Microsoft Ships Two Different Windows 11 Builds for the Dev and Beta Channels

Microsoft has released today two different Windows 11 Insider builds for the Dev and Beta channels. This marks the end of the “magic window” that allowed Insiders to switch between these two channels while they were receiving the same new builds for a couple of weeks, ending with last week’s build 22616.

The Windows 11 preview build 22621 is rolling out to the Beta channel Insiders today, and it’s a minor update with bug fixes for File Explorer, the Taskbar, and Voice Access. Going forward, the Beta channel will receive builds that will feature experiences that are closer to what will actually ship in the next Windows 11 update, while the Dev Channel will receive more experimental builds.

The new Windows 11 preview build 25115 for Dev Channel Insiders marks quite a big jump in the build incrementation, though it’s actually pretty light on new features. The main addition is Suggest Actions, which will suggest users relevant actions when doing certain tasks.

The two examples Microsoft highlighted today is a pop up suggesting to make a phone call when copy/pasting a phone number, or a pop up inviting users to create an event when they copy a date and/or time.

Microsoft also invites Dev Channel Insiders to test the new Sound Recorder app that the company unveiled yesterday. This app will be replacing the existing Voice Recorder app, and it introduces a new audio recording and playback visualization and the ability to change the recording device and file format from within the app.

It’s worth noting that the File Explorer tabs that Microsoft teased a couple of weeks ago are still not there. Moreover, if you have a Windows on ARM PC, you won’t be able to install today’s build 25115. “We hope to be able to offer a new build for Insiders on ARM64 PCs soon,” the Windows Insider team said today.