Windows 11 gets big Windows Update rework in the latest preview update

This week's Windows 11 preview build in the Dev Channel delivers major updates to the operating system and changes that many users have long been asking Microsoft for. Build 26300.8289 is now available for download with a reworked Windows Insider channel system, new features for Windows Update, Start menu improvements, and more.

[Windows Insider Program channel movement]

• As announced in the Windows Insider Blog, we will begin moving users in the Dev Channel to the new Experimental channel. This will be a phased rollout, and Insiders who do not see the new experience on their device but want to can enable it under Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > Feature flags.

[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-the-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

[Print Drivers]

• The Internet Protocol Print driver (prnms012) has new hardware IDs (HWIDs) in preparation for upcoming changes in printer driver ranking order.

[Start menu]

• Improved detection of clicks at the leftmost edge of the taskbar to invoke the Start menu when the taskbar icons are set to left-aligned.

[Other]

• Removed an unexpected error that was showing when opening Group Policy Editor in the last couple of Insider flights.
• We’ve updated Times New Roman to improve support for combining diacritical marks across the Greek and Cyrillic Unicode ranges. If you notice any positioning issues with these diacritical marks, please let us know by filing feedback under Desktop Environment > Font Installation and Preview in the Feedback Hub – preferably with details about the specific Unicode character, and a screenshot highlighting the expected position.

Known issues include the following:

[Feature flags]

• Insiders who use Feature flags to enable the new WIP experience may see the feature state incorrectly marked as current; changing state and applying changes will work as expected.

You can find release notes here.

As for the Beta Channel, Microsoft is rolling out build 26220.8283 with the following changes:

[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.

[Start menu]

• Improved detection of clicks at the leftmost edge of the taskbar to invoke the Start menu when the taskbar icons are set to left-aligned.

[Other]

• Removed an unexpected error that was showing when opening the Group Policy Editor in the last couple of Insider flights.
• We have updated Times New Roman to improve support for combining diacritical marks across the Greek and Cyrillic Unicode ranges. If you notice any positioning issues with these diacritical marks, let us know by filing feedback under Desktop Environment > Font Installation and Preview in the Feedback Hub – preferably with details about the specific Unicode character, and a screenshot highlighting the expected position.

You can find release notes here.