Microsoft is at it again, tinkering with Windows 11 like a chef who just discovered a spice rack at the back of the pantry. With the release of build 26200.5562 (KB5055642) to the Windows Insider Dev Channel, Redmond's digital maestros have unleashed yet another batch of features aiming to make Windows—and hopefully, our lives—a tad more “intelligent.” But are these new AI wonders a blessing for productivity, or is the Windows ecosystem slowly morphing into HAL 9000 with a penchant for Clippy’s ghost? Let’s dive in, scrutinize, and, where necessary, laugh at the latest evolution of Microsoft’s favorite OS experiment.
Gone are the days when “AI in Windows” meant Cortana meekly suggesting the weather. Now, it means Copilot+ PCs and all the magical (or menacing, depending on your trust issues) bells and whistles you could expect from a modern Windows release. Build 26200.5562 introduces new Copilot+ PC experiences, aiming not just to make Windows cleverer, but, perhaps, a little more humane—or at least, able to understand a terrible pronunciation.
The star performers in this update are new “Click to Do” text actions: Practice in Reading Coach and Read with Immersive Reader. For those out of the loop, Click to Do is Microsoft's ever-expanding bag of context-driven tricks designed to extract productivity from even the most stubborn procrastinator.
Reading Coach turns your selected screen text into a pronunciation coach. What could possibly go wrong? Imagine a future where mispronouncing “quokka” doesn’t just get you weird looks, but Windows’ AI gently correcting your Australian wildlife knowledge in real-time. Install Microsoft’s free Reading Coach app, pick any recognized text, and the Practice in Reading Coach guides you (hopefully, with less disappointment than your high school literature teacher). Feedback in real-time, plus a genuine AI-based nudge to “improve,” makes this a neat addition, especially for kids, language learners, or anyone whose accent is best described as “cosmopolitan confusion.”
And the Immersive Reader? It takes Windows’ ambitions of accessibility up a notch. Originally meant for those with dyslexia and dysgraphia, it now practically invites everyone to bathe in its distraction-free text, change fonts, spacing, background theme—by the time you’re done, you’ll wish Outlook emails came in Immersive Reader by default. Grammar learners can highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives. There’s a picture dictionary for visual-word pairing—great for kids and adults who panic at multisyllabic monsters.
But don’t forget the catch: at launch, these features are exclusive to Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PCs, relegating AMD and Intel users to peck at the crumbs on the floor. As usual, the best AI features lurk behind hardware that most IT departments are still “evaluating.” Microsoft promises rollout to others soon, but we all know how “soon” in Windows-world translates to “eventually, maybe, with a patch.”
Let’s appreciate the intent, though—these changes really could level the literacy playing field. But Microsoft, here’s a genuine pro tip: get these into everyone’s hands, or you’ll just create the world’s most reading-proficient group of Snapdragon aficionados.
Craving nostalgia? Just type “summer picnics” or “European castles” into the search box and behold your entire digital archive, regardless of physical or digital storage. Combine local and cloud photos, and—voilà—you’re browsing both simultaneously. If Google's Photos app has ruined you for any lesser search, rejoice; Microsoft has finally caught up. Oh, and it can dig into your cloud file text as well, so if you want to find that PowerPoint about “Q3 Synergy Initiatives” for tomorrow’s meeting, Windows has you covered (assuming you properly named it, of course).
However, a little sweat trickles down the PC administrator's brow. Cloud integration is great—until the inevitable moment someone searches “office party” only to have less-than-corporate-safe content pop up because Bob in Finance has some, shall we say, creative hobbies. There’s already a toggle to turn off searching for cloud content, but as with all privacy features, expect a few panicked helpdesk tickets before the crowd realizes what’s going on.
Is this photo-finding wizardry genuinely revolutionary? For productivity, absolutely. For privacy, it’s another reminder that “the cloud” does not mean “your secrets are safe.” For IT folks, it’s a new category of audit nightmares. For users, it means fewer panicked “where’s my vacation photo” threads. Progress!
