Once again, Microsoft is determined to prove that Windows 11 is not a “one-and-done” affair but rather a living, breathing operating system that likes to knock gently on your update center window with new features, little tweaks, and—if you’re lucky—nothing requiring a system restore at 2 a.m. This time, with the arrival of KB5055629 (build numbers 22621.5262 and 22631.5262) for Windows 11 23H2, we’re getting a buffet of productivity perks, bug squashes, and enough integration for Phone Link to finally feel a bit like it's auditioning for the main cast rather than a perma-guest star.
File Explorer, that age-old home for our “Final Final V3.docx” and sprawling nest of downloads, is picking up some brains with “pivot-based curated views” on Home. This means Microsoft is doubling down on tying up File Explorer with Microsoft 365 content, essentially serving up your most relevant files just a click away.
It’s a welcome move if you’re living in Microsoft’s productivity bubble. Imagine: your files, cloud documents, and the “LunchMentor_Agenda.pptx” you forgot about, popping up when you need them most. But for the rest of us with 15 years of digital hoarding, let’s just say the Home view probably needs a “Trust me, you really don’t want to see this” button.
And if you’re the type who regularly unzips vast collections of tiny files—whether it’s code libraries, digital receipts, or your personal collection of cat GIFs—file extraction now runs smoother and quicker. For those not yet living the “zip life,” you may not notice, but trust us: IT admins everywhere will cheer loudly, as will anyone who’s ever stared at a progress bar inching along like a caffeinated snail.
Quick, think of the last thing your boss emailed you about. No? Well, now, whether you have accessibility needs or just are that forgetful, the Narrator’s recap means you’ll have fewer excuses when others test your document comprehension. Microsoft isn’t just handing out accessibility candy; this is bona fide productivity boost for anyone who multitasks (read: all of us).
In practice, this means calls, SMS, photo access, and content sharing between your PC and mobile are just a couple of clicks away. For the desktop power user glued to their chair, this is a godsend: one fewer reason to look for your phone wedged between couch cushions. But before we call this frictionless computing, there’s still the perennial question: will it finally work as smoothly as the concept promises, or are we due for another round of “try turning Bluetooth off and back on again”?
For folks in the European Economic Area (EEA), widgets now break out onto the lock screen—with the capability to add, remove, and rearrange handy bits of info like weather, sports, stock watchlists, and traffic. Any widget supporting the small size option is fair game. Sure, it's a bit like customizing your phone's lock screen circa 2015, but hey, incremental progress is still progress. Now, about those widgets for customizing your data privacy…
There’s a bigger picture here: accessibility and inclusivity. Microsoft isn’t just targeting keyboard warriors anymore; it’s courting the touch-savvy, the visually impaired, and even those who just want a Start menu they can actually use, no matter the screen.
Let’s be honest: telling users to “disable security” to make sign-in work isn’t ideal. But at least there’s now a (documented) way out if your shiny new laptop suddenly forgets what you look like—though it remains something of a wince-inducing fix for a company so bullish about its security credentials.
Security’s a bit like plumbing; if it’s working, nobody notices. When it breaks... well, let’s just say everyone wants to know who polices that blocklist, and how often.
Let’s face it: in the annals of Windows Updates, “optional” often means “the truly impatient or the pathologically curious.” IT shops everywhere are either deferring with a serene “not just yet,” or spinning up their sandbox VMs with reckless abandon. Will KB5055629 go down as a smooth improvement or as one of those updates we’ll reminisce about in support calls for years to come? Check back after Patch Tuesday.
The SMB fixes directly impact organizations with sprawling file shares, often the unsung backbone of data-driven departments. Meanwhile, the USBxHCI controller bug—and its fix—remind us that fancy new hardware often leads to “don’t touch that BIOS update” nervousness, especially in mixed-hardware environments.
And let’s spare a moment of collective anxiety for the ongoing driver blocklist saga: an ever-more-complete list isn’t only a security win—it’s an implicit warning that your legacy gear’s days really are numbered. Make a note now to test those mission-critical peripherals before the next quarterly update.
