Microsoft Releases Windows 11 Insider Build 22598

Microsoft has just released the Windows 11 Insider build 22598 for testers on the Dev and Beta channels. This is the third Windows 11 preview build in a row to ship on both channels, but this release is pretty light on new features.

Starting with today’s build 22598, Microsoft will make Windows Spotlight the default background on select PCs doing a clean install of this build, as well as upgraded PCs that have been using the default Windows 11 background. Windows Spotlight can display different background wallpapers throughout the day, and some Insiders will also start to see high-quality 4K desktop backgrounds after installing today’s build.

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The Windows 11 build 22598 has also updated the tooltip on the volume icon to tell you when you’re using spatial sound. Select Insiders who install this build will also be greeted with the Get Started app after signing in, as the Windows Insider wants to know if this app can help people get started with their PC.

A new update for Media Player is also rolling out to all Insiders in the Dev channel, and it brings various UI improvements. Insiders can now switch between two different views on the artist page when browsing their collection, and they can also access new quick actions when hovering their mouse over albums, artists, videos, and playlists.

Other improvements for the Media Player app include a new context menu when you right-click on the now playing screen, and there’s also a new “video enhancements” feature for adjusting the brightness and contrast of your video. “In addition to these new features, we are continuing to work on improving the performance of Media Player for those of you with very large music libraries,” the Windows Insider team said today.

Today’s Windows build 22598 also brings various bug fixes and improvements for the Taskbar, Start Menu, File Explorer, and Task Manager. If you want to do a clean install, ISOs are available on this page.

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Conversation 14 comments

  • will

    Premium Member
    13 April, 2022 - 2:40 pm

    <p>Surprised it is light on features with an OS that will not ship for 6 more months. Yes, I am glad there are bug fixes, but there is still a lot of small things that can be improved or updated from a UI side and feature set.</p>

    • will

      Premium Member
      13 April, 2022 - 5:10 pm

      <p>Just installed and while I like the Windows Spotlight idea, it needs controls. I do not want it changing the photo every 60 seconds. Give me the same controls as slide show so I can choose the frequency of change, and manually change a photo if I do not like it.</p>

      • mog0

        14 April, 2022 - 5:23 pm

        <p>Wholeheartedly agree. I’d hope that controls are in the roadmap and will be ready by release.</p><p>The fact the similar feature for the lock screen has ability to say you don’t like a picture would suggest that is likely to appear.</p><p>Frequency is excessive but seems like the kind of thing they might crank up for insider builds in order to get more telemetry from changes happening / more people will notice the changes.</p><p>Really hope I’m right on these things as I’d probably find changes every minute too distracting in the long run so would probably turn it off.</p>

  • blue77star

    13 April, 2022 - 3:25 pm

    <p>Seriously who needs a bloatware pulling images from network and taxing your resources? This is the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen.</p>

    • mog0

      13 April, 2022 - 4:46 pm

      <p>If your resources are so tight that you can detect the effect of loading a single image every few hours, I would suggest that you upgrade your system so that you can experience the wonders of Windows XP.</p><p>As the owner of computers built this century, connected to broadband, I like having nice photography show up on my computer without having to hunt it down.</p><p>I suspect you are trying REALLY hard to find something to complain about, particularly as it says that spotlight is the "default background", i,e. if you don’t like it, turn it off.</p>

      • blue77star

        13 April, 2022 - 8:31 pm

        <p>It is one of the many resource consuming junk baked in Windows. It all adds up.</p>

    • rob_segal

      Premium Member
      13 April, 2022 - 6:56 pm

      <p>Loading an image in the background and setting it as the desktop background isn’t very taxing on resources or battery life. This is a huge overreaction.</p>

      • blue77star

        13 April, 2022 - 8:32 pm

        <p>I am not on laptop but desktop and crap like this is nothing but horrible thing for gaming performance. As I said, one of many other bloatware garbage. That’s why I like Windows 10 LTSC 21H2.</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      14 April, 2022 - 10:13 am

      <p>Sorry you can’t run it on your 286.</p>

  • ulrichr

    13 April, 2022 - 8:29 pm

    <p>If you want to show your own photos, I highly recommend using Dynamic Theme (free Windows Store app), which provides much more functionality than Windows Spotlight. Note Dynamic Theme can also show you both Windows Spotlight pictures and Bing Pictures as well as your own ones, and it will change the Lock Screen and the Desktop on different schedules</p>

  • ekim

    Premium Member
    13 April, 2022 - 8:54 pm

    <p>I really hope the next iteration of Media Player actually works. The Artists view says I have no music even though I have a 750GB music collection. The songs view and the albums view at least kind of work. By replacing Groove, which worked really well, with this updated version of WMP, I’ve been unable to listen to my music collection on the 2 systems I let upgrade to Win11. Yes, I know I can still run the old WMP but really? On the Surface? It is really old and not designed for touch. Groove worked really well with touch. </p>

  • ekim

    Premium Member
    13 April, 2022 - 8:57 pm

    <p>And here we go – build 22598 is ready to install. Let’s hope this goes well.</p>

  • ids

    Premium Member
    14 April, 2022 - 4:34 pm

    <p>They keep knocking out these recent builds and they are dire in my opinion. They have broken:</p><ul><li>L2TP VPN’s (you connect to WiFI, as soon as the VPN launches the PC shows no internet connection, even though Edge/FF work. Mail, Spotify and Feedback Hub stop working as they think its offline)</li><li>Task Manager goes 100% when launched and is unresponsive</li><li>Explorer slows to a crawl periodically</li><li>Other panels slow.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>I keep reporting and having to restore back to normal build to fix VPN issue (work device). Been an insider since day one and these builds – considering are nearly release time – are just awful.</p><p><br></p><p>Do they have any decent QA any longer ?</p>

    • mog0

      14 April, 2022 - 5:16 pm

      <p>These builds aren’t tied to a specific release any more so they could contain stuff that won’t be ready for next release but I think they changed the releases to annual so think we’re 6 months from release anyway.</p><p>Task manager is very new (although no perf issues on my Surface Go 2)</p><p>The notification / quick access / start menu panels are quicker in the last 2 builds than any of the real releases for me.</p><p>Don’t use explorer much so can’t really comment.</p><p>VPN is kind of thing that breaks with insider build and will probably be lower priority than new stuff they need feedback on.</p><p><br></p><p>Insider program is part of QA process but for me last 2 builds are better for my use than latest release (particularly the start menu). Only use it on my surface, not my development / gaming machine – that needs stability.</p><p>It’s beta, things break. That’s the purpose of it. Some things break for some people and not others.</p>

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