New Windows 11 Canary Build Expands Access to Surface’s Voice Clarity Feature

Microsoft has just released the Windows 11 Insider build 26040 on the Canary channel, and it’s quite a big one. This is the first flight on this channel since the release of the build 26020 on January 3, and it brings some of the changes that were previously introduced on the Dev Channel, as well as some brand-new features.

With today’s build 26040, Microsoft is expanding access to Voice Clarity, a previously Surface-exclusive feature that uses AI to improve audio quality in apps and games that use Communications Signal Processing Mode, such as Phone Link and WhatsApp. “Powered by low complexity AI models, Voice Clarity cancels echo, suppresses background noise, and reduces reverberation in real-time,” the Windows Insider team explained today.

For IT admins, Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)  has also been improved with several new features including automatic account management and rollback detection. There’s also a new PasswordComplexity setting to generate less confusing passwords for users.

Here’s a list of the biggest changes included in today’s build 26040:

Voice Clarity: The AI-powered feature, which was previously exclusive to Surface devices, can now improve audio quality in apps and games using Communications Signal Processing Mode.

Improved Phone integration: This feature was previously introduced on the Dev Channel, and it’s now rolling out gradually on the Canary channel. It will let users access and edit their most recent photos and screenshots from their Android mobile device in Snipping Tool. Windows 11 will show notifications prompting users to open their recent captures in the image editing app.

New Windows Setup design: If you clean install today’s build 26040 using the ISOs, you’ll notice a refreshed setup experience that uses the same design as the current upgrade and installation experience on Windows 11.

USB 80Gbps support: This feature also previously rolled out to other Insider channels, but it requires new devices powered by Intel Core 14th Gen HX-series mobile CPUs.

Copilot button: The shortcut for Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant now appears on the right side of the system tray, similar to how it is on Windows 10.

Windows Share improvements: The Windows Share window now supports sharing website links to WhatsApp, Gmail, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

New Task Manager icon: Microsoft has redesigned the icon for Task Manager in this build, and it now matches the design language of Windows 11.

No more WordPad: The word processor will be removed from the OS after installing this build, and it also won’t be available when doing a clean install. Microsoft announced back in September that WordPad would be retired soon.

Windows LAPS improvements: The built-in Windows feature for managing local administrative passwords is adding support for automatic account management, passphrase generation, image rollback detection, and a new PasswordComplexity setting.

Again, ISOs are available for this build if you want to do a clean install on your PC. And if you missed it earlier this week, the company also released two new builds on the Dev and Beta channels. There are mostly bug fixes, but the Beta Channel flight also added suggestions in Snap Layouts as well as a new settings experience for the Widgets board.