The release of Windows 11 Build 26100.4762, corresponding with the 24H2 update now rolling through the Release Preview channel, represents a crucial inflection point in Microsoft’s approach to modern operating system development. Traditionally, Windows feature updates have been defined by incremental improvements and (often disruptive) user interface renewals. However, this latest build, culminating a staggered rollout strategy extending into 2025, signals an accelerating shift towards a deeply AI-native experience, multi-device integration, and an acute focus on accessibility and user empowerment.
Below, we unpack the new features, analyze strategic decisions, and highlight both standout improvements and real risks that define this milestone.
Microsoft’s long-standing practice of staggered build release continues with Build 26100.4762. The gradual availability— initially to Insiders and users of Copilot+ PCs— allows Microsoft to capture telemetry, address edge-case bugs, and mitigate update complications across a broad hardware spectrum. This measured approach follows lessons learned from earlier Windows 10 releases, where rapid deployment sometimes led to widespread disruption and negative publicity. The 24H2 update began outreach to eligible Windows 10 22H2 devices in January 2025, with safeguard holds for hardware or software incompatibilities (such as legacy camera drivers or certain third-party security tools) to prevent problematic installs.
Access is protected by Windows Hello authentication, and the entire service is opt-in, reflecting Microsoft’s focus on privacy in the wake of growing scrutiny over continuous background recording. Snapshots are saved locally—never sent to the cloud— and can be paused or deleted by the user at any time. While Recall is positioned as a major productivity solution for ending the “hunt for lost files or web pages,” it does prompt serious privacy considerations, especially in regulated business environments. Both IT administrators and personal users must be educated on what is recorded and how access is protected.
Early real-world feedback has identified Recall as one of the first OS-level memory augmentation layers, but also as a potential vector for unintended data exposure, should device security be compromised or policy management overlooked. Microsoft has reportedly responded to concerns with expanded documentation, administrative controls, and explicit opt-in requirements.
Users trigger Click-To-Do with keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Win + Click or Win + Q), standard selection interfaces, even via the Snipping Tool or swipe gestures—particularly useful for touch devices. Accessibility is a focus, and admins in enterprise environments can control the exposure of Click-To-Do via group policy.
This feature represents one of Microsoft’s most concerted efforts at making “everyday AI” a reality—elevating productivity actions from the domain of Office macros or third-party add-ons to the OS layer itself.
At launch, the feature is restricted to Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon processors—where local inference is possible and privacy is easier to guarantee. Microsoft promises expansion to x86 systems (AMD, Intel) as technical feasibility and testing permit.
Critical Questions Linger:
A new “Shared” tab centralizes files distributed via OneDrive, Teams, or Outlook—a subtle but powerful aid for users navigating extensive collaboration workflows.
Moreover, stricter hardware requirements ensure only modern, secure devices gain access to the full update. PCs with legacy ARM CPUs (e.g., ARMv8.0 or below) are barred—refreshing the platform security baseline at the cost of sidelining aging hardware.
The leap towards AI-native workflows may, without careful backporting, produce a two-tier ecosystem within Windows: advanced AI for the few with new PCs, a traditional experience for the rest.
Whether this spurs a beneficial hardware upgrade cycle or user frustration at forced obsolescence will depend on Microsoft’s pace of inclusive feature rollout and communication.
Yet, friction remains. Privacy anxieties, the slow march towards AI ubiquity (and the attendant risks), hardware-gating, and the challenge of keeping legacy users satisfied all create a tension that will define Microsoft’s next chapter.
What lies ahead is not just a more productive desktop, but the beginning of a contest: Can Microsoft deliver on the promise of helpful, responsible AI for all, and can users adapt to—or push back against—an ever-smarter, ever-watchful Windows?
For now, Windows 11 Build 26100.4762 stands as both beacon and battleground—a pioneering leap and a promise that every new era brings new challenges, and new opportunities to get it right.
Source: WinCentral Windows 11 Build 26100.4762 (Release preview) , 24H2 version
Below, we unpack the new features, analyze strategic decisions, and highlight both standout improvements and real risks that define this milestone.
