot app from managed Windows 11 devices — but the escape hatch is deliberately narrow, while Excel’s new import functions push AI deeper into everyday spreadsheet work, promising big productivity gains alongside...

A compact community tool that promises to excise virtually every AI surface from Windows 11 has thrust a long‑running debate into the spotlight: users want durable opt‑outs, vendors design for new capabilities, and the servicing model that makes modern Windows manageable can turn every...

Windows 11’s ongoing visual refresh continues to creep into the operating system’s smallest interaction surfaces: the latest Insider Preview — build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) — brings modernized, WinUI-based dialogs to Account settings and polishes several user-facing touches such as desktop...

Microsoft has pushed a targeted Windows 11 Insider preview to the Beta channel today: Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157), a 25H2‑track Preview Quality Update that modernizes account dialogs, speeds Copilot suggestions in Click to Do on Copilot+ devices, adds WebP wallpaper...

Microsoft has quietly fixed a long‑running annoyance in Windows’ power menu: the Start menu option “Update and shut down” — which in some configurations behaved like “Update and restart” — now behaves as labeled in recent Windows Insider preview builds and the October 28, 2025 optional...

Microsoft has quietly rolled a trio of Windows stories that together illustrate how the operating system’s evolution now balances small, practical feature work with fast-moving AI integration and an uncomfortably visible reminder that even cosmetic updates can bite back when rendering paths...