Microsoft Issues New Windows 11 Release Preview Builds

Well, this one is a mystery, but what else is new? There are new Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2 builds to download from the Release Preview channel in the Windows Insider Program.

“Today we’re releasing build Builds 26100.9539/26200.9539 for Release Preview for Windows 11, version 24H2/25H2,” Microsoft’s Stephen Lines explains. “This update is available through two release phases: gradual rollout and normal rollout. A gradual rollout delivers an update in phases, so features reach devices over time instead of all at once, meaning availability varies by device. A normal rollout is the broad release to all eligible devices at the same time, usually when it reaches general availability (GA).”

New gradual rollout features include several File Explorer improvements, Wi-Fi support in the Windows Recovery Environment, support for Emoji 17.0, a new Tips widget, several personalization, Bluetooth, and accessibility improvements, and more. But the most notable change, perhaps, is that these builds introduce the ability to remap the Copilot key to Right Ctrl or Context Menu.

The previous 24H2 and 25H2 builds that Microsoft issued through the Release Preview channel arrived in mid-August and, as I speculated at the time, they appeared in stable this past week as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday updates. But Microsoft also released its first-ever 26H2 build to the Release Preview channel two weeks ago, and so it’s a little odd that there isn’t a corresponding 26H2 build today since all three versions–24H2, 25H2, and 26H2–have the same features.

Then again, perhaps this means that Microsoft will issue Windows 11 version 26H2 in October, perhaps as part of that month’s Patch Tuesday updates. I guess we’ll know soon enough.