It’s Wednesday, and that can only mean one thing: new preview builds for everyone. Microsoft has released Windows 11 build 25179, which includes a good set of changes, fixes, and improvements.
Available in the Dev channel, this version is still 22H2.
That’s because the development of Sun Valley 3 has been canceled in favor of releasing a major new version of Windows every three years. So, for now, the Dev channel is sticking with version 22H2, which will eventually be released sometime in 2023.
Most likely as version 23H2 naming, if things go to plan.
For this build, things have gone to plan
As Microsoft confirms in the announcement post, build 25179 does not include any new features. Instead, this version introduces a set of changes and improvements in addition to the usual dose of bug fixes.
There is plenty of new stuff here, including the spelling dictionary, which now uses a language-neutral word list that is synced across all devices that use the same Windows account.
Redmond is also rolling out File Explore tabs and navigation updates that arrived with build 25136 to everyone in the Dev channel. If you have yet to see these features, then the company suggests rebooting your device.
The software titan is also trying out different experiences in File Explorer to show search results.
Getting to the bug fixes, the list is fairly long, including a fix for an issue the caused a machine to hang and crash in apps like Excel when attempting to print. This problem crept up in the last few flights but has been resolved.
When right-clicking ISO files, the Mount option should now show an icon in the context menu. Also fixed is an issue where the minimize/maximize/close buttons were not visible in File Explorer when using a contrast theme.
This build contains a number of known issues that you should familiarize yourself with if you are considering deploying it on your test system.
