Windows 11 just got a new Insider Preview Build, and it’s pushing Copilot+ features even more. While this update also brings some fixes and improvements for things like the Narrator and gaming, the biggest takeaway is how much Microsoft is trying to get you to use its AI.
The most notable change is a new Copilot prompt box in the Click to Do (Preview) menu of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6682 for the Beta Channel, which is for Windows 11 version 24H2. This new prompt box is meant to streamline the way you interact with Copilot by letting you type a custom prompt and send it to the AI along with the content you’ve selected on your screen.
The box even gives you suggested prompts below the text box, which are powered by Phi-Silica locally on your PC. It’s a clear move to make Copilot feel like a more natural part of the operating system, rather than an annoying separate app you have to launch.
The new Click to Do menu also has new visual animations when you use the right-edge gesture to open it. These animations are designed to be more intuitive, helping you understand the gesture’s purpose. There are also new and popular action tags to help you discover the newest and most used AI-powered actions.
Copilot will also invade your Start menu. You’ll see examples of prompts you can use with Copilot, like “create an image with Copilot.” It’s another small, but persistent, nudge to get you to embrace the AI assistant.
While Copilot is front and center, this new build isn’t all about AI. For gamers, there are some small but welcome improvements for using Xbox controllers on Windows 11. Now, a short press of the Xbox button will open the Game Bar, while a long press will open Task View. Holding the button down will still turn off the controller, which is something a lot of us do without even thinking.
The update also includes a new set of emojis from the Emoji 16.0 release. It’s a small but nice addition with some new emojis like “Face with Bags Under Eyes,” a “Fingerprint,” and a “Shovel.” They’re not groundbreaking, but they add some fun new ways to express yourself.
For accessibility, there are a ton of improvements to Narrator, especially when it comes to working with Word documents. Microsoft has made the voice feedback more natural by no longer raising the pitch dramatically for things like headings. It also now reads lists and tables more consistently, and you can navigate footnotes and comments without losing your place. It’s great to see them focusing on making the OS more usable for everyone.
As with any preview build, there are a lot of fixes and a few new bugs. Microsoft has fixed an issue that was causing some PCs to bugcheck (which is just a green screen of death) when hibernating. They also improved the reliability of the taskbar’s auto-hide feature and fixed some issues in File Explorer and the Start menu.
Source: Windows Blog