Adding a word is, dare I say, delightfully simple. Just say “Spell that,” correct a mistake, or issue “Add to Vocabulary,” and Windows turns your idiosyncrasies into valid input. There’s also a settings menu if you’re old school, but voice ninjas will love the workflow. Supported languages? English, French, German, Spanish, and Chinese—a quintet any world traveler will appreciate.
Also new is a “discoverability” element: a more immersive experience that nudges you about new voice access features. If you’ve ever missed a Windows update because you skimmed past the 6000-word changelog, this one’s for you. You’ll now spot voice access features in the Accessibility flyout from the system tray—a reminder that Microsoft really wants everyone to tinker with these tools, not just the chronically curious.
What’s the witty takeaway? Finally, a voice assistant that won’t turn “scone” into “phone” just because you have an accent somewhere between Yorkshire and Queensland. Plus, for accessibility advocates, these changes mean true personalization—and for IT staff, fewer complaints about voice typing going rogue.
From an IT security lens, this belated addition is a small but notable victory. It hints at a future where everyday users don’t accidentally surface board meeting slides during a team lunch—an all-too-real horror in the age of remote work. Still, toggles buried deep in Settings rarely get the love they deserve. Expect more discoverability tweaks ahead.
For those of us who live with 45 browser tabs, this is a breath of organizational fresh air. Gone are the days of cascading, overlapping Explorer windows like some sort of 1998 screensaver. Want the old behavior? There’s an option under General > Browse Folders to revert.
Here’s where the office comedian pipes up: “Now if only Windows managed memory leaks from too many tabs as gracefully as a browser…” Joking aside, anyone who’s juggled thousands of project files will count this as a major, if overdue, victory.
For admins and power users, this finer control is appreciated, but let’s not pretend it solves the bigger problem: widgets still exist. For many, these are the digital equivalent of fridge poetry—fun in theory, ignored in practice.
In reality, only a tiny fraction of Windows users care what version their TPM is, but for those in the trenches of security audits, these breadcrumbs can make the difference between a sleepless week and a (relatively) calm weekend.
For the few who live and die by their printer names (and the poor souls troubleshooting for them), it’s a quality-of-life tweak that means fewer calls asking why “HP LaserJet 5Q-47xi-mk2-LivingRoom” appears different in half the menus.
It’s obscure, but important—genuine wins for those tasked with keeping systems clean, drivers current, and the bluescreen gods appeased.
The constant AI creep, especially exclusive to Snapdragon Copilot+ hardware, signals a future where hardware matters as much as software for access to productivity features. Early adopters may enjoy the glow of “cutting-edge” but beware the support headaches of having four different feature sets depending on chipsets and update cadence. The cloud search feature is a genuine boon, provided your info sec policies are tip-top and your users don’t hold creative photo sessions at the office after-hours.
Additions to voice access and Immersive Reader hint at Microsoft’s continued seriousness about accessibility—a genuine, unalloyed win. But with every added toggle or deep settings feature, the potential for confusion (and angry helpdesk pings) rises.
File Explorer’s new tabbed behavior feels like Microsoft catching up to the browser age twenty years on—better late than never. Notification granularity for widgets deserves a polite clap, while security and UI improvements, though often invisible to average users, mark incremental progress in Redmond’s quest for a seamless, modern OS.
Accessibility and reading features deserve real recognition for inclusivity. Search improvements could slash hours lost to digital clutter, provided privacy is upheld and onboarding clear. The focus on Snapdragon hardware may frustrate those on other chipsets, but it signals Microsoft’s vision for a platform-optimized, AI-powered Windows experience—where hardware is as relevant as at any time since the rise of the IBM PC.
But here’s the wry truth: for every clever Copilot+ feature unveiled, at least one sysadmin somewhere is adding it to a Google Doc titled “Things to Explain at the Next All-Hands.” For every bug fixed, another curious quirk pops up. And with every new settings toggle, another user stares in confusion while helpdesk staff order more coffee.
