Windows 11 Dev Beta Insider Program 10.0.22581.1 (ni_release) 220318-1623

Good Morning friends! Microsoft has released a new preview build of Windows 11 22581 for members of the Windows Insider program using the Dev and Beta channels.

Complete build number: 10.0.22581.1.ni_release.220318-1623.

Important

• Build 22581 is now also available to members of the Windows Insider Program on the Beta channel. Since the Dev and Beta channels receive the same builds, Insiders have a temporary opportunity to switch to another channel if necessary. This time should be used to ensure that you are indeed in the channel you wish to receive future updates from.

Updated on 03/25/2022. Cumulative update KB5013283 has been released, which does not bring any innovations with it, but is aimed at testing the maintenance system. After the update, the system build number will change to 22581.100.

Full build number: 22581.100.ni_release_svc_prod1.220318-1815.

Important

Build 22581 is now also available to members of the Windows Insider program on the Beta channel. Since the Dev and Beta channels receive the same builds, insiders have a temporary opportunity to switch to another channel if necessary. This time should be used to make sure that you are really on the channel from which you want to receive future updates.

Learn more about switching to the Beta channel

Now members of the Windows Insider program on the Beta channel can try out new features such as Live Captions, folders in the Start menu, a redesigned Task Manager, a taskbar optimized for tablets, and much more.

Since the same builds are released on the Dev and Beta channels, insiders have a temporary opportunity to switch between channels. If you want to do this, then follow the simple steps:

• Open “Settings” -> “Windows Update” -> “Windows Pre-Evaluation Program”.
• Click on the item “View the current parameters of the preliminary assessment program”.
• Select the Beta channel.
• Next time you will get an update that matches the selected channel.

Important! The possibility of switching from the Dev channel to Beta will close when Microsoft starts releasing builds with a higher number on the Dev channel. If you stay on the Dev channel and get such a build, then you will need to perform a clean install of Windows 11 to switch to the Beta channel.

If you are using the Beta channel and want to use the initial version of Windows 11, then you should switch to the Release Preview channel. If you have already received build 22581, then within 10 days or before receiving a new build, you will be able to roll back to the previous OS version.

If you want to continue testing builds with the Dev channel, then you don’t need to take any action.

Changes and improvements

• General:
  • Like described in the blog, members of the Windows Insider Program on the Dev channel can get a chance to test new ideas and features that may never be released to the public. In this build, a small number of Insiders will see the first of these experimental features, which will give users quick access to the content they’re interested in using the Search box in Windows.
• Task bar:

A taskbar optimized for tablets that has appeared in assembly 22563, is now available to all Insiders on the Dev and Beta channels. Please be reminded that this feature only works on devices that can be used as a tablet. It does not work on laptops and desktops.

• Fixed several issues with the taskbar. In particular, the stroke at the top now covers the entire taskbar regardless of the device type. Previously, the stroke ended near the system tray area.
• The keyboard focus, mouse-over prompts on system tray icons, and the “Show hidden Icons” pop-up menu have been updated to match the visual style of the taskbar. You may also notice that dragging is no longer supported for pinning or unpinning icons on the taskbar. To show or hide the icons, right-click on the taskbar and select “Taskbar Options”. In addition, a new parameter has been added that allows you to completely hide the “Show hidden icons” button, which will appeal to users who want to make the taskbar as simple as possible.

Parameters:

• • In build 22557, links appeared in the “Parameters” designed to help users give a second life to their PC or recycle it. In the new builds (22581+), these links are missing, but they will return in the future.
    

    Corrections

    Taskbar:

  • Fixed another issue where the thumbnails of windows on the taskbar used the wrong font for the window title in languages other than English.
  • Dragging items to the taskbar should now work even if the “Automatically hide taskbar” feature is enabled.
    When dragging something to pin on the taskbar, the notification (for example, the X icon, if pinning this element is not supported) will now have rounded corners.
  • Fixed an issue where a swipe to minimize the taskbar optimized for tablets could unexpectedly open the widget panel.

Start Menu:

• • Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the search box at the top of the Start menu to flicker.
  • Fixed the main problem, because of which the swipe with your finger to open the list of all applications was sometimes recognized by the system as if you touched one of the letters in the list of all applications.
  • The “Move to the beginning” element in the context menu that appears when you right-click on a pinned application has been renamed to “Move to the foreground” to make it easier to understand what will happen when this item is selected.

Focus:

• • An update of the Clock application has been released (version 11.2202.24.0 and later), which fixes the problem that led to the fact that the application could not update the state of the Focus function in Windows when setting up productive work sessions.

