Microsoft has just released the Windows Insider build 22563 for Dev Channel testers, which introduces a tablet-optimized taskbar experience alongside other improvements for File Explorer and the Widgets Menu. The list of changes isn’t as long as last week’s build 22557, but Microsoft continues to introduce new features at a steady pace.

The main new feature in today’s build is the tablet-optimized taskbar, which now has an expanded state with bigger touch targets and a collapsed state giving users more screen space. “You can easily switch between the two states by swiping up and down on the bottom of your device,” the Windows Insider team explained.

Microsoft is also updating the Widgets menu in this build to make content more “dynamic,” and the result is that widgets are now being mixed with news stories from Microsoft news. “With a dynamic feed there’s less of a burden on you to curate the canvas on your own, but you’ll still be able to pin your favorite Widgets to the top if you want,” the team said.

Other notable changes include Snap Assist improvements, with recent Microsoft Edge tabs now showing up as suggestions when a window is snapped. In File Explorer, search from Quick Access has also been upgraded to include content from OneDrive, the Downloads folder, and any indexed location.

Please note that the new tablet-optimized taskbar and Widgets menu will only roll out to a subset of Insiders for now, as the Windows Insider team wants to monitor feedback first. Today’s build also includes a new group policy for managing Windows Update notifications, 37 new emojis, as well as various bug fixes. If last week’s build 22563 wasn’t available for ARM64 PCs, today’s build also changes that.

Tagged with Windows 11, Windows Insider