Conversely, the focus on security (expanding the blocklist, quick bug fixes for sign-in and device compatibility) is laudable. Each layer adds peace of mind, even if it occasionally comes at the expense of ancient but beloved hardware. Microsoft’s steady push toward a more connected, accessible, and secure Windows experience is clear—even if the road is occasionally bumpy and full of feature repeats nobody can quite believe (“widgets… again?”).
So while you eye your Update Settings suspiciously, one thing’s clear—Windows 11 continues to blend new ideas with old habits. Sometimes those habits die hard, but at least this time, your zipped files might extract quicker, your Narrator might remember what it just said, and your Xbox controller may finally pair without a trip to Device Manager hell.
Is it revolutionary? Not quite. But that’s Windows for you: evolving, experimenting, and always—always—just one optional update away from greatness (or at least, from a more productive Monday).
Source: Neowin Windows 11 23H2 gets Phone Link Start menu integration and a lot more in KB5055629
File Explorer, that age-old home for our “Final Final V3.docx” and sprawling nest of downloads, is picking up some brains with “pivot-based curated views” on Home. This means Microsoft is doubling down on tying up File Explorer with Microsoft 365 content, essentially serving up your most relevant files just a click away.![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="384px" width="512px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
It’s a welcome move if you’re living in Microsoft’s productivity bubble. Imagine: your files, cloud documents, and the “LunchMentor_Agenda.pptx” you forgot about, popping up when you need them most. But for the rest of us with 15 years of digital hoarding, let’s just say the Home view probably needs a “Trust me, you really don’t want to see this” button.
And if you’re the type who regularly unzips vast collections of tiny files—whether it’s code libraries, digital receipts, or your personal collection of cat GIFs—file extraction now runs smoother and quicker. For those not yet living the “zip life,” you may not notice, but trust us: IT admins everywhere will cheer loudly, as will anyone who’s ever stared at a progress bar inching along like a caffeinated snail.
Narrator: Speech Recap for Accessibility (and for Everyone Who Forgets)
Microsoft’s continued focus on accessibility gets a win here, too. The Narrator now features “speech recap,” letting users check what Narrator just read out, copy it, or follow along with live transcription—all with simple keyboard shortcuts.Quick, think of the last thing your boss emailed you about. No? Well, now, whether you have accessibility needs or just are that forgetful, the Narrator’s recap means you’ll have fewer excuses when others test your document comprehension. Microsoft isn’t just handing out accessibility candy; this is bona fide productivity boost for anyone who multitasks (read: all of us).
Phone Link Sneaks Into the Start Menu
Let’s be honest: calling features “Phone Link” in Windows has had its own mini soap opera in past years. Some users love it, some still wonder what Android permissions they’ve just agreed to, while iOS stalwarts gaze on enviously (and in vain). With this update, Phone Link finally gets a more prominent seat by integrating directly into the Start menu.In practice, this means calls, SMS, photo access, and content sharing between your PC and mobile are just a couple of clicks away. For the desktop power user glued to their chair, this is a godsend: one fewer reason to look for your phone wedged between couch cushions. But before we call this frictionless computing, there’s still the perennial question: will it finally work as smoothly as the concept promises, or are we due for another round of “try turning Bluetooth off and back on again”?
Widgets Get Webby and Lock-Screen Savvy
Widgets, Microsoft’s perennial “we swear it’s different this time” feature, are taking another step forward—courtesy of web developers, who can now spin up interactive widgets with their own web content across multiple widget surfaces. This could signal actual usefulness and innovation, or it might just be more ways to glance at the weather and sports scores while pretending to work.For folks in the European Economic Area (EEA), widgets now break out onto the lock screen—with the capability to add, remove, and rearrange handy bits of info like weather, sports, stock watchlists, and traffic. Any widget supporting the small size option is fair game. Sure, it's a bit like customizing your phone's lock screen circa 2015, but hey, incremental progress is still progress. Now, about those widgets for customizing your data privacy…
Desktop Icon Logic: Bigger and... Less Colorful?
