Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25136 with File Explorer tabs

Earlier today, Microsoft launched new updates for two Windows 11 apps -- Notepad and Media Centre -- for Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Following that, the company announces a new Windows 11 Insider build which, along with the usual raft of fixes, brings tabs to File Explorer and updates to the Widgets feature.

SEE ALSO: New updates for Notepad and Media Player arrive for Windows 11

The big addition here is of course the introduction of tabs to File Explorer which makes it easier to work across multiple locations at the same time. The app also comes with a new left pane layout to help you navigate to pinned and frequently used folders. This new feature is rolling out now, so won’t be available to all Insiders from the start. If you don’t see it, be patient.

Microsoft is also making changes to the Widget feature to bring more dynamic content to the taskbar. In addition to live content from the weather widget, Microsoft is starting to introduce sports and finance content, as well as breaking news alerts.

Elsewhere, Microsoft is beginning to roll out the ability for Insiders to report animated gifs they feel are inappropriate from the emoji panel (WIN + .)

Fixes in this build include:

[General]

• Addressed an issue which was leading to some PCs being erroneously detected as tablets. When this happened, compact mode and the option to hide checkboxes in File Explorer wouldn’t take effect.
• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck in recent Dev Channel builds.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue that was sometimes causing taskbar apps to overflow with the system tray icons.
• When you hover on an app in the system tray, its notification will no longer flash.

[Start]

• Fixed an issue that could cause Start to only show one column of recommended items.
• If you’re pinning a large number of apps to Start, it should now refresh to show them more reliably.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue from the previous flight where Disks & Volumes section of System > Storage wasn’t displaying any disks or volumes.

[Windowing]

• Microsoft made a fix to help with a rare issue which was causing title bars to sometimes go transparent or missing sometimes in certain apps.

[Windows Update]    

• Fixed an issue where Windows Update might unexpectedly show error 0x00000000 when there wasn’t anything wrong.
• Fixed an issue which was leading to some devices bugchecking with HYPERVISOR_ERROR when trying to upgrade to a new build.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue which was causing Task Manager to crash on launch sometimes after switching between light and dark mode or changing accent color.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue which could lead to increased latency or stutter in games when v-sync was used.
• Fixed an issue which could cause some PCs to freeze after running the wsl –shutdown command.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues in this release include:

[General]

• Windows Insiders on Surface Pro X devices will hit a black screen attempting to resume from hibernate on this build. You will need to power cycle (long power button shutdown) to get back into the device. It is recommended Insiders on these devices pause flighting until we release a build with this fix.
• [NEW] Microsoft is investigating reports that the Mica material and Acrylic blur effect is not rendering correct in OS surfaces like the Start menu, Notification Center and other areas.
• Microsoft is investigating reports that shutting down via the Start menu isn’t working for some Insiders and is unexpectedly rebooting instead.
• Some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause your PC to bugcheck.

[File Explorer]

• [NEW] The up arrow is misaligned in File Explorer tabs. This will be fixed in a future update.

[Live captions]

• Certain apps in full screen (e.g., video players) prevent live captions from being visible.
• Certain apps positioned near the top of the screen and closed before live captions is run will re-launch behind the live captions window positioned at top. Use the system menu (ALT + Spacebar) while the app has focus to move the app’s window further down.