Windows 11 June 2025 KB5060829 Update: New Features, Improvements & Fixes

The release of the June 2025 Windows non-security preview update, designated KB5060829 and building the operating system to version 26100.4484, signals Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to iterative quality improvements for Windows 11, version 24H2. This update—available across all editions—does not directly address security vulnerabilities but substantially refines the platform's reliability, usability, and user experience. Rather than being immediately rolled out to all devices, Microsoft employs a gradual deployment strategy to monitor critical feedback and ensure widespread stability, underscoring the company’s evolving approach to managing software at scale.

A Closer Look at New Features and Improvements​

Enhanced PC Migration and Windows Backup for Enterprises​

Among this update’s headline features is the early rollout of a refreshed PC-to-PC migration experience, previewed within the Windows Backup app. While still in phased introduction, this functionality is aimed squarely at smoothing the often-daunting process of transferring files and settings from an old PC to a new device, especially in organizational environments. Notably, users can preview the landing and pairing pages, indicating that a seamless, wizard-driven migration is on the horizon.
Corporate IT administrators will appreciate the limited preview of Windows Backup for Organizations, designed to enable seamless device migration for Microsoft Entra-joined systems. While current access may be restricted, and the full migration during setup remains slated for a future update, the direction is clear: Microsoft is intent on minimizing friction, reducing user downtime, and supporting hybrid work scenarios. This move is likely to reinforce Windows 11's appeal for businesses balancing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) complexity and centralized device management.

Regional and User Experience Adjustments​

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), regulatory and competitive pressures are reshaping browser defaults. New tweaks to Settings > Apps > Default apps ensure that the “Set default” button in Windows more comprehensively applies to file and link types registered by the new default browser. Furthermore, the chosen browser will now, by default, gain pin placements on both the Start menu and Taskbar (unless explicitly deselected by the user), simplifying new-user onboarding but raising questions about user choice and bloat. Of particular note is the addition of a single-click option to change the default app for PDF files, clearly aligning Windows with local data interoperability and competition mandates.

Accessibility and Narrator Innovations​

Windows continues its accessibility evolution with powerful enhancements for users who rely on screen readers. A standout is the Screen Curtain feature in Narrator, which blacks out the display while content is read aloud—essential for privacy in open workspaces or public venues. This functionality, enabled by keyboard shortcuts, is complemented by an onboarding experience whereby Narrator now guides new and returning users through novel and advanced capabilities via interactive prompts. Such UI innovations are critical in reducing barriers for people with disabilities and demonstrate an ongoing investment in inclusive computing.

Taskbar, System Tray, and Quick Settings Overhaul​

The taskbar, a defining characteristic of the Windows UX, receives intelligent new behaviors. Icon resizing is now dynamic, shrinking icons as more apps populate the bar and restoring clarity on crowded desktops. Granular controls offer users the choice between always minimizing icons, never adjusting them, or resizing only when necessary. These subtle refinements can have outsized impact on productivity for power users managing numerous concurrent tasks.
Quick Settings, meanwhile, gets further contextualization, grouping the Accessibility menu and enhancing discoverability with labeled descriptions for assistive technologies such as Narrator and Voice Access. The indicator “pill” under open apps is now wider and more visible, reducing cognitive load and aiding window management.

Voice Access and Multilingual Support​

Voice Access—a cornerstone of Microsoft’s push toward inclusive, hands-free computing—has been expanded to support navigation, dictation, and interaction in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Adaptation for these languages marks a major leap in accessibility, especially for the Asia-Pacific market. The inclusion of a custom dictionary, now available across supported languages, facilitates personalized, context-aware speech recognition.

Windows Share Modernizations​

Sharing—as a workflow and social practice—is given further attention. Users sharing web content now enjoy visual previews, adding confidence and clarity to the process. When sharing images, a new control allows the user to adjust compression quality via easy-to-understand settings (High, Medium, Low), replacing the arcane 0–100 scale with more comprehensible tradeoffs between fidelity and size.

File Explorer and Performance Architecture​

Responding to years of user feedback on File Explorer speed, Microsoft has notably improved performance when extracting archives—benefiting especially those dealing with large collections of files in 7z or .rar formats. This is critical as cloud sync and local backup workflows drive ever-larger file operations. The update also fine-tunes color filter controls in Accessibility Settings, ensuring that visual previews remain prominent as users adjust color intensity and boost, further lowering the threshold for effective use among color-impaired individuals.

Graphics, Input, and System Stability​

Display management and graphical experience see silent but potent upgrades. Under-the-hood changes reduce the frequency of unnecessary screen flashes and reset events, notably during display configuration transitions—a perennial frustration for users of multi-monitor setups. A bug involving unexpected green display output, an issue with User Account Control (UAC) interacting with color calibration, and input inconsistencies with the Japanese touch keyboard are all addressed, contributing to a smoother, more reliable work environment.
The foundational MSFTEdit.dll receives attention, with fixes targeting compatibility issues in apps such as Sticky Notes and dxdiag when set to Arabic or Hebrew display languages. Several bugs in printing, scripting over SMB shares, and windowing behaviors (including Alt+Tab out of full-screen games) are also resolved, showing Microsoft’s continued willingness to iterate on even relatively arcane parts of the desktop experience.

Windows Copilot, AI Components, and Performance​

Another dimension to the update centers around the AI ecosystem, particularly for Copilot+ PCs. KB5060829 incorporates upgrades to core AI modules: Image Search, Content Extraction, and Semantic Analysis engines have all been revised to version 1.2506.707.0. For most users, these are background changes, but for those with capable hardware, the improvements should yield more responsive and contextually relevant results when invoking Copilot. Reliability of the Copilot key, as well as resuming Copilot sessions, is also enhanced.
For Windows Hello users in enterprise environments, a critical fix ensures that expiring certificates are automatically renewed, plugging a potential hole that could lead to authentication failures or unnecessary friction in managed device fleets.

