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Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20211

Written By published September 10, 2020

UPDATE 9/11: Today we have released Cumulative Update Build 20211.1005 (KB4581021). This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline. Thanks to reports from Windows Insiders who reported issues installing this update, we have discovered a bug that requires us to pull the update for now while we continue to investigate.

Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20211 to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

What’s new in Build 20211

Adding Search to the Default Apps pages in Settings

After making some updates to help improve performance, this change to enable searching the lists of file types, protocols, and apps when setting a default is now rolling out to all Insiders in the Dev Channel – thanks everyone who’s shared feedback along the way.

Search the lists of file types, protocols, and apps when setting a default.

Access Linux file systems in the Windows Subsystem for Linux

This latest insiders preview build adds the ability for users to attach and mount a physical disk inside of a WSL 2 distro. This enables you to access file systems that aren’t natively supported by Windows (such as ext4). So if you’re dual booting with Windows and Linux, and are using different disks, you can now access your Linux files from Windows! To learn more about this feature please read this blog post on the Windows Command Line blog.

Updates for developers

The Windows SDK is now flighting continuously with the Dev Channel. Whenever a new OS build is flighted to the Dev Channel, the corresponding SDK will also be flighted. You can always install the latest Insider SDK from aka.ms/InsiderSDK. SDK flights will be archived in Flight Hub along with OS flights.

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where certain 32-bit applications running on a 64-bit OS do not get properly promoted to the discrete GPU for hybrid configurations.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Start menu tiles continuing to display an “app update in progress” progress bar after an app had already finished updating.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in some of the app icons in Start appearing unexpectedly tiny.
  • We fixed an issue on ARM64 devices resulting in Start crashing on launch the next time it was opened after launching certain apps from Start and then closing them.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the lock screen hanging.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in ShellExperienceHost.exe hanging.
  • We fixed an issue where hero images weren’t showing up in notifications (for example, when taking a screenshot using WIN + Shift + S).
  • We fixed an issue from the last few flights that could result in Windows update getting stuck while downloading the update.
  • [ADDED] You will no longer get asked to reinstall a .NET update after each flight.

Known issues

  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re working on a fix to enable live preview for pinned site tabs.
  • We’re working on enabling the new taskbar experience for existing pinned sites. In the meantime, you can unpin the site from the taskbar, remove it from the edge://apps page, and then re-pin the site.
  • We’re investigating reports of some Office applications crashing or missing after updating to a new build.
  • We’re working on a fix for an issue resulting in Settings crashing for some Insiders when opening Manage Disks and Volumes.
  • We’re working on a fix for the Linux kernel not being installed when using the `wsl –install` command in the Windows Subsystem for Linux. For an immediate workaround run `wsl –update` to get the latest kernel version.
  • We are investigating an issue affecting Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 distros where users can receive the error: “The remote procedure call failed” on startup.
  • We’re working on an issue where on a small subset of devices the Start menu does not reflect when an update is pending restart and scheduled restarts are cancelled. To install the next update, you will need to update and restart through the Windows Update settings page, notification area (system tray) icon, or restart notification.
  • We’re investigating reports of some devices experiencing a KMODE_EXCEPTION bugcheck when using certain virtualization technologies.
  • We’re investigating a bug where the vEthernet adapter in Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 distros becomes disconnected after a period of use. For full details please follow this Github thread.
  • We’re working on a fix for seeing generic errors when using `wsl –install` in the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Mark your calendars for the September webcast

Join us on September 15 at 5 PM GMT | 10 AM PDT. for the next Windows Insider webcast where we’re taking a look at Windows 10 on ARM.

Important Insider Links

You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Not seeing any of the features in this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re in the Dev Channel. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected.

If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated.

Thanks,
BLB

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Windows Insider Program