As tends to happen on Wednesdays, Microsoft is rolling out a new build of Windows 11 to Insiders enrolled in the Dev channel, and this time that's build 25179. This build doesn't include a whole lot of brand-new features, but it does come with some improvements, and a big feature is finally available for everyone: File Explorer tabs.
That's right, even though Microsoft began testing tabs in the Windows 11 File Explorer months ago, even bringing them to some users in the Beta channel, it's only now available to everyone enrolled in the Dev channel. The company has been gathering feedback and fixing some issues over the past few weeks, and it should now be in better condition to be used by more users. Since they're also in the Beta channel, it's safe to assume this will be part of Windows 11 version 22H2 at some point, if not at launch.
Beyond that, there's also a change to the spelling dictionary in Windows 11, which now uses a language-neutral list of words. Presumably, this means you won't have your spelling "corrected" if you try to use a foreign word while your dictionary is set to a different language, but Microsoft doesn't specifically say this is the case.
A couple of other changes include support for the Tamil Anjal keyboard for speakers of Tamil, and improvements to the touch keyboard, which increase the key repeat rate when you hold down a key, such as Delete. This should make the experience feel more responsive.
As per usual, Windows 11 build 25179 also comes with a long list of fixes for various issues, as well as another one for known issues. Remember, this is pre-release software in early stages of development, so issues are bound to arise. One of the issues this time includes being unable to upgrade if you don't have 24GB of free space or more on your drive, but you can check out the full lists below:
Fixes in Windows 11 build 25179
[General]
- Fixed an issue causing hangs and crashes in apps (like Excel) when attempting to print in the last couple flights.
- Fixed a few issues impacting explorer.exe reliability.
[File Explorer]
- The Mount option when right clicking things like ISO files should now show an icon in the context menu.
- Fixed an issue where the min / max / close button might not be visible in File Explorer when using a contrast theme.
[Widgets]
- We have fixed the issue causing Widgets preferences (temperature units and pinned widgets) to unexpectedly get reset to default.
[Taskbar]
- Fixed an issue which could lead to the taskbar overflow flyout unexpectedly appearing on the opposite side of the screen.
[Input]
- Fixed a sporadic crash impacting reliability of the input switcher.
- Fixed an issue where when Suggested Actions was enabled, if you copied multiple items in a row to your clipboard history, some of the items might not display after you pressed WIN + V.
[Settings]
- Fixed an issue which was causing Settings to crash on launch sometimes.
- Improved alignment of the “Scan for phone” button displayed on Accounts > Sign-In Options under Dynamic Lock when your phone failed to connect.
- Your preferred state for the Suggested Actions setting under System > Clipboard should persist upgrade going forward from this build.
[Windowing]
- Fixed an issue where when resizing certain app windows near the edge of the screen when using mixed DPI monitors might unexpectedly cause the window to jump and shrink.
[Other]
- We made a change so that the media controls in Quick Settings will more reliably not load old media you’re no longer using.
- Fixed an issue causing one of the characters in the bugcheck text to not display correctly (as a box) when the display language was set to Chinese.
- Fixed an issue causing app install failures with error 0x80080204 in the last few flights.
- Improved date / time recognition for existing supported locales when using Suggested Actions.
Known issues in Windows 11 build 25179
[General]
- [NEW] Devices with low disk space may be unable to update to this build and see download error 0x80070001 in Windows Update. A fix should go out with the next flight. Freeing up disk space 24GB or higher could allow the build to download and install.
- Some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause your PC to bugcheck.
- We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the last flight.
- We’re working on a fix for an issue leading to some Insiders experiencing a decrease in FPS when playing certain games in recent flights due to the wrong graphics card being used.
- We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
[File Explorer]
- The left-half of the File Explorer title bar may not be draggable via mouse or touch.
- The up arrow is misaligned in File Explorer tabs. This will be fixed in a future update.
- We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Home, Documents, Pictures and potentially other folders to become unexpectedly duplicated in File Explorer’s navigation pane or appear on the desktop.
- We’re working on the fix for an issue where the search box background in File Explorer might be the opposite color of your current mode.
- We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the delete key to unexpectedly not work on files in File Explorer. If you encounter this, you should still be able to use the context menu to delete.
- [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar isn’t able to display if File Explorer is maximized and you have the taskbar set to auto-hide.
[Widgets]
- Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.
- In some cases, the notification banner for some badging will not appear in the widgets board.
[Printing]
- We’re working on the fix for an issue in recent Dev Channel flights causing lines to not be included when printing tables from certain apps.
If you're enrolled in the Dev channel, Windows 11 build 25179 should download automatically in the next few days. If you're considering joining the Insider program, the Beta and Release Preview channels are currently testing Windows 11 version 22H2, which already includes a lot of improvements and is a much safer option.
Source: Microsoft
