New Windows 11 Insider Builds Hit the Dev and Beta Channels

Microsoft has just released new Windows 11 Insider builds for testers on the Dev and Beta channels. Once again, Microsoft is shipping two different builds to Beta channel testers as the company is still using two groups of Insiders for A/B testing new features.

If you’re on the Dev Channel, today’s build 25188 brings a new dropdown menu in the Settings app to replace the “Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached” checkbox. Now, select Insiders will see 3 options to control whether tapping an edit control should open the touch keyboard: ‘Never’, When no keyboard attached, and ‘Always’.

Starting with this build, Microsoft is also making Windows Terminal the default terminal on Windows 11. If Windows Terminal version 1.15 or greater is installed, all command line applications (such as Command Prompt and PowerShell) will now automatically open in Windows Terminal. This behavior can still be disabled in Settings > Privacy & security > For developers.

Microsoft has also fixed various bugs in this build, though there is also a new known issue causing apps that rely on the .NET Framework 3.5 to not work properly. If you have apps that rely on this version of the .NET Framework, Microsoft recommends skipping this build.

For all Insiders on the Dev Channel, Microsoft is rolling out an update for the Microsoft Store which will introduce something new in search results: ads. “We are beginning to test Microsoft Store Ads in search results. Developers interested in participating can sign up on the waitlist here,” the Windows Insider team said.

The Windows 11 builds 22621.586 and 22622.586 for Beta Channel Insiders include no new features this week. There’s a good set of fixes for both groups of Beta Channel testers, though the build 22622.586 comes with some unique fixes for the group with new features turned on by default.

Yesterday, Microsoft also released the Windows 11 build 22621.457 for Insiders on the Release Preview Channel. This build includes a new option to view the usage history of various resources such as the Camera and the Microphone in the Settings app. Lastly, the new bits also include updates for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and SMB compression.