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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23606 (Dev Channel)

Written By published December 13, 2023

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23606 to the Dev Channel. This will be our last Dev Channel flight until January 2024.

We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here.

NOTE: Some Insiders may experience a download “loop” where the build appears to download multiple times with an 8024200D error. The download will eventually succeed, and the build should install. 

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • Windows 11 is transitioning from Windows Speech Recognition (WSR) to voice access. WSR is being deprecated. A dialog will pop up when WSR is opened directing you to try voice access and we have also added a banner under Settings > Accessibility > Speech as well. Voice access, our new assistive technology in Windows 11, uses on-device speech recognition, enabling control of your PC and authoring text without an internet connection. It will support multiple languages and custom commands in a future update. We recommend WSR users try and start using voice access today.
Dialog directing you to try voice access when opening Windows Speech Recognition.
Dialog directing you to try voice access when opening Windows Speech Recognition.

[Settings]

  • [ADDED] We’re beginning to rollout a change that renames the Phone Link settings page under Settings > Bluetooth & devices to Mobile devices. As part of this change, a new section will appear for allowing a PC to access mobile devices – this section currently does not introduce anything new yet and we’ll have more to share in a future flight. 
The Phone Link settings page is being renamed to Mobile devices.
The Phone Link settings page is being renamed to Mobile devices.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an underlying issue causing the details pane in File Explorer to unexpectedly take keyboard focus sometimes.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash when accessing or scrolling Gallery.

[Input]

  • Fixed a high hitting tabtip.exe crash when trying to use pen input in the previous flight.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[Copilot in Windows*]

  • When first launching or after refreshing Copilot in Windows while using voice access, you’ll need to use “Show grid” commands to click in the “Ask me anything” box for the first time.

[Widgets]

  • You may experience a loading delay when the Microsoft Start feed is reenabled.
  • Announcements from the Microsoft Start feed are still shown on the taskbar after the feed is hidden.
  • The Widgets Board should automatically close and reopen when enabling or disabling feeds.
  • Keyboard navigation from settings subpages back to the top-level Settings page is broken.
  • Incorrect spacing and fonts used in some settings pages.

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk.

SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

These NuGet packages provide more granular access to the SDK and better integration in CI/CD pipelines.

SDK flights are now published for both the Canary and Dev Channels, so be sure to choose the right version for your Insider Channel.

Remember to use adaptive code when targeting new APIs to make sure your app runs on all customer machines, particularly when building against the Dev Channel SDK. Feature detection is recommended over OS version checks, as OS version checks are unreliable and will not work as expected in all cases.

About the Dev Channel

REMINDER: The Dev Channel has been rebooted. Windows Insiders who were in the Dev Channel on 25000 series builds have been moved to the new Canary Channel. Going forward, the Dev Channel will receive 23000 series builds. Insiders who were moved to the Canary Channel and want to move back to the Dev Channel can follow these instructions to do a clean installation of Windows 11 and then re-join the Dev Channel to receive 23000 series builds.

The Dev Channel receives builds that represent long lead work from our engineers with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. It is important to remember that the builds we release to the Dev Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and the features included may change over time, be removed, or replaced in Insider builds or may never be released beyond Windows Insiders to general customers. For more information, please read this blog post about how we plan to use the Dev Channel to incubate new ideas, work on long lead items, and control the states of individual features.

In some cases, features and experiences may go out to the Canary Channel first before going out to the Dev Channel however the Dev Channel will provide better platform stability. As we get closer to shipping, some features and experiences will also make their way to the Beta Channel when they are ready.

The desktop watermark you see at the lower right corner of your desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

*Availability of Copilot in Windows: Copilot in Windows in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Important Insider Links

Thanks,
Amanda & Brandon

Tags:
Windows Insider Program