Conductor:

• • Fixed a problem that caused icons to be missing in the context menu and on the command panel (for example, for the item “Next desktop background” in the context menu, if you right-click on the desktop with a slideshow as wallpaper).
    Minor changes have been made to some icons used in the context menu and on the command panel. In particular, the “Copy” icon has changed.
  • Folders whose only contents are folders will now display an icon with a piece of paper to show that there is content inside. Previously, an empty folder icon was displayed.
  • Fixed the main problem that could cause the Explorer to malfunction when using the Group function

Input:

• • Fixed an issue where the conversion option did not work in the context menu of Korean IME.
  • Fixed an issue where the IME toolbar was incorrectly displayed or hidden if you decided to use a previous version of Japanese IME.
  • Improved stability of the touch keyboard display on the login screen after clicking on the PIN or password input field after restarting or updating the system.
  • Fixed an issue where some text on the touch keyboard was difficult to read when using the black and white keyboard theme.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the “Size and theme” link in the “Parameters” -> “Time and language” -> “Input” -> “Touch keyboard” to not work.
  • Fixed an issue where previous sentences of words continued to be displayed on the touch keyboard after switching to voice input.
  • The “Press Enter” and “Press Tab” commands should now work when using voice input in Chinese (traditional).
    Fixed an issue where a three- or four-finger gesture on the touch keyboard to adjust the volume level did not work with some connected Bluetooth devices.

Parameters:

• • Sound changes for program events (for example, disabling certain system sounds) should now be saved when the system is updated.
  • Improved visibility of the battery icon in the Bluetooth section in quick actions when contrast mode is enabled.

Windows:

• • If you set the keyboard focus to the desktop in the “Task View”, then the outline displayed around the thumbnail will now have rounded corners.
  • Fixed an issue where when hovering the cursor over the “Task Views” icon, the “Desktops” pop-up window was not displayed on additional monitors when using Arabic or Hebrew.
  • Fixed an issue where when selecting one of the Microsoft Edge tabs displayed in the Snap Assistant, the window animation was played in the wrong place.
  • Anchor layouts should now collapse correctly if you drag the window through the corner of the layout.
  • Fixed an issue where anchor layouts were immediately displayed when dragging the window, rather than displaying a hint. The problem only affected users using Arabic or Hebrew.
  • Fixed an issue where rotating the tablet before completing the previous screen rotation animation caused the animation to abruptly interrupt.
  • Fixed an issue where a three-finger gesture to quickly minimize all windows could cause windows to hang in the minimized state.
  • The size of the area above the notification has been reduced, because of which clicks were not transferred to the underlying window. Now this area corresponds to the size of the notification.
  • Fixed an issue that caused difficulties with dragging the title bar of an expanded window using the touch screen.
  • Fixed an issue where a keyboard bite could get lost if the “Open” or “Save” dialog box was opened in the application and you used the Alt+Tab combination to switch to another application and then return.

Voice control:

• • Fixed an issue that caused voice control to malfunction when using commands to write text in capital letters in Office applications.

Screen Announcer:

• • The “screen announcer” will now correctly voice information about whether the image is in a table cell in Office applications.
  • When the “Screen Announcer” in scan mode voices information from Microsoft Edge, it no longer stops when navigating to some embedded links and buttons inside the text, for example, on a website nytimes.com .

Task Manager:

• • Fixed an issue where the tooltips did not correctly take into account the preferred visual setting if the “Task Manager” is used in a dark theme.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Task Manager” did not fill in the “Status” column on the “Startup” page.

Other:

• • Fixed an issue that caused the volume pop-up menu that appears when using hardware buttons to hang on the screen.
  • Fixed an issue that caused explorer.exe hung up and was not fully initialized at the first login.
  • Fixed a few more issues affecting stability explorer.exe .Note. Some of the fixes listed above may be included in cumulative updates for the release version of Windows 11 from October 5.

Known Issues

• General:
  • At this time, Microsoft is not offering new beta builds to Windows Insider program members in China using Lenovo devices.
  • Windows 10 Insiders who choose to join the Dev or Beta channel to get the latest builds may encounter error code 0xc8000402 when trying to download the build. The workaround is to join the Release Preview channel, install Windows 11 (build 22000.xxx) from there, and then switch to the Dev or Beta channel to get that build. The issue will be fixed in the next build.
• Task bar:
  • On 2-in-1 hybrid devices, the taskbar doesn’t always automatically minimize after launching an app or tapping outside of it.
  • Some OS components do not yet respect the height of the drop-down taskbar on 2-in-1 hybrid devices, so some parts may be covered by the taskbar, such as Widgets.
• Conductor:
  • The search field in File Explorer may stop working when you type text and then select a suggestion.
  • Engineers are working to fix issues related to icon size, visual bugs, and clipped text in the OneDrive pop-up menu.
• Widgets:
  • Sometimes the dockable widget from Feed appears at the top and not below other widgets. If this happens, then within 30 minutes an automatic correction will occur, and the newly pinned widget will move to the desired position. You can also log out of your profile in the widget panel and then log back in to fix the issue.
  • If you move widgets in a panel, some users may experience an issue with widgets not displaying correctly. If this happens, then log out of the profile on the widget panel, and then log into the account again.
  • The widget panel may not load correctly when opened with a swipe from the left edge of the screen. You can still launch Widgets using the taskbar button or the Win+W keyboard shortcut.
• Narrator:
  • In recent builds, natural voices may be intermittently interrupted. To resolve the issue, restart Narrator.
• Live Captions:
  • Some applications do not allow you to display real-time subtitles in full screen mode. For example, this applies to video players.
  • Some apps at the top of the screen that were closed before Live Captions launched will re-launch behind the Live Captions window at the top. Use the system menu (ALT + ) when the application has focus to move the window down.
  • The top of full-screen applications (such as the window control buttons in the title bar) are not available when using the touch screen if Live Captions are at the top.

I wish you a successful update!