New Windows 11 Build Previews MSA Settings Interface

Microsoft is bringing Microsoft account (MSA) configuration settings to Windows 11, and Windows Insiders in the Dev channel can now test the first iteration of this functionality.

Well, some of them can. You know how this goes.

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“We are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22489 to the Dev channel,” the Microsoft announcement notes. “We are beginning to slowly rollout [sic] a new ‘Your Microsoft account’ settings page that will give you quick access to information related to your Microsoft account directly within Settings in Windows 11. We are beginning the rollout with a small set of Windows Insiders so you may not see this page right away.”

This new Settings page will allow customers to configure certain aspects of their Microsoft account without having to visit the web, as has been the case so far. It will include information related to your Microsoft 365 subscriptions, order history, payment details, and Microsoft Rewards. And, yes, Microsoft plans to use feedback to improve this interface before its release, a nice change of pace from the first four months of Windows 11 testing.

Interestingly, Microsoft is also muddying the waters by sort of explaining that updates to “Your Microsoft account” can occur outside of major Windows 11 releases because this functionality will be delivered via something called an Online Service Experience Pack.

“Online Service Experience Packs work in a similar way as the Windows Feature Experience Packs do, allowing us to make updates to Windows outside of major OS updates,” Microsoft notes, though it’s worth pointing out that the firm has never fully explained Windows Feature Experience Packs. “The difference between the two is that the Windows Feature Experience Packs can deliver broad improvements across multiple areas of Windows, whereas the Online Service Experience Packs are focused on delivering improvements for a specific experience such as the new Your Microsoft account settings page.”

Why a Windows Feature Experience Pack couldn’t just deliver a single improvement is unclear because we don’t know what a … You know what, never mind.

Windows 11 build 22489 also includes a new Discovery of Designated Resolvers feature for DNS over HTTPS and a new developer SDK for NuGet packages.

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Conversation 9 comments

  • madthinus

    Premium Member
    28 October, 2021 - 7:36 am

    <p>Online Service Experience Pack:</p><p><br></p><p>My hot take on this is that it is basically just a front end for a web form in an application and that it can be updated as the back end changes. You see many of these now in Settings, just look at the dynamic tips in the side bar or the latest Windows 11 ready information added to the Windows Update page.</p>

  • John Dunagan

    Premium Member
    28 October, 2021 - 7:54 am

    <p>I can see all the esoteric MSFT stuff from one spot in Settings, like when my Xbox Live account needs more reward points? I’d actually take that, versus log in with a browser and have to go all sorts of places I didn’t bookmark and can’t quite remember or Bing accurately.</p><p><br></p><p>Anyway, it’s nice so far…</p>

  • navarac

    28 October, 2021 - 9:15 am

    <p>…more A/B testing. Of the 5 Insiders left, one will test it, which is why W11 got issued half-baked in the first place. It’s a wonder that there are any Insiders left.</p>

  • j5

    Premium Member
    28 October, 2021 - 10:17 am

    <p>See, a feature like this makes sense, especially for people that aren’t nerds like us on this website. Why wouldn’t there be a way to access all your subscriptions/payments/accounts on Windows…when you login in with the same user/pass that you do for those Microsoft services you pay for???</p><p>I would also think this would make for less work for Microsoft, they don’t have to talk/email/chat with people wanting to know simple questions or manage their account. They can just turn their computer and do it all there.</p><p>It’s like stop moving the Start Menu and give us features that people would use not what grabs tech headlines about new looks lol.</p>

    • SvenJ

      28 October, 2021 - 3:59 pm

      <p>Well, see, you didn’t have to have an MSA to run Windows before now, so putting your MSA stuff in settings would have confused people. Now that you do, it makes sense. Before, all you had to do was log in when you used IE or Edge, and your icon up top had a link to your account. Wasn’t that hard.</p>

  • darkgrayknight

    Premium Member
    28 October, 2021 - 11:56 am

    <p>Hey Paul, at least we’re getting some hints on what the Windows Feature Experience Packs are (or more accurately what they aren’t–they are not a single component update, that’s what an Online Service Experience Pack is).</p>

  • mattbg

    Premium Member
    28 October, 2021 - 1:33 pm

    <p>You’d think that an Online Service Experience Pack would be more focused on delivering features related to online services (such as a Microsoft account), whereas a Windows Feature Experience Pack would be focused on delivering Windows features outside of releases.</p><p><br></p><p>Maybe that would have been too sarcastic as a response :)</p>

  • blue77star

    28 October, 2021 - 1:54 pm

    <p>Windows 11 is still a thing?</p>

  • ghostrider

    28 October, 2021 - 3:31 pm

    <p>Yay, because that’s what everyone really wants isn’t it – a Microsoft account. I’ve just been counting the hours until I can be forced to require one. Now I’ll be able to see all my details super-easily – can I have two accounts, or three maybe, please MS? My life is just so much better now I have one!</p>

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