Microsoft’s long-standing practice of staggered build release continues with Build 26100.4762. The gradual availability— initially to Insiders and users of Copilot+ PCs— allows Microsoft to capture telemetry, address edge-case bugs, and mitigate update complications across a broad hardware spectrum. This measured approach follows lessons learned from earlier Windows 10 releases, where rapid deployment sometimes led to widespread disruption and negative publicity. The 24H2 update began outreach to eligible Windows 10 22H2 devices in January 2025, with safeguard holds for hardware or software incompatibilities (such as legacy camera drivers or certain third-party security tools) to prevent problematic installs.Key Features and Innovations in Windows 11 24H2
AI at the OS Core: Recall, Click-To-Do, and the New AI Agent
Recall (Preview): The Memory Layer for Your PC
One of the most-discussed (and polarizing) features to emerge in this update is Recall. Designed as a revolutionary search tool, Recall uses on-device AI to passively take and organize snapshots of user activity: apps, documents, websites, and more. A user can later retrieve any of these moments through natural language queries—“Find that spreadsheet I was updating last Tuesday,” or “Show the website with the blue chart.”Access is protected by Windows Hello authentication, and the entire service is opt-in, reflecting Microsoft’s focus on privacy in the wake of growing scrutiny over continuous background recording. Snapshots are saved locally—never sent to the cloud— and can be paused or deleted by the user at any time. While Recall is positioned as a major productivity solution for ending the “hunt for lost files or web pages,” it does prompt serious privacy considerations, especially in regulated business environments. Both IT administrators and personal users must be educated on what is recorded and how access is protected.
Early real-world feedback has identified Recall as one of the first OS-level memory augmentation layers, but also as a potential vector for unintended data exposure, should device security be compromised or policy management overlooked. Microsoft has reportedly responded to concerns with expanded documentation, administrative controls, and explicit opt-in requirements.
Click-To-Do: Inline AI Actions Everywhere
Building on Recall’s data, Click-To-Do allows users to immediately act on any highlighted content—text or images—within supported Windows apps or snapshots. For images, users receive context menu options to erase backgrounds, remove objects, or manipulate the picture inside Photos or Paint. With text, Copilot+ PCs (those featuring dedicated Neural Processing Units, or NPUs) gain AI-powered actions such as rewrite, summarize, or convert to bullet points. The engine behind these actions, the on-device “Phi Silica” language model, enables responsiveness and privacy without forcing a round trip to Microsoft’s cloud.Users trigger Click-To-Do with keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Win + Click or Win + Q), standard selection interfaces, even via the Snipping Tool or swipe gestures—particularly useful for touch devices. Accessibility is a focus, and admins in enterprise environments can control the exposure of Click-To-Do via group policy.
This feature represents one of Microsoft’s most concerted efforts at making “everyday AI” a reality—elevating productivity actions from the domain of Office macros or third-party add-ons to the OS layer itself.
AI Agent in Settings: A Conversational Bridge
Perhaps the most transformative—if initially polarizing—change is the integration of an AI-powered agent inside the Windows Settings app. Rather than searching for a needle in the settings haystack, users can now interact conversationally, e.g., “How do I enable dark mode?” The agent parses intent and walks the user through solutions, replacing decades of static search bars and documentation pop-ups.At launch, the feature is restricted to Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon processors—where local inference is possible and privacy is easier to guarantee. Microsoft promises expansion to x86 systems (AMD, Intel) as technical feasibility and testing permit.
Critical Questions Linger:
- How robust is the agent’s understanding of nuanced or obscure settings, and how will it handle errors?
- Can AI-driven help meaningfully reduce IT support tickets or will it simply add another layer to troubleshoot when things go wrong?
- What is the true privacy and data retention policy for conversational queries and telemetry, especially in enterprise settings?
Major Usability Improvements
File Explorer: Modernization and Collaboration
The File Explorer in 24H2 sees tangible refinements: a more intuitive drag-and-drop “sharing tray” (allowing users to instantly share files with suggested apps), native support for 7zip and TAR, improved ZIP decompression speed, and breadcrumb navigation for more fluent folder traversing. Larger, more accessible context menu icons complement the experience, while “pivot-based curation” surfaces Microsoft 365 content front and center on the Home page.A new “Shared” tab centralizes files distributed via OneDrive, Teams, or Outlook—a subtle but powerful aid for users navigating extensive collaboration workflows.
Enhanced HDR, Dolby Vision, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth LE Audio
Hardware support is another theme of the 24H2 build:- Dedicated toggles for HDR and Dolby Vision catered to each supported monitor or app.
- The ability to stream HDR video even when the global HDR toggle is off.
- Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth LE Audio support future-proofs Windows devices for emerging standards in fast, stable connectivity and superior, low-latency wireless sound.
Accessibility Gains
Improvements include enhanced Narrator capabilities (now providing detailed image and graph descriptions and “speech recap” for tracking and copying recently spoken content), refined mouse accessibility options, and better text scaling in dialogs/UI for low-vision users. These efforts signal a welcome doubling down on inclusive design.Energy Saver Mode and Modern Power Management
Energy Saver 2.0 incorporates smarter policies for background activity and screen dimming, intended to extend battery life on laptops and optimize power profiles on desktops. IT administrators now gain granular policy control within domains, aligning well with organizations working to reduce energy footprints.Enhanced Cloud and Cross-Device Integration
Features like Cross-Device Resume (edit your mobile OneDrive file from where you left off when switching to a PC) further blur the lines between phone and desktop, aligning Microsoft with a broader industry push towards seamless device continuity.Under-the-Hood: Kernel Modernization and Security
Microsoft’s migration of the Windows kernel from C to Rust in key components is substantial. Rust’s memory-safety guarantees reduce classes of vulnerabilities (e.g., buffer overflows) that have long plagued even hardened kernels. This under-the-hood modernization reflects Microsoft’s serious commitment to security, preparing Windows for an era of relentless cyberthreats.Moreover, stricter hardware requirements ensure only modern, secure devices gain access to the full update. PCs with legacy ARM CPUs (e.g., ARMv8.0 or below) are barred—refreshing the platform security baseline at the cost of sidelining aging hardware.
Noteworthy User Interface and Quality-of-Life Tweaks
- Taskbar hover animations and underlining receive more polish.
- A new system tray icon shows when Studio Effects (AI-powered camera and mic improvements) are active, with a direct settings shortcut.
- Hotspot support for the new 6GHz Wi-Fi band, providing a “highway” for advanced users with supporting hardware.
- Simsun-ExtG font for a new level of Unicode support (including rare Chinese ideographs).
- Numerous minor fixes for mouse, icon, Snipping Tool, and multi-monitor quirks.
Privacy, Security, and the Role of AI
Simply put, AI is both the most exciting and most contested theme of Windows 11 24H2. Microsoft has engineered much of the AI interaction to be local, “private by design,” with explicit opt-ins and on-device processing. However, as AI saturates the OS, new questions loom:- Will users and organizations trust features like Recall and the AI agent, even with local storage and authentication?
- What new vectors does continuous snapshotting or AI-powered configuration open up for social engineering or sophisticated malware?
- How well does Microsoft balance innovation with transparency on what is processed, how, and for what purpose—especially under regulatory regimes like GDPR?
Hardware Segmentation—Promise and Risk
A major caveat: Many headline features—especially those tied to AI—remain exclusive to “Copilot+” PCs with NPUs, predominantly running Snapdragon silicon at release. Microsoft promises that future support will reach AMD and Intel machines, but the outcome is not guaranteed.The leap towards AI-native workflows may, without careful backporting, produce a two-tier ecosystem within Windows: advanced AI for the few with new PCs, a traditional experience for the rest.
Whether this spurs a beneficial hardware upgrade cycle or user frustration at forced obsolescence will depend on Microsoft’s pace of inclusive feature rollout and communication.
Conclusion: Windows at a Crossroads—Ambition and Caution Intertwined
Windows 11 24H2 and Build 26100.4762 are not just about incremental polish; they’re about rethinking what “the operating system” can be in an age of AI-native, multi-device, always-connected workflows. The sheer breadth of this release—Recall, Click-To-Do, the AI agent, modern security primitives, accessibility, and cloud integration—cements Microsoft’s intention to make Windows both a human-centric and machine-intelligent platform.Yet, friction remains. Privacy anxieties, the slow march towards AI ubiquity (and the attendant risks), hardware-gating, and the challenge of keeping legacy users satisfied all create a tension that will define Microsoft’s next chapter.
What lies ahead is not just a more productive desktop, but the beginning of a contest: Can Microsoft deliver on the promise of helpful, responsible AI for all, and can users adapt to—or push back against—an ever-smarter, ever-watchful Windows?
For now, Windows 11 Build 26100.4762 stands as both beacon and battleground—a pioneering leap and a promise that every new era brings new challenges, and new opportunities to get it right.
Source: WinCentral Windows 11 Build 26100.4762 (Release preview) , 24H2 version