Efficiency and Storage Optimization​

One of the more impactful, if less glamorous, core improvements is the optimization of Windows Update’s management of language packs and Features on Demand (FoD). Previously, unused language packs and FoD packages were not fully removed, leading to wasted storage and longer update installation times—a common complaint especially among IT professionals managing dozens or hundreds of endpoints. The fix here promises leaner Windows images and a reduction in update duration, also helping with cloud-managed or bandwidth-constrained deployments.
Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) users running complex software-defined data center (SDDC) workflows will benefit from a resolution to an unresponsiveness bug, maintaining both uptime and data resilience in demanding storage environments.

Windows Search and Start Menu Polish​

A frequently maligned aspect of Windows 11, Windows Search, receives tangible performance upgrades: search responsiveness is improved, and a bug that prevented users from typing in certain contexts is fixed. While major search overhauls have been promised for future releases, these incremental steps are essential as search is the gateway to so many user workflows.

Granularity and Enterprise Management​

The Settings homepage, when managed by IT admins, now includes cards tailored for enterprise use—including device information and accessibility preferences. This shift toward a more card-focused UI echoes trends in mobile OS management and reflects an ambition to streamline device configuration at scale. For users signing in with both work/school and personal Microsoft accounts, a new account card surfaces to avoid confusion and better segregate roles—a subtle nod to the realities of hybrid digital personas.
The country or region set during device setup is now visible under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, reinforcing administrative transparency, while a longstanding bug involving unreadable storage size characters is fixed.

Known Issues: Noto Fonts and CJK Text Clarity​

Notably, the update is not free from caveats. The introduction of Noto fonts for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) text—begun with the March 2025 Preview and part of a broader collaboration with Google—has birthed a new challenge: users on Chromium-based browsers may encounter blurry or unclear CJK characters when running at 96 DPI (100% scaling). This is the result of the fonts’ rendering at standard pixel density, which produces diminished clarity and alignment. Microsoft advises affected users to increase display scaling (to 125% or 150%) as a stopgap measure while a longer-term fix is investigated.
From a risk perspective, this issue underscores the difficulty of balancing global accessibility and font compatibility with the technical realities of screen rendering, especially in a multilingual, multi-platform world. Organizations with large installations in East Asian markets should review user feedback and readiness before pushing the update to production environments.

Step-by-Step: Getting and Installing the Update​

Obtaining KB5060829 adheres to the now-standard Windows Update and Microsoft release channel process:

• Windows Update: Navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, where optional updates are listed. Download and install as prompted.
• Microsoft Update Catalog: Advanced users and administrators can manually download MSU files, using tools such as DISM or Windows Update Standalone Installer (wusa.exe), either for online running systems or for injecting into offline Windows installation media.
• Business Channels: Windows Update for Business and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) are both supported.

Care is required for manual installation: if multiple MSU files are involved, they must be installed in the specified order to avoid prerequisite errors, and the Servicing Stack Update (SSU) cannot be removed once combined with the Cumulative Update (LCU). This is a necessary consequence of tighter integration between Windows update infrastructure components—a design intended to minimize failed installs and systemic regressions.

Analytical Perspective: Notable Strengths​

• User Focused Evolution: Many of the new features, particularly in Narrator and Voice Access, are direct responses to accessibility needs and community feedback. The focus on privacy (Screen Curtain) and easy onboarding is a genuine advancement for often-overlooked user groups.
• Enterprise Readiness: Windows Backup for Organizations, paired with a more granular settings experience, underlines a sustained commitment to the managed enterprise market. These improvements reduce friction for IT teams and end-users alike.
• Incremental AI Integration: Enhancements to Copilot and related AI components suggest a responsible, measured rollout strategy, limiting exposure to instability while seeding advanced features for hardware that can support them.
• System Reliability: The breadth and specificity of bug fixes—from display issues to storage and search—demonstrate a methodical, detail-oriented approach to platform reliability. The willingness to target both high-visibility pain points (such as search lag) and lower-level system bugs distinguishes a mature, user-centric update philosophy.

Cautions and Potential Risks​

• Noto Fonts Issue: The blurriness of CJK text at standard scaling is a non-trivial barrier for critical regions. While the workaround is simple, it can disrupt familiar workflows and may not be suitable for all devices or environments. Organizations with a multilingual workforce should approach adoption carefully.
• Gradual Rollout Caveats: While a phased approach reduces the risk of outbreak failures, it also introduces uncertainty for administrators and power users eager to standardize environments quickly.
• Browser Default Adjustments: The EEA’s regulatory-driven behavior changes could add confusion or complications for users outside the covered region, or for admins managing mixed-location device fleets.

Conclusion: A Significant, User-Centric, Mid-Year Refresh​

The June 2025 Windows 11 non-security preview update is emblematic of Microsoft’s current, iterative model for OS development—prioritizing continuous refinement, responsiveness to user and enterprise feedback, and steady integration of intelligent features. It is a uniquely user-expressive release, attentive to accessibility, device migration, and productivity basics, even as it knits together a more flexible, AI-powered foundation for the years ahead.
Organizations and enthusiasts should weigh the benefits of multifaceted quality improvements against the present (albeit minor) CJK font rendering issue and plan deployments accordingly. As always, keeping devices updated provides the best guarantee of stability, compatibility, and access to the latest Windows innovation—while Microsoft’s ongoing vigilance, as demonstrated by swift documentation and clear workaround advice, should inspire confidence in the ongoing evolution of Windows 11.

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Source: Microsoft - Message Center June 26, 2025—KB5060829 (OS Build 26100.4484) Preview - Microsoft Support