New Windows 11 preview brings boost for Apple AirPods fans
Microsoft's first preview of Windows 11 in 2022 brings some improvements to the File Explorer tool as well as wideband speech support for Apple's AirPods.
The update is available as the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22526 for users in the Dev Channel. It doesn't include any major changes or new features, but Microsoft is experimenting with indexing more file locations to speed up File Explorer for searching for files.
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It also contains a fix for File Explorer that was causing explorer.exe to crash after using search. And Microsoft has fixed a bug that caused the recent searches flyout to get stuck in the screen. Meanwhile, app icons should render more clearly in search results when display scaling exceeds 100%.
SEE: Windows 11 FAQ: Our upgrade guide and everything else you need to know
Windows 11's Widgets boards should now display with the correct resolution when hovering over the entry point on a second monitor. The Widgets board should no longer be blank, showing only an Add Widgets button. However, Microsoft hasn't fixed a bug causing the Widget button to disappear in the Taskbar when changing taskbar alignment.
There are several other minor bug fixes, including one for the Microsoft Store that was showing an error message when installing the latest Web Media Extension update.
The wideband speech support for AirPods should improve the audio quality of voice calls.
"We have added support for wideband speech when using Apple AirPods products (AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max), improving audio quality for voice calls," Microsoft said.
There are several known issues that remain in the Windows 11 preview, including problems with how the Taskbar is displayed while Taskbar's Search panel is not opening as intended. Also, Windows 11's Wi-Fi signal indicator isn't accurately reflecting the network's signal strength.
Microsoft says it is working to fix an issue that causes Settings to crash when trying to access the Installed Apps, Startup Apps, and Default Apps pages.
Since October, Microsoft has gradually been ramping up the Windows 11 rollout, but the OS is only for newer hardware that meets Microsoft's minimum requirements.