insider preview

Microsoft is quietly testing a modernized Run dialog for Windows 11 that replaces the decades‑old Win32 pop‑up with a Fluent‑style overlay, and while it isn’t yet enabled for everyone, Insiders can opt in — or force the feature on — in preview builds that include the KB5072043 update. Background...

Every fresh Windows 11 installation ships with a grab bag of first‑party apps—some genuinely useful, some quietly redundant, and a handful that feel like marketing dressed up as convenience—and ZDNet’s pragmatic “11 I keep / 11 I ditch” checklist is one of the clearest, user‑centric guides for...

Microsoft’s long-serving Run box is getting a modern makeover in Insider preview builds of Windows 11 — but for now the experience is strictly optional and intended to live alongside the legacy Win32 Run rather than forcibly replace it. Background / Overview The Run dialog (Win+R) has been a...

Microsoft’s latest Insider preview makes the company’s ambitions plain: Windows 11 is being shaped into an “agentic” operating system where AI agents live in the taskbar, run in contained workspaces, and can be invoked, monitored, and governed from the shell itself — and the December preview...

Microsoft is quietly testing a redesigned Run dialog for Windows 11 that replaces the 30‑year‑old, Windows‑95 era quick launcher with a modern, Fluent‑style overlay — and it’s optional by design: the new Run appears in preview builds and can be switched on from Settings → System → Advanced when...

Microsoft’s latest Insider preview pushes Windows 11 further along Microsoft’s plan to make AI an integral, discoverable part of the desktop, with Ask Copilot appearing on the taskbar, a developer-facing Agent Launchers framework, expanded Narrator controls, and a new Discover Windows widget...

Microsoft has begun rolling out a targeted Insider preview that lets Copilot edit text in‑place during a Copilot Vision session, enabling real‑time "rewrite, refine, and edit" actions without forcing users to copy, paste, or switch apps. Background / Overview Copilot on Windows has evolved...

Microsoft has started rolling out a targeted Insider preview that lets Copilot edit text in-place during a Copilot Vision session — a real‑time “rewrite, refine, edit” mode that inserts suggested changes directly into whatever document or text field you’re sharing, with a preview step before any...

Microsoft’s latest Insider cumulative update, packaged as KB5072043 and published for the Windows 11 Insider Preview (Build 26220.7523), formally introduces a developer- and platform-level feature called Agent Launchers — a standardized framework that lets apps register interactive AI agents so...

Microsoft's latest Insider preview build makes a small but meaningful tweak to how voice typing integrates with the on‑screen touch keyboard in Windows 11, shifting dictation from a full‑screen overlay into a compact, in‑keyboard indicator that preserves context and reduces visual interruption...

Microsoft has published a matched Insider preview update — Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7523 (KB5072043) — to the Dev and Beta channels, delivering a concentrated set of AI-first experiences (taskbar Ask Copilot, visible Agents, Agent Launchers), accessibility and input refinements...

Microsoft’s latest Insider update quietly fixes one of Smart App Control’s biggest adoption barriers: beginning with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7070 (KB5070300), Smart App Control (SAC) can now be toggled on or off from the Windows Security app without performing a clean reinstall of...

Microsoft has quietly fixed a major usability pain in Windows 11’s Smart App Control by making the feature toggleable in preview builds — meaning you can now flip SAC on and off from Windows Security without having to perform a full OS reset or clean reinstall. Background Smart App Control (SAC)...

Microsoft is quietly experimenting with a controversial performance trade‑off in Windows 11 that aims to make File Explorer feel instantly responsive — by preloading Explorer in the background — and that experiment is already rolling out to Insiders with a toggle that, by several reports, will...

Microsoft has quietly fixed one of Smart App Control’s biggest usability problems: beginning with Insider Preview Build 26220.7070, Windows 11 now exposes a toggle that lets users turn Smart App Control (SAC) on or off without performing a clean reinstall or reset of the OS. The control appears...

Microsoft has quietly given Windows 11 a console-like persona: the new Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) transforms supported PCs into a controller-first, distraction-free gaming shell that boots straight into the Xbox app and trims desktop overhead to free memory and simplify navigation. This...

Microsoft has quietly given Windows 11 users a real way to remove the intrusive “AI Actions” entry from File Explorer’s right‑click (context) menu by changing the shell’s display logic so the AI Actions section is hidden whenever no actionable AI handlers are available or enabled. Background /...

Microsoft has quietly given users a reliable way to make the intrusive AI Actions entry in File Explorer disappear — provided you’re running a build that contains the fix and you turn off the associated Actions in Settings. Background / Overview When Microsoft began surfacing AI-driven shortcuts...

Microsoft has quietly fixed one of the most irritating little UI bugs in Windows 11: in the latest Insider preview (Build 26220.7344) File Explorer will no longer show the AI Actions section in the right‑click context menu when there are no enabled or available AI Actions to display. This change...

Microsoft has pushed a narrow but important Canary-channel flight — Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 28000.1340 — that includes a targeted reliability fix addressing Storage Spaces and Storage Spaces Direct cluster creation failures, a change with outsized importance for administrators...