New Windows 11 Version 24H2 Features Are Available for Release Preview Testers

Microsoft released yesterday a new Windows 11 24H2 build for Insiders on the Release Preview ring that enables various new features that will start rolling out to the public next month. There are some Live Captions improvements for users with Copilot+ PCs, a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11, a new emoji button in the system tray area of the taskbar, and more.

As usual with new Windows 11 features, they will roll out gradually to all Insiders who install this new 24H2 build (26100.3613). You can find a list of the main additions below:

Live Captions improvements on Copilot+ PCs: AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs now support live captions and real-time translation for more than 44 languages into English. Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs are also getting the ability to translate 26 languages into Chinese (Simplified) in real-time.

Voice Access improvements: On Qualcomm-powered Copilot+, Natural Language Commanding will let users speak commands using natural language instead of the usual predefined commands. The accessibility feature also now provides support for navigating, dictating, and interacting with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Task Manager improvements: The app will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across the Processes, Performance, and Users pages, aligning with industry standards and third-party tools.

Widgets improvements: Web developers can now use their existing web content to build dynamic widgets that can be added to the Windows 11 Widgets Board. Users in the EU are also getting the ability to add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets in Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

Settings app: The Settings > System > About section of the app is getting new “top cards” displaying the key specs of the device including CPU, RAM, storage, and GPU. A new Settings homepage on managed PCs will display two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards.

Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard: This new layout for the Windows 11 touch keyboard allows you to use an Xbox controller to navigate and type across the OS.

Emoji button in the taskbar: The new emoji button in the system tray area of the taskbar provides quick access to the Windows 11 emoji panel.

All these new features should become available for non-Insiders with the optional March update for Windows 11 version 24H2, which should be released in the last week of March. The public rollout should follow next month with the April 2025 Patch Tuesday updates.