Microsoft Announces New Insider Builds, a Bit of 26H2 News

Microsoft announced five new Windows Insider Preview builds today and some expected news about Windows 11 version 26H2.

“We have new releases today with builds across Beta and Experimental, including Windows 11 version 26H2 for Experimental,” Microsoft’s Stephen Lines writes in the announcement post. “Devices already enrolled in the Experimental channel will begin seeing their versioning updated to version 26H2 under Settings > System > About (and winver). If you are in the Beta channel and would like to switch to the Experimental, you can easily do so under Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program. Remember, you can easily switch “back to Beta at any time, without having to do a full Windows reinstall.”

This isn’t clear, but since Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 are both supported currently and will be upgraded to version 26H2 this October-ish, I assume what he means that is that those with a PC in Experimental for 24H2 or 25H2 will soon transition to 26H2. That said, there’s also a Future Platforms sub-channel for Experimental, so I could be wrong on that count. I will update a few PCs and see what happens.

If you have a Snapdragon X2-based PC running Windows 11 on Arm, you’re running 26H1 and Microsoft previously revealed that you will not be updated to 26H2; instead, you will eventually “have a path to update to a future Windows release,” which may or may not be called Windows 12. Microsoft isn’t saying right now. Confused? Welcome, friend.

As for the new builds, the following is now available:

• Beta (25H2): Build 26220.8690. There are improvements to the reliability of Start, Taskbar, Settings (Apps > Startup), and virtualization.
• Experimental (24H2/25H2?): Build 26300.8697. The versioning will change to 26H2 and there are improvements to the File Explorer Copy dialog in Dark mode, the reliability of Start, Taskbar, Settings (Apps > Startup), and virtualization.
• Beta (26H1): Build 28020.2308. This update includes a small number of minor bug fixes and improvements, including an improvement to the reliability of the in-box HD Audio driver.
• Experimental (26H1): Build 28120.2315. This update includes a small number of minor bug fixes and improvements, including an improvement to the reliability of the in-box HD Audio driver and the responsiveness of captions.
• Experimental (Future Platforms, Including Canary 29600 series): Build 29613.1000. This update includes further improvements to Settings > System > Sounds based on feedback and the input and output audio properties page for devices in Settings so that they now include jack information.