Ever pinned an app from Start to your desktop and wondered why it came sporting a flashy colored background, only to clash hideously with your pastel wallpaper? Microsoft’s on it. Packaged app icons (like the Snipping Tool) now drop the accent-colored backplate and look bigger and more obvious. It's a microscopic change, but if you’re a desktop organizer—or just a fan of seeing that Scissors icon cleanly—rejoice! Maybe one day “icon-resize anxiety” will be a recognized disorder.Share Sheet: Last-Minute Image Edits
The share sheet is learning new tricks, too. Now you can crop, rotate, and slap on a filter to shared images just before you sling them into Teams, Outlook, or whatever app you use for meme dissemination. This is a minor miracle for those moments when you spot spinach in your teeth after you hit share—or, more importantly, realize your screenshot included those tabs you never wanted your boss to see.Start Menu: Touch, Touch, and More Touch
Sometimes, tiny fixes make a world of difference. With KB5055629, Microsoft addressed a hiccup where touch gestures couldn’t pull up lists of pinned apps in the Start menu. Also, the “Sign out” and “More options” buttons now play nicely with beefed-up text sizes—meaning users who prefer larger fonts don't have to play hide-and-seek every session.There’s a bigger picture here: accessibility and inclusivity. Microsoft isn’t just targeting keyboard warriors anymore; it’s courting the touch-savvy, the visually impaired, and even those who just want a Start menu they can actually use, no matter the screen.
Taskbar: Arrows Go the Right Way (In Every Language)
Was your Arabic or Hebrew Windows install making arrow navigation go, well, somewhere else entirely? Another niggly quirk squashed. Now, your tabindex and key navigation should finally make sense in right-to-left languages, letting everyone, regardless of locale, have their arrows pointing in exactly the right directions. Sure, it’s “just” user experience, but small wins tend to stack up.A Peek at the Enterprise: SMB, Sign-in, Xbox Woes
Not to leave its loyal enterprise and education crowd out, Microsoft’s update is throwing some love (read: bug fixes) at those running 22H2.SMB: The Excel Speed of Dreams
Ever opened an Excel file from a Network Share with a million links inside, only to stare—unblinking—as it takes eons to load? This update should ease your pain, particularly for those organizations running Access Based Enumeration (ABE) on SMB shares. IT pros are likely nodding in quiet appreciation: nothing says “Monday morning” quite like a finance team locked out of their numbers by a slow SMB mount. Maybe this will spare us from at least one round of frantic “is the server down?” messages.USBxHCI Sign-in Glitches—Welcome to the Intel Drama
Users with the latest Intel Core Ultra 200V Series Processors might have run into a brick wall with Windows Hello sign-ins—especially if they rely on their USB camera. The fix? Disable Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS), then try again. Slightly more entertaining (if you’re not affected) is the convoluted workaround, involving toggling an “external camera or fingerprint reader” setting. It reads like a sysadmin’s version of a quest log.Let’s be honest: telling users to “disable security” to make sign-in work isn’t ideal. But at least there’s now a (documented) way out if your shiny new laptop suddenly forgets what you look like—though it remains something of a wince-inducing fix for a company so bullish about its security credentials.
Gamepad Firmware Fumbles: Xbox Elite Controllers Fixed
If your Xbox Elite controller’s keyboard feature stopped working and started throwing up mysterious error lights in Device Manager, this update should untangle it. Apparently, even controller firmware can fall out of the quality labs cracks. Just another reminder that “it just works” is often more aspiration than rule—especially in hardware certification.Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist Keeps Growing
Security folks, take note: the Driver Blocklist now has even more entries, particularly targeting drivers at risk for “Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver” (BYOVD) attacks. BYOVD is the clever (read: insidious) trick where attackers load a legitimate but flawed driver to pierce kernel security. The ever-expanding blocklist is a quietly vital part of modern Windows defense, though it does mean that certain antique peripherals—last updated before TikTok was even a thing—might break unexpectedly.Security’s a bit like plumbing; if it’s working, nobody notices. When it breaks... well, let’s just say everyone wants to know who polices that blocklist, and how often.
