It looks like our monthly preview update for Windows 11 version 24H2 will arrive later than expected yet again. But if you’ve got a PC on Windows 11 version 23H2, the software giant did deliver a preview update late in the day on Tuesday.
Preview cumulative update KB5055629 will upgrade Windows 11 version 23H2 to build 22631.5262 and add the following key new features and changes over time:
File Explorer. Pivot-based curated views and improved performance for extracting numerous small files in ZIP files.
Narrator. A new speech recap feature helps you access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said.
Phone Link. New integration with the Start menu lets you access phone features like calls, text messages, photos, and shared content.
Widgets. Web developers can finally start writing interactive widgets that work with the Widget board in Windows 11. And support for customizing Lock screen widgets finally comes to those in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Share. You can now make last minute edits to an image you’re sharing directly from the Share sheet.
Fixes. This build also includes fixes for Start and the Taskbar, and the logic for how pinned app shortcuts on the Desktop are displayed received a small change. As with so many Windows 11 updates, this update also “makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.”
We can expect a nearly identical preview update for 24H2 by the end of the week as well, of course. (When they’re delayed like this, they usually arrive on Thursday.)
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