Moment 2 update for Windows 11 22H2 available on Release Preview channel

Microsoft has completed development of the second Moment update for Windows 11 version 22H2. It is expected that the official release of the update will take place in March, probably on the second Tuesday of the month. In anticipation of this event, the company began testing “Moment 2” among insiders on the Release Preview channel.

Key changes in Windows 11 22H2 “Moment 2”:

• Taskbar optimized for tablets;
• Updated system tray;
• New options for the search field on the taskbar;
• Search in the “Task Manager”;
• recommendations for energy consumption in the “Parameters”;
• Full screen widget panel;
• Support for third-party widgets;
• Windows Studio effects in the Quick Actions menu;
• Voice control improvements.

More about the changes

Taskbar improvements

The new update for Windows 11 22H2 brings with it a taskbar optimized for use on tablet computers. It can collapse into a thin strip at the bottom of the screen when not in use, and can reappear when the user touches it or swipes up from the bottom edge of the screen. By the way, the size of the taskbar on tablets has also been increased to make it easier for users to tap on application icons with their finger.

In addition, Microsoft has updated the system tray area. The pop-up menu has received a modern design with rounded corners and new animations. If desired, the menu can be completely disabled if you do not intend to use the icons displayed in this area.

And finally, new settings for the search box on the taskbar have been added, so now you can customize the appearance of this element yourself.

Task Manager

The redesigned “Task Manager” now matches the look and feel of the operating system much better. Added support for dark theme, accent color and changed dialog boxes. In addition, a search field has been added at the top of the application, which allows you to quickly find the desired process in the list.

Options

The Settings app has a new Energy Recommendations page, accessible from the Power section. This feature will prompt you to change settings such as the time for the screen to turn off and the device to go to sleep. These changes should have a positive impact on the energy efficiency of the device. The user himself decides whether he needs to apply certain settings.