The Discerning IT Pro’s Take: C-Update or “C-Wait”?
As always, Microsoft puts these updates out as optional (C-updates) first, gently nudging users to try before shipping them to the wider world as Patch Tuesday regulars. If the prospect of preview builds doesn’t faze you, the Settings app (or good old Microsoft Update Catalog) awaits. If you prefer to let others discover any new “undocumented features” (read: bugs), you’re more than welcome to skip these for now.Let’s face it: in the annals of Windows Updates, “optional” often means “the truly impatient or the pathologically curious.” IT shops everywhere are either deferring with a serene “not just yet,” or spinning up their sandbox VMs with reckless abandon. Will KB5055629 go down as a smooth improvement or as one of those updates we’ll reminisce about in support calls for years to come? Check back after Patch Tuesday.
Real-World Implications for IT Professionals
For IT pros, this update is a rather mixed bag—with a nice sprinkling of shiny user-facing features and a less enchanting crop of backend workarounds and potential headaches. The cross-device Phone Link improvements genuinely nudge Windows PCs further into the “universal device hub” role. But any admin who’s ever fielded a help desk ticket about missing Sign out buttons in Start or lock screen widget confusion knows the work’s not over yet.The SMB fixes directly impact organizations with sprawling file shares, often the unsung backbone of data-driven departments. Meanwhile, the USBxHCI controller bug—and its fix—remind us that fancy new hardware often leads to “don’t touch that BIOS update” nervousness, especially in mixed-hardware environments.
And let’s spare a moment of collective anxiety for the ongoing driver blocklist saga: an ever-more-complete list isn’t only a security win—it’s an implicit warning that your legacy gear’s days really are numbered. Make a note now to test those mission-critical peripherals before the next quarterly update.
Hidden Risks and Notable Strengths
While most user-facing features—widgets, Phone Link enhancements, and desktop icon logic—bring immediate if incremental improvement, the devil’s in the operational details. Preview updates notoriously introduce as many quirks as they fix. IT pros tempted by the “skip the line” thrill should set clear rollback plans or brave the unknown with a test group who weren’t planning a vacation right after the update window.Conversely, the focus on security (expanding the blocklist, quick bug fixes for sign-in and device compatibility) is laudable. Each layer adds peace of mind, even if it occasionally comes at the expense of ancient but beloved hardware. Microsoft’s steady push toward a more connected, accessible, and secure Windows experience is clear—even if the road is occasionally bumpy and full of feature repeats nobody can quite believe (“widgets… again?”).
The Takeaway: A Step Forward, With Inevitable Sidesteps
As KB5055629 shuffles onto your Windows 11 PC, it’s another sign that Microsoft is moving faster than it used to—pushing changes in productivity, accessibility, and security with a frequency that would terrify your average Windows XP stalwart. Each tweak, whether it’s cross-device Start menu perks or an improved blocklist, reflects the new, always-in-progress Windows ethos. But remember: no update is complete without the unspoken promise of the next hotfix lurking just around the corner.So while you eye your Update Settings suspiciously, one thing’s clear—Windows 11 continues to blend new ideas with old habits. Sometimes those habits die hard, but at least this time, your zipped files might extract quicker, your Narrator might remember what it just said, and your Xbox controller may finally pair without a trip to Device Manager hell.
Is it revolutionary? Not quite. But that’s Windows for you: evolving, experimenting, and always—always—just one optional update away from greatness (or at least, from a more productive Monday).
Source: Neowin Windows 11 23H2 gets Phone Link Start menu integration and a lot more in KB5055629