Experimental (Future Platforms)

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29576.1000

These release notes apply to those who are in the Canary 29500 series Channel.

[B}Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out[/B]

[Sound settings]
We've been making some improvements to Settings > System > Sound in the latest Canary builds. This includes:

• We've updated the design of the volume slider, so now if there is audio actively playing it will be displayed on the side.
• If your audio device supports hardware acceleration, an option to allow hardware acceleration has now been added to the Advanced section in Properties that device.
• Configuring exclusive mode for an audio device is now available in the Advanced section of the Properties for that device, so you don't have to navigate to Control Panel to do it.
• Configuring adaptive communication sound levels (reducing volume of other sounds when communications activity is detected) is now available directly in Settings, so you don't have to navigate to Control Panel to do it.
• The option to set an audio device as default sound device for communication will now always display in Properties, just greyed out if the device is already the default (rather than the control hiding in this case).

[Point-in-time restore for Windows]

• Point-in-time restore for Windows empowers you to quickly roll your device back to a previous state — helping minimize downtime and simplify troubleshooting when disruptions strike. Whether you're dealing with a widespread outage or a one-off issue, point-in-time restore helps recover your system (including apps, settings, and user files) to get you back to productivity faster. For more details, check out our documentation.
  
• Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Recovery and Uninstall > Point-in-time restore.

[Task Manager]
We're making a few improvements to Task Manager:

• We're updating Task Manager to provide better insight into NPU usage for PCs that include an NPU. New optional NPU and NPU Engine columns are now available on the Processes, Users, and Details pages. The Details page also adds NPU Dedicated Memory and NPU Shared Memory optional columns to give you deeper visibility into how workloads are using NPU resources. Additionally, if there are neural engines that are part of a GPU, they will now appear on the Performance page, providing a more complete view of AI‑related system activity.
• We're also adding a new optional Isolation column to the Processes and Details pages, allowing you to see which apps are running in an AppContainer.

Once these changes are available to you, you can add any of the new columns by right‑clicking a column header in Task Manager and selecting them from the menu.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Task Manager.

[Other]

• Fixed an underlying issue causing some rendering issues in certain apps with recent Canary flights.

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29580.1000

As a reminder, these release notes apply to those who are in the Canary 29500 series Channel. As we begin the transition to the updated Windows Insider Program, all new build release notes will be labeled under the new channel names, even though Insiders in the Canary 29500 series Channel may not yet find themselves having transitioned to Experimental (Future Platforms). See the Windows Insider Blog for more details.

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

• This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Feedback Hub update]
Thanks Windows Insiders who have been sharing feedback about the Feedback Hub – we're now rolling out version 2.2604.301.0. This update contains a number of improvements based on what you've been telling us, including:

• Generally improved reliability.
• More tweaks to improve general design fit and finish, accessibility, and localization.
• The Community feedback section for non-English now allows you to switch view to English if you'd prefer.
• Collection titles and Official responses now will be automatically translated in top languages.
• The file upload limit when submitting feedback is back up to 500 MB.
• Improved upvote and comment count accuracy for feedback.

Please keep the feedback coming! If you want to share any thoughts, you can file them in the Feedback Hub under Apps > Feedback Hub.

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29585.1000

As a reminder, these release notes apply to those who are in the Canary 29500 series Channel. As we begin the transition to the updated Windows Insider Program, all new build release notes will be labeled under the new channel names, even though Insiders in the Canary 29500 series Channel may not yet find themselves having transitioned to Experimental (Future Platforms). See the Windows Insider Blog for more details.

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

• This update includes platform changes in moving to a new active development build.

[Print Drivers]

• The Internet Protocol Print driver (prnms012) has new hardware IDs (HWIDs) in preparation for upcoming changes in printer driver ranking order. See our third-party driver deprecation timeline: End of Servicing Plan for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn.
  

[Touch Keyboard Experience for Voice Typing]

• We're updating the experience when you use voice typing with the touch keyboard to make it feel more streamlined and intuitive. The new design removes the previous full‑screen overlay and instead shows voice typing animations directly on the dictation key, helping you stay focused on what you're doing without extra visual distractions.

(See blog post for images)  Feedback: Please share your feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Voice Typing (Windows key plus H).

[Administrator Protection]

• Improved reliability of Japanese IME usage when Administrator Protection is enabled.

[Other]

• Fixed an underlying issue impacting persistence of sign in state for certain apps after the latest Canary flights.

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29591.1000

[Windows Update]
We're introducing new capabilities to enhance security and improve user control over the Windows update experience. This includes:

• Ability to skip updates immediately during the out of box experience (OOBE)
• Extend update pauses as many times as you need
• Always available options to shutdown and restart with updating
• More insight on available updates to make more informed installation decisions

[Shared audio]
Shared audio enables two people to listen to the same audio from a single Windows 11 PC at the same time. It uses Bluetooth® LE Audio broadcast technology to make sharing easy. For example, you can watch a movie while traveling or listen to music while studying together. To start sharing audio, open Quick settings from the taskbar, select Shared audio, choose two supported, paired, and connected devices, and then select Start sharing. To learn more about Shared audio, see Extending Bluetooth® LE Audio on Windows 11 with shared audio.

[Storage]

• Updated Settings > System > Storage, so rather than seeing a UAC prompt immediately when you go to the page, you'll only see it when going to view temporary files.

For Windows Insiders in the Canary 29500 Series Channel (soon transitioning to Experimental (Future Platforms)), see the above-linked blog post.

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29595.1000

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

• This update includes platform changes in moving to a new active development build.

Reminder for Windows Insiders in the Canary 29500 Series Channel (soon transitioning to Experimental (Future Platforms))

• These builds can be unstable and may be released with limited documentation.
• The builds we release to the Canary 29500 Series Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows. Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might change over time, be removed, or replaced, and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they are ready.
• Many features in the Canary 29500 Series Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
  
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• For Windows Insiders who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
  
• Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders might not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.