New Windows 11 Beta Channel Build Adds Three New Features

Microsoft has issued Windows 11 builds 22623.885 and 22621.885 to testers in the Windows Insider Program’s Beta channel. The former arrives with three new features.

Here’s what’s new:

Windows Studio Effects in Quick Settings. A new Studio effects quick settings button is now available in Quick Settings, giving users a quick way to enable and configure camera effects (Background blur, Eye contact, and Automatic framing) and audio effects (Voice focus) on Qualcomm-based PCs with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU).

Energy recommendations. Power & battery settings will now offer an Energy recommendations option so that you can configure your PC for the best energy efficiency. This one isn’t rolling out to all Insiders, even those on build 22623.885, which is supposed to get all the new features. Because of the usual reasons.

Expanded view for Widgets. Rather than just go with the obvious full-screen experience, Microsoft is instead testing some changes that will let you expand the size of the widgets board in Widgets. It will remember the size you chose. And yep, this one isn’t going out to all testers either.

As a reminder, Microsoft is for some very unclear reason providing two different builds to those hardy few still bothering with the Beta channel. One of the builds gets (at least some) new features, while the other does not. The good news, such as it is? “Insiders who landed in the group with new features turned off by default (Build 22621.xxxx) can check for updates and choose to install the update that will have features rolling out (Build 22623.xxx),” Microsoft says.