Windows 11’s AI future is bright, sometimes a little confusing, and always a rolling experiment. As Redmond updates their baby, the rest of us watch, prod, and poke at new features—because in truth, half the fun of Windows is never being quite sure what it’ll surprise us with next. Keep your PCs ready, your cloud content organized, and your tongue firmly in cheek, because Windows is about to get even smarter—with all the promise, peril, and dry humor one could hope for.
Source: Neowin Microsoft adds more AI features to Windows 11 in build 26200.5562 (KB5055642)
Copilot+ PC Experiences: Microsoft's AI Lays Out the Magic Carpet
Gone are the days when “AI in Windows” meant Cortana meekly suggesting the weather. Now, it means Copilot+ PCs and all the magical (or menacing, depending on your trust issues) bells and whistles you could expect from a modern Windows release. Build 26200.5562 introduces new Copilot+ PC experiences, aiming not just to make Windows cleverer, but, perhaps, a little more humane—or at least, able to understand a terrible pronunciation.The star performers in this update are new “Click to Do” text actions: Practice in Reading Coach and Read with Immersive Reader. For those out of the loop, Click to Do is Microsoft's ever-expanding bag of context-driven tricks designed to extract productivity from even the most stubborn procrastinator.
Reading Coach turns your selected screen text into a pronunciation coach. What could possibly go wrong? Imagine a future where mispronouncing “quokka” doesn’t just get you weird looks, but Windows’ AI gently correcting your Australian wildlife knowledge in real-time. Install Microsoft’s free Reading Coach app, pick any recognized text, and the Practice in Reading Coach guides you (hopefully, with less disappointment than your high school literature teacher). Feedback in real-time, plus a genuine AI-based nudge to “improve,” makes this a neat addition, especially for kids, language learners, or anyone whose accent is best described as “cosmopolitan confusion.”
And the Immersive Reader? It takes Windows’ ambitions of accessibility up a notch. Originally meant for those with dyslexia and dysgraphia, it now practically invites everyone to bathe in its distraction-free text, change fonts, spacing, background theme—by the time you’re done, you’ll wish Outlook emails came in Immersive Reader by default. Grammar learners can highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives. There’s a picture dictionary for visual-word pairing—great for kids and adults who panic at multisyllabic monsters.
But don’t forget the catch: at launch, these features are exclusive to Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PCs, relegating AMD and Intel users to peck at the crumbs on the floor. As usual, the best AI features lurk behind hardware that most IT departments are still “evaluating.” Microsoft promises rollout to others soon, but we all know how “soon” in Windows-world translates to “eventually, maybe, with a patch.”
Let’s appreciate the intent, though—these changes really could level the literacy playing field. But Microsoft, here’s a genuine pro tip: get these into everyone’s hands, or you’ll just create the world’s most reading-proficient group of Snapdragon aficionados.
Finding Photos in the Cloud: Search, Say Cheese, and… Surprise!
Remember those early cloud integrations when OneDrive enthusiastically synced 600 identical photos of your cat, filling up your C: drive and making Windows Search as useful as a chocolate teapot? Well, Microsoft wants to do one better: improved Windows Search now makes finding photos in the cloud as simple as “Describe what’s in it”—so long as you’re in the EEA (European Economic Area) and a Windows Insider.Craving nostalgia? Just type “summer picnics” or “European castles” into the search box and behold your entire digital archive, regardless of physical or digital storage. Combine local and cloud photos, and—voilà—you’re browsing both simultaneously. If Google's Photos app has ruined you for any lesser search, rejoice; Microsoft has finally caught up. Oh, and it can dig into your cloud file text as well, so if you want to find that PowerPoint about “Q3 Synergy Initiatives” for tomorrow’s meeting, Windows has you covered (assuming you properly named it, of course).
However, a little sweat trickles down the PC administrator's brow. Cloud integration is great—until the inevitable moment someone searches “office party” only to have less-than-corporate-safe content pop up because Bob in Finance has some, shall we say, creative hobbies. There’s already a toggle to turn off searching for cloud content, but as with all privacy features, expect a few panicked helpdesk tickets before the crowd realizes what’s going on.