List of changes in Windows 11 Build 22621.1343

• [New] Windows Studio effects can now be accessed directly from the quick actions menu on the taskbar if the device has a supported Neural Processing Unit (NPU). With this feature, you can quickly enable and adjust camera effects, including background blur, auto crop, and so on. All of these settings are also available in the Settings app.
• [New] Added a link to the Quick Support app at the bottom of Settings -> System -> Troubleshooting to help you if you’re having problems with your computer. It has also been moved from the Windows Tools section to the Start menu, which means it can now be quickly found in the list of all applications.
• [New] This update has improved the search bar on the taskbar. Now when you enter text in the search bar, the results will appear in the search bar. You can also change the taskbar search mode by going to Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar. A new policy has been added for IT administrators to control the display of the search box on the taskbar in an organization. Detailed information can be found by this link.
• [New] Added power saving recommendations in Settings -> System -> Power & Battery. Read and apply these tips to improve the performance of your PC and reduce your carbon footprint.
• [New] This update improves the system tray (previously called the notification area). All icons received a rounded focus and hover area in the lower right corner, including the “Show Hidden Icons” pop-up menu. You can move icons around to change their location in the Show Hidden Icons pop-up menu or move them to the taskbar.
• [New] This update introduces a touch-sensitive taskbar for 2-in-1 devices that can be used as a tablet. The new version of the taskbar has two states: collapsed and expanded. When minimized, it frees up screen space by preventing accidental taps on the taskbar in tablet mode. When expanded, it’s a familiar taskbar, but optimized for touch. You can switch between states by swiping up and down at the bottom of the screen.
  • This feature only works on devices that can be used as a tablet and is enabled by default. To change this, go to Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar -> Taskbar Behavior and change the “Optimize the taskbar for touch when this device is used as a tablet” setting. If your organization manages Windows Updates, then this feature will be disabled by default. Administrators can enable it with new policy.
• [New] This update provides enhanced support for braille devices. They will now continue to work when you switch between Narrator and third-party screen readers because Narrator will automatically change the braille drivers. More information about the change can be found in the documentation on the Microsoft website.
• [New] This update adds support for new braille displays and new Braille input and output languages ​​in Narrator. In particular, support for APH Chameleon, APH Mantis Q40, NLS eReader and many others has been implemented. More information about the change can be found in the documentation on the Microsoft website.
• [New] Voice control now supports interaction with user interface controls that have different names. For example:
  • Names containing numbers. For example, in the Calculator app, you might say “Click 5”.
  • Names without spaces between them. For example, in Excel, on the Insert tab, you can interact with UI controls such as PivotTable and PivotChart by directly saying “click pivot table” or “click pivot chart”.
  • Names with special characters, such as “Bluetooth & devices” or “Dial – up”. Now you can say “click Bluetooth and devices” or “click dial hyphen up” and interact with those UI controls.
• [New] Support for UI controls has been added, including for rotation, thumb control, and split buttons, allowing you to interact with these controls with a “click” command or with a number overlay. Commands that move the cursor in a text field are now instantaneous. Fixed issues with commands to snap a window to the left or right edge of the screen.
• [New] Improved work with horizontal scrolling: scrolling to the extreme left and right of the page is now supported, as well as continuous scrolling left / right, similar to what is already present in working with vertical scrolling. For more information about the new voice commands, you can find on the Microsoft website.
• [New] On devices connected to Azure Active Directory (AAD), the operating system will now suggest recommended content in the Start menu, matched by artificial intelligence. In the Featured section, you’ll find content to help you prepare for upcoming meetings, quickly access the files you’re working on, and more.
• [New] Added Tamil Anjal keyboard for Tamil language. To evaluate it, make sure that under Options -> Time & Language -> Language & Region, the language is set to Tamil (Singapore), Tamil (Malaysia), Tamil (Sri Lanka), or Tamil (India). If so, then click on the “…” next to the language, select “Language Options” and add Tamil Anjal (QWERTY) to the list of keyboards.
• We fixed an issue with the Color Filters setting that resulted in Grayscale instead of the Invert option being selected.
• Improved Windows stability after installing an update.
• Added support for United Mexican States Daylight Savings Time Order in 2023.
• Fixed a problem with the format of dates passed between Windows and some versions of the Heimdal Kerberos library.
• Fixed an issue with IE mode where the text in the status bar was sometimes invisible.
• Fixed compatibility issues that occurred with printers using Windows Graphical Device Interface (GDI) drivers that do not fully comply with the GDI specification.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the software keyboard not appearing on the Windows Initial Setup (OOBE) screen after a factory reset. As a result, to enter credentials, it was required to connect an external keyboard.
• We fixed an issue resulting in a blue screen during video playback. This happened after enabling High Dynamic Range (HDR) for the display.
• We fixed an issue that resulted in the touch keyboard and PIN keypad being unable to be used when logging in.
• We fixed an issue with AppV that prevented filenames from being correctly cased (upper or lower case).
• We fixed an issue with Microsoft Edge that removed conflicting browser policies. This happened if you installed MDMWinsOverGPFlag in the Microsoft Intune client, and Intune detected a policy conflict.
• We fixed an issue with provisioning packages that in some cases would not apply if elevation was required.
• We fixed an issue where the provisioning package could not be used to bulk configure devices in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).
• We fixed an issue that affected the operation of the Universal Print’s Configuration Service Provider (CSP). When installing the printer, a command prompt window appeared.
• Fixed a stability issue that occurred when using Task View.
• We fixed an issue that affected which folders were displayed in the “Select Folder” window.
• We fixed an issue with File Explorer that prevented focus from moving across input fields when using Shift + Tab or Shift + F6.
• We fixed a UI issue that prevented the volume window from displaying when using keys on a Bluetooth keyboard.
• We fixed an issue that affected Xbox subscribers. If you added an Xbox subscription using the Redeem Code option, your Xbox subscription card was not displayed on the Accounts page in Settings. This happened if auto-renewal was disabled.
• We fixed an issue with the lsass.exe process that could stop responding if an LDAP request with a very large filter was sent to a domain controller.
• We fixed an issue that could cause the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) to stop responding. This happened after launch. Sysprep on a device joined to a domain.
• We fixed an issue that affected the speed of copying from the network to a local drive. For some users, copying was slower than expected.
• We fixed an issue with parity virtual disks that prevented them from being created using Server Manager.