Happy 20th birthday, Xbox 360 💚

Video on Dev/Beta build 26220.7271 youtu.be/iYACmsnwp50

Want to try out the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) on a desktop/laptop running build 26220.7271 without waiting an eternity for the gradual rollout? Run vivetool /enable /id:59765208, reboot and enjoy!

Point-in-time restore pre-preview (video demo) youtu.be/qA6ISfYOQy8

Point-in-time restore recovery feature was announced today, here's a first look at the settings page for it

Video on Dev/Beta 26220.7262 youtu.be/ZXNKoz8m6Ug

Just a normal Recovery settings page, nothing special.

November feature bundle, last one of 2025, heading to RP now. (KB5070311/26x00.7296)

Video on the upcoming November feature bundle, including dark mode file operation dialogs and a bunch of Settings additions youtu.be/t7ShLKt4jSw

New mouse haptic signals options in Settings coming soon (hidden in the latest Dev/Beta build)

Windows 11's Snipping Tool is finally getting the ability to insert text when editing screenshots! Here's a look at the feature:

Quick video on 26220.7070 youtu.be/yJ7uneKEHnk

🧑‍💻 +🐟 26220.7070 🔜

Instead of waiting for a new build for details on the out-of-band Widgets changes, how about we check them out now? 🧵 New full-page Widgets settings below, no longer in a dialog. Dashboards section is now like lock screen widgets settings, lets you change the order in which boards are displayed.

Video on build 27982 youtu.be/NXeSjprZ_6A

In case you're wondering: no, 27982 is not Bromine's final/RTM build. (Here's hoping it ends up being 28000)

In case it isn't clear, my tweets about enabling Insider features should not be seen as an endorsement of said features. (No, I am not a fan of the Ask Copilot on taskbar thing, and I won't be enabling it when it hits retail.)

Here's the Ask Copilot taskbar search experience/composer in Dev/Beta build 26220.7051. To get it, enable feature IDs 57739723 and 57941090, then reboot and toggle Ask Copilot on in taskbar settings (this is an opt-in feature).

*Enables the Ask Copilot on taskbar feature to test it out* FBH: "why did you turn it off" ???

Video on build 26220.7051 youtu.be/g400QGdZUzM

Agent Connector Minimum Policy Configure the minimum policy value which controls how agent connectors run on the machine

I can't wait for the Halo CE remake to launch so I can get destroyed by Rocket Flood hiding around a corner over and over again

To enable the updated taskbar autohide animation in recent Dev/Beta builds, run vivetool /enable /id:41356296. If that doesn't work then you know the drill, make sure you have 48433719 enabled.

New video on Dev/Beta 26x20.6982 youtu.be/FVFZJIhiO5w

More incorrect info in the weekly build blog posts. Voice Typing's "wait time before acting" setting is not a Copilot+ feature, and is available to all devices. If you want to get it in .6982, enable feature ID 58970402. (C2D HW req check not met dialog used for proof.)

Imagine not having the watermark on though.

Most notable difference between 27971 and 27975, which isn't even mentioned in the blog post: 27975 no longer has the timebomb (and no desktop watermark by default).

Heads up: SetDefaultUserFolder.cmd does not exist in 26x00.7015 despite what the blog post claims. Later revision might add it, but right now this is not present in RP.

FWIW: The current "monthly feature bundles" approach to updating Windows 11 will be continuing into next year (until at least June 2026).

Video on the October feature bundle, including administrator protection and improvements to Click to Do, File Explorer, Settings and more youtu.be/LwVrq9oVRj0

👀

An out of band update is coming soon for Windows 11 v25H2/24H2: KB5070773 (26x00.6901)

Quick video on 26x20.6972, featuring dark mode dialogs and Settings changes youtu.be/LUtEYUz5NCA

Build 26x20.6972 brings dark mode to the folder options and Run dialogs! (Yes, dark mode Run is present this time.) Dark Mode dialog prereq: vivetool /enable /id:58383338 Dark Mode Run: vivetool /enable /id:59270880 Dark Mode Folder Options: vivetool /enable /id:59203365

This has started to roll out in 26x20.6972. If you want to get it, enable feature ID 56845155.

I hope this actually exists in the build

Quick video on 27971 youtu.be/KqTJX7-5x24

Cooking: 🐦 27971.1 🧑‍💻/🐟 26x20.6972

Quick video on Canary 27965 youtu.be/bPpC1hVP2MI

Video on 26x20.6772 youtu.be/chQy2nShZnU

Quick video on build 27959, including the return of new battery icons in recent weeks and an (early, unintentional?) new Start menu rollout youtu.be/nilWXGW3BUk

I'm sure people will be very happy to see this. Totally. 🙃

🐦 27959.1 🧑‍💻/🐟 26x20.6772 🔜

Gotta love when features never go into RP testing and then suddenly start rolling out to retail... several days after the update is released. Sigh.

Quick video on the latest Dev/Beta CU youtu.be/VPyim9hzNog

Happy version 25H2 day

The network speed test button has started rolling out with build 26x20.6760, to get it enable feature ID 57703775 with vivetool.

Canary 27954 and Server 26491 🔜

Windows DreamScene is back! Hidden in the latest Windows 11 Dev/Beta build (26x20.6690) is built in support for setting video files like .mp4 as your desktop background: