14 DAY TRIAL // The Windows Subsystem for Android, also referred to as WSA, is one of the things that make Windows 11 a truly big operating system, as it allows users to run applications developed for Google’s mobile operating system right on the desktop.
WSA is therefore a top Microsoft priority, and the system is getting frequent updates with lots of big changes.
This is precisely the case with the most recent release, though for some reason, Microsoft didn’t think that publishing a blog post and detailing what’s new was worth it.
Spotted by DeskModder, the new version of WSA released to insiders includes the update to Android 13, something that is obviously big news not only for Microsoft but for devs and users as well.
The new version of WSA is 2211.40000.7.0, and it includes the following changes:
- Windows subsystem for Android updated to Android 13
- Added a new command that shuts down WSA for automation
- Improvements in boot performance (50%, P10 case)
- Improvements to mouse click input
- Improvements in clipboard stability
- Improvements to application resizing
- Upgraded to Intel bridge technology for Android 13
- Reliability improvements to media files opening in Windows
- Jumplist entries for applications supporting app shortcuts
As for why Microsoft hasn’t released a blog post for this important release, the aforementioned GitHub post reveals that it’s all because this is a preview release aimed at insiders and more information would be provided when the new version is prepared for the general release.
“We only published this to our WSA Preview Program, and not to Windows Insiders, as we're still getting valuable data on 2210 as we prepare to release that to the general audience. Hence, we didn't publish this to the WIP blog,” the Microsoft engineer explained without sharing any information as to when the new WSA version could ship for everybody.