Microsoft rolls out Windows 11 Beta Builds 22621.440 and 22622.440

Three weeks ago, Microsoft announced that it would be splitting the Windows 11 Beta Channel into two. The idea behind this is that a group of Windows 11 Insiders in the channel will either receive Build 22622.xxx updates with new features, or Build 22621.xxx updates without them.

Today, the company rolls out Builds 22621.440 and 22622.440. Here's what's new.

SEE ALSO:

• Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25169 with new lockdown feature and Windows Spotlight theme
• Microsoft releases Windows 10 22H2 preview build (KB5015878)

Windows 11 Build 22621.440 comes with the new taskbar overflow experience. This is designed to offer users a "more productive switching and launching experience" when screen space is limited. The taskbar will transition into this new overflow state automatically when it hits maximum capacity.

The new overflow menu will let you access all of the overflowed apps in the one place.

Both 22621.440 and 22622.440 builds introduce Dynamic Widgets content on the taskbar. Microsoft explains:

We’re trying out some changes to bring more dynamic Widgets content to your taskbar. In addition to seeing live content from the weather widget, you’ll also start to see live updates from the sports and finance widgets, along with breaking news alerts. This should make it easier for you to know when something important happens related to these widgets and keep you informed of breaking news. The content is meant to be quick and glanceable with the ability to see more inside the widgets board if you click on it. However, if you don’t interact with the content update the taskbar will return to showing you the weather.

This feature is rolling out gradually, so may not be available to everyone from this build.

Other changes and Improvements in Build 22622.440 include:

[General]

• Microsoft is beginning to roll out the updated "Open with" dialog box again to align with Windows 11 design principles. The updated dialog box honors light and dark theme. It has also simplified the experience by making it possible to update your default app with just one click. Since reverting this change back in March, Microsoft has made performance improvements based on Insider feedback.

[Input]

• Microsoft has updated the U.S. English (EN-US) handwriting model to be faster and more accurate. Use the updated Handwriting Panel for ink-to-text and let Microsoft know what you think.

[Settings]

• Settings now supports managing apps which were earlier only supported from Control Panel. This includes uninstallation of apps which have inter-dependencies (e.g., Steam and gaming apps running on Steam), repair and modifying of Win32 apps.

Fixes in Build 22622.440 include:

[General]

• Fixed an issue leading to some Insiders experiencing explorer.exe crashes when docking and undocking monitors in Build 22622.436.

[File Explorer]

• Did some work to fix a memory leak when using tabs with File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator wasn’t reading out the titles of tabs as focus moved through them.
• Fixed an issue where the preview thumbnail for File Explorer in the taskbar, ALT + Tab, and Task View might show the title of an adjacent tab and not the currently selected one.
• The add new tab button shouldn’t overlap with the minimize button in the title bar when using text scaling with a lot of tabs open anymore.

[Suggested Actions]

• Fixed an issue which was leading to certain apps freezing after a copy action if Suggested Actions was enabled.
• Fixed a high hitting crash impacting Suggested Actions reliability.

Known issues are:

[General]

• [NEW] There is an issue in the recent Beta Channel updates that is causing the Photos app to crash, and a fix will be rolling out soon via a Photos app update via the Store.
• [NEW] Microsoft is investigating reports that SQL Server Management Studio is failing to launch for some Insiders.

[File Explorer]

• [NEW] The left-half of the File Explorer title bar may not be draggable via mouse or touch.
• [NEW] Microsoft is working on a fix to address reports that launching File Explorer in certain ways when using dark mode (for example, from the command line) is showing the body of File Explorer unexpectedly in light mode.
• The up arrow is misaligned in File Explorer tabs. This will be fixed in a future update.

Image Credit: Ivonne Wierink / Shutterstock