Microsoft releases experimental Windows 11 Build 25967 with new Settings homepage

Microsoft continues to add new features to Windows 11, and Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel get to try out some of the more experimental ones.

New in Build 25967, released today, is a redesigned homepage in Settings that offers a "dynamic and personalized experience". Microsoft says it provides an overview of your device, quick access to key settings, and helps manage your Microsoft account.

The new homepage features interactive cards that "represent various device and account related settings, grouped by commonly accessed functions."

Microsoft explains:

Each card is optimized to offer the most relevant information and controls at your fingertips. In this release, you’ll see up to seven cards, with more coming soon.

The cards are:

1. Recommended settings: This card adapts to your specific usage patterns, providing timely and relevant settings options. It’s designed to streamline your settings management and save you time.
2. Cloud storage: Gives you an overview of your cloud storage use and lets you know when you’re nearing capacity.
3. Account recovery: Helps keep your Microsoft account more secure by helping you add additional recovery info so you never get locked out of your account, even if you forget your password.
4. Personalization: Brings customization to the forefront by offering one-click access to update your background theme or change your color mode.
5. Microsoft 365: Provides a quick glimpse of your subscription status and benefits, along with the ability to take some key actions right in Settings instead of going to the web.
6. Xbox: Similar to the Microsoft 365 card, you’ll be able to view your subscription status and manage the subscription from the Settings app.
7. Bluetooth Devices: To simplify your Bluetooth device management experience, we’ve brought this to the forefront so you can quickly access and connect to your favorite Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Other changes and improvements include:

[General]

• The Cortana app is removed after updating to this build. Microsoft has ended support for Cortana.

[Quick Settings]

• Microsoft is trying out a scrollable view of quick settings to some Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel as part of evaluating effectiveness of different layouts. As part of the change, rather than having to edit the list to add new quick actions, the user now has a scrollable list of quick actions that can be rearranged.

 [Settings]

• System Components currently listed in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps page, have moved to its own page under Settings > System > System Components.
• Xbox Game Bar is now Game Bar under Settings > Gaming.

[Windows Subsystem for Linux]

• The September 2023 update for the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) has been rolled out and includes networking improvements in the latest Insider Preview builds.

Fixes for known issues include:

• Fixed an issue which was causing Insiders to see bugchecks (green screens) in recent Canary Channel builds when shutting down, logging out, or restarting.
• Fixed a white flash when opening File Explorer in dark mode, as well as an issue where File Explorer could get stuck with the wrong colors after switching between light and dark mode.
• Fixed a few issues that were leading to explorer.exe crashes.
• Fixed an issue where File Explorer sorting changes wouldn’t persist in folders after you navigated away and back.
• Fixed an issue which was causing icons on the desktop to turn into white generic icons until you refreshed the desktop.
• Did some work to help improve File Explorer performance, including fixing a memory leak which would impact performance over time, and fixing an issue where the tab would get stuck with a loading icon even though loading was finished.

Known issues with this build are:

• [NEW] If you need to roll back to the previous build (Build 25951) if this build has issues, you may experience an issue where the Start menu or Settings do not work. After updating to the next set of builds in the Canary Channel, this issue will be resolved for rolling back.
• Microsoft is investigating reports that the print queue is no longer accessible.
• Some popular games may not work correctly on the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel.