14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft continues the work on the very next feature update for Windows 11, and a few hours ago, the company moved a step closer to the actual launch of this highly anticipated release with a new build for the Beta channel.
In other words, insiders who are enrolled in the Beta ring of the Windows Insider program can now download and install Windows 11 build 22621 on their devices.
This new release also marks the official closing of the window that allowed insiders to switch between Dev and Beta channels without a full reinstall.
This new build doesn’t come with any breaking changes, as it’s focused specifically on refining bugs and improving the performance of the OS. This is also a suggestion that we’re in the final stages of the Windows 11 version 22H2 development.
Important bug fixes
File Explorer and the taskbar are both getting improvements in this build, according to Microsoft.
“Fixed an issue leading to Insiders seeing error 0x800703E6 when copying files from Google Drive. Fixed an issue where if you had ever opened the context menu, doing CTRL + ALT + DEL and cancelling would lead to explorer.exe crashing,” Microsoft explained.
“Fixed an issue related to loading the system tray icons in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar which could cause Settings to crash when opening that page recently. This issue may have also led to some explorer.exe crashes for impacted Insiders.”
The only known issues concern the live captions.
Microsoft insists that while the watermark is no longer there in this build, it doesn’t necessarily mean the development of this feature update is complete. However, there’s a chance the RTM phase would be reached rather sooner than later, especially as Microsoft manages to iron out the last remaining bugs.