Is this photo-finding wizardry genuinely revolutionary? For productivity, absolutely. For privacy, it’s another reminder that “the cloud” does not mean “your secrets are safe.” For IT folks, it’s a new category of audit nightmares. For users, it means fewer panicked “where’s my vacation photo” threads. Progress!
Voice Access: Now Featuring Your Unique Vocabulary
Now, here’s a tidbit worth tongue-in-cheek celebration: voice access just graduated from eager intern to trusted transcriber. The update lets you add custom words to the dictionary, improving dictation accuracy—especially for names only your family knows how to spell, or words Siri, Alexa, and your high school spelling bee judge all fumble.Adding a word is, dare I say, delightfully simple. Just say “Spell that,” correct a mistake, or issue “Add to Vocabulary,” and Windows turns your idiosyncrasies into valid input. There’s also a settings menu if you’re old school, but voice ninjas will love the workflow. Supported languages? English, French, German, Spanish, and Chinese—a quintet any world traveler will appreciate.
Also new is a “discoverability” element: a more immersive experience that nudges you about new voice access features. If you’ve ever missed a Windows update because you skimmed past the 6000-word changelog, this one’s for you. You’ll now spot voice access features in the Accessibility flyout from the system tray—a reminder that Microsoft really wants everyone to tinker with these tools, not just the chronically curious.
What’s the witty takeaway? Finally, a voice assistant that won’t turn “scone” into “phone” just because you have an accent somewhere between Yorkshire and Queensland. Plus, for accessibility advocates, these changes mean true personalization—and for IT staff, fewer complaints about voice typing going rogue.
Windows Search Gets a Dose of Privacy (and a Settings Overhaul)
Microsoft heard your digital crumbs of cloud-based anxiety and answered (sort of). You can now turn off searching for content saved in the cloud by journeying through Settings > Privacy and Security > Search permissions. Two caveats: it only works with Windows search box on the taskbar for now, and only Copilot+ PCs get the party early. File Explorer support isn’t here yet, but it’s coming.From an IT security lens, this belated addition is a small but notable victory. It hints at a future where everyday users don’t accidentally surface board meeting slides during a team lunch—an all-too-real horror in the age of remote work. Still, toggles buried deep in Settings rarely get the love they deserve. Expect more discoverability tweaks ahead.
File Explorer: Tabs, Tabs, and More Tabs
In what must be a nod to the world’s obsession with tabbed browsing, Microsoft is rolling out a new File Explorer behavior. If you open a folder from outside File Explorer—say, from your desktop or within an app—it now opens in a new tab, not a new window, as long as a File Explorer window is already open.For those of us who live with 45 browser tabs, this is a breath of organizational fresh air. Gone are the days of cascading, overlapping Explorer windows like some sort of 1998 screensaver. Want the old behavior? There’s an option under General > Browse Folders to revert.
Here’s where the office comedian pipes up: “Now if only Windows managed memory leaks from too many tabs as gracefully as a browser…” Joking aside, anyone who’s juggled thousands of project files will count this as a major, if overdue, victory.
Widgets and Notifications: At Last, Granular Controls
Widgets can now be tamed! At least, if you’re a Windows Insider in the EEA. Notification settings are now per feed or dashboard, letting users control the chaos. If your widgets include everything from weather gloom to cryptocurrency panic, now’s your chance to filter out the noise—or, more realistically, funnel only the bad news you actually want to see.For admins and power users, this finer control is appreciated, but let’s not pretend it solves the bigger problem: widgets still exist. For many, these are the digital equivalent of fridge poetry—fun in theory, ignored in practice.
Windows Security: TPM Chips Tell You More Than Ever
Security nerds, rejoice! The Windows Security app now reveals manufacturer and version details for Pluton TPM chips under Device security > Security processor details. It’s not quite the same as arming your PC with adamantium, but it does mean peering into the lineage of your chip, which is vital for compliance and troubleshooting.In reality, only a tiny fraction of Windows users care what version their TPM is, but for those in the trenches of security audits, these breadcrumbs can make the difference between a sleepless week and a (relatively) calm weekend.
