Microsoft Releases February Optional Updates for Windows 11

Microsoft has just released the optional February updates for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2. The main changes include the addition of a network speed tool to the taskbar, new camera controls in the Settings app, and a built-in version of the System Monitor (Sysmon) tool.

You can find the full list of changes for today’s KB5077241 patch here, but here are the main updates that will be rolling out gradually:

Network speed test tool in Taskbar: This new tool can be accessed from the Wi‑Fi or Cellular Quick Settings, or by right-clicking the network icon in the system tray. It opens in the default browser and measures Ethernet, Wi‑Fi, and cellular connections.

Camera Settings: The Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras page now offers new pan and tilt settings for supported cameras.

Built-in System Monitor (Sysmon): The popular tool for monitoring and logging system activity is now available as an optional feature. You can enable it by Settings > System > Optional features, but Microsoft recommends users who have already installed the tool from the Sysinternals to uninstall it before enabling the new built-in version.

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) improvements: This update adds support for Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Windows 11 Arm64 devices.

Quick Machine Recovery: The new tool for recovering Windows 11 PCs when they encounter critical errors is now enabled automatically for Windows Professional devices that are not domain‑joined and not enrolled in enterprise endpoint management.

Desktop Background: You can now set .webp images as your desktop background.

New Emoji: The Emoji 16.0 release introduces a couple of new emoji, including face with bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, and splatter.

BitLocker improvements: Your device no longer stops responding after you enter your recovery key.

This is somewhat confusing, but Microsoft also published release notes for the optional update for Windows 11 version 26H1, which isn’t available to the public yet, except if you’re an Insider on the Canary Channel. This new version of Windows 11 will only ship on upcoming devices powered by new silicon (presumably Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series chips, but possibly Nvidia/MediaTek chips as well), as it’s based on a different Windows core than the versions 24H2 and 25H2 of the OS.

Anyway, today’s update (KB5077239) is a bit of a snoozer as it only brings features that Microsoft already made available on previous versions of Windows 11. We hope to get more details about the first devices running Windows 11 version 26H1 soon.