Settings: Printer Dialogs Get A Facelift
Renaming printers under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners now features a dialog that actually looks like Windows 11, not a relic from XP’s heyday. It’s the small touches—more than aesthetic, this is a nod to consistency and, dare I say, hope that other stubborn UI elements will eventually follow.For the few who live and die by their printer names (and the poor souls troubleshooting for them), it’s a quality-of-life tweak that means fewer calls asking why “HP LaserJet 5Q-47xi-mk2-LivingRoom” appears different in half the menus.
Command Line Fans: pnputil Enumerates Driver Attributes
A new field with the pnputil /enum-drivers command shows driver package catalog attributes—including type and attestation-sign status. This appeals to IT pros and anyone who’s ever wondered which driver has a legitimate pedigree and which is making your system act like a haunted house.It’s obscure, but important—genuine wins for those tasked with keeping systems clean, drivers current, and the bluescreen gods appeased.
Fixes and Improvements: The Devil’s (Still) in the Details
No Windows Insider build would be complete without a laundry list of fixes and minor enhancements, and this one's no different:- The Start menu crash when creating folders? Resolved.
- Focus for instant search after pressing the Windows key? Fixed, so your keystrokes aren’t lost to the void.
- Snap layouts with unreadable colors? Now less headache-inducing.
- Slow search performance, blank screens, and frozen voice access? Banished—for now.
- Task Manager search and filtering features, previously broken, are functional.
- Voice typing issues in Simplified Chinese—that’s ironed out.
- Glitches affecting third-party screen readers? Those have been smoothed over.
- Boot UI performance improved, because staring at the BitLocker PIN screen for eternity should be reserved for action movies, not your Monday morning.
The Hidden Risks and Big Wins
Let’s pull back the curtain for a moment. What does all this spell for IT folk, businesses, and everyday pros fighting the daily Windows war?The constant AI creep, especially exclusive to Snapdragon Copilot+ hardware, signals a future where hardware matters as much as software for access to productivity features. Early adopters may enjoy the glow of “cutting-edge” but beware the support headaches of having four different feature sets depending on chipsets and update cadence. The cloud search feature is a genuine boon, provided your info sec policies are tip-top and your users don’t hold creative photo sessions at the office after-hours.
Additions to voice access and Immersive Reader hint at Microsoft’s continued seriousness about accessibility—a genuine, unalloyed win. But with every added toggle or deep settings feature, the potential for confusion (and angry helpdesk pings) rises.
File Explorer’s new tabbed behavior feels like Microsoft catching up to the browser age twenty years on—better late than never. Notification granularity for widgets deserves a polite clap, while security and UI improvements, though often invisible to average users, mark incremental progress in Redmond’s quest for a seamless, modern OS.
The Real-World Bottom Line
For organizations and technical professionals, the new AI-fueled features in Windows 11 build 26200.5562 are best viewed through a multi-layered lens: measured excitement, cautious rollout, and ever-present readiness for the unintended consequences that plague all major OS updates.Accessibility and reading features deserve real recognition for inclusivity. Search improvements could slash hours lost to digital clutter, provided privacy is upheld and onboarding clear. The focus on Snapdragon hardware may frustrate those on other chipsets, but it signals Microsoft’s vision for a platform-optimized, AI-powered Windows experience—where hardware is as relevant as at any time since the rise of the IBM PC.
But here’s the wry truth: for every clever Copilot+ feature unveiled, at least one sysadmin somewhere is adding it to a Google Doc titled “Things to Explain at the Next All-Hands.” For every bug fixed, another curious quirk pops up. And with every new settings toggle, another user stares in confusion while helpdesk staff order more coffee.
Windows 11’s AI future is bright, sometimes a little confusing, and always a rolling experiment. As Redmond updates their baby, the rest of us watch, prod, and poke at new features—because in truth, half the fun of Windows is never being quite sure what it’ll surprise us with next. Keep your PCs ready, your cloud content organized, and your tongue firmly in cheek, because Windows is about to get even smarter—with all the promise, peril, and dry humor one could hope for.
Source: Neowin Microsoft adds more AI features to Windows 11 in build 26200.5562 (KB5055642)
