Microsoft recently released the latest update Windows 11 Dev Preview Build 22579, which introduces a new policy for IT administrators to exclude USB removable drives from BitLocker encryption. Microsoft also introduced a number of changes and improvements, including naming folders in the Start menu and providing website suggestions in the Start app, which users can pin to the taskbar. Microsoft has also made some updates to the media player and your phone apps.
When you check for updates, you may see "Windows 11 Insider Preview 22579 (NI_RELEASE)," which comes from the new Nickel branch. Microsoft says the changes in the new release will not be associated with any particular release, but most of the optimization and feature updates will be released later this year as version 22H2 or the Feature Experience Pack.
In addition, from now until March 22, Microsoft will be hosting the March 2022 Bug Sweep for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, check the Tasks section of the Feedback Center for details, where Microsoft typically posts various feature announcements.
How to download Windows 11 Build 22579 ISO
Microsoft has released an ISO image of Windows 11 Dev Peview Build 22579 for download. You can find it from the Windows Insider Preview download page and use it for a clean install or in-place upgrade.
To download the Windows 11 ISO image, follow these steps:
1. Click here to register or sign in to the Windows Insider project.
2. Go to the download page on Microsoft's website.
3. Click on "Select edition", and select “Windows 11 Insider Preview (Dev Channel) - Build 22579”.
4. Confirm the selection, and then select the product language (make sure to choose the language given in Settings > Apps > Language).
5. Click "64-bit Download" to start downloading.
Users upgrading from Build 22000.xxx or earlier to a newer Dev Channel version using the latest Dev Channel ISO image may receive the following warning message: The build you are trying to install is Flight Signed. To continue installing, enable flightsigning. If you receive this message, press the enable button, restart your computer, and then retry the update.
What's new in Windows 11 Build 22579
Microsoft is developing a new Group Policy designed to help users exclude USB removable drives from BitLocker encryption. This new policy is primarily aimed at relevant professionals, but can actually be used by anyone, it's just a bit of a pain. The new BitLocker policy is designed to address the issue of automatic or accidental encryption. When you enable this group policy, users will not be able to encrypt the "blacklisted" storage. First, you need to find the hardware ID of the device you want to exclude, or configure the BitLocker exclusion list policy in Intune.
In addition, there are some design improvements in this update. For example, Microsoft recently added a new Fluent and WinUI design to the Print Queue experience.
After today's update, you'll notice that Microsoft has updated the print dialog for Win32 programs to a new style, and desktop applications that use CPrintDialog will appear to you as modern print dialogs that are more in line with the tone of the Windows 11 look.
Microsoft has also made improvements to Windows 11 printing features. If you have a new printer, Microsoft will automatically install it for you.
If you have Windows Terminal uninstalled, Win11 also makes it easier for you to do command line controls. If Windows Terminal is not in the taskbar menu (Win+X), it will automatically redirect to PowerShell.
Media Player update (version 11.2202.42.0) to better accommodate theme changes and media content drag-and-drop functionality.
Your Phone: Microsoft now announces the launch of the Your Phone integrated Office mobile app, now available on your Samsung or Pride mobile device to extend Office productivity.
Other improvements in Windows 11 Build 22579
General
● As some Insiders have noticed, along with updating the print queue experience, we have also made an update so that win32 applications that use CPrintDialog to display print dialogs can now display our modern print dialogs. In addition, the Modern Print Dialog will automatically discover local network printers. If you select a new printer, it will be installed without requiring you to go into setup. Please submit feedback about your printing experience in the Feedback Center under Devices and Drivers > Printing.
Microsoft is in the process of redesigning the "Open As" dialog box, which has been available since Build 22567, to its previous design. We plan to bring it back in the future after we resolve some of the performance issues identified by Windows Insiders. Thank you for your feedback!
To ensure that users can quickly access the console even after Windows Terminal has been uninstalled, Microsoft is updating the WIN + X menu to point to Windows PowerShell. We recommend going to Settings > Privacy & Security > For Developers and setting Windows Terminal as your default terminal application.
● The magnifying glass and on-screen keyboard now have new Fluent-style icons.
Start Menu
● You can now name your application folders in Start. To name a folder, simply create a folder (its default name is "Folders"), open it, click "Edit Name", and enter your folder name. Or, use the keyboard focus to open the folder, then select the text box and start typing.
Get Started App
● The "Get Started" application adds suggestions for pinned websites so you can easily pin websites to your taskbar. To find this new feature, launch the Get Started app and navigate to the "Apps and sites we think you’ll love" page.
Click on any site suggested on the page and pin it to your taskbar so you can access the site you care about with one click.
Window
● Continue efforts to update multi-finger touch gestures to include responsive and pleasant animations that follow your finger, try swiping left and right with three fingers, and switch between recently used windows.
Task Manager
● Based on feedback, the Run New Task button is now available on all pages of the Task Manager.
Input
● To help improve discoverability, emoji that can be personalized (such as family emoji) now display a small accent color dot in the bottom corner of the entry in the Emoji panel.
● The keyboard layout section was removed from Quick Settings.
Fixes in Windows 11 Build 22579
General
● Fixed an issue that caused Game Services to not work on previous flights, resulting in launching and installing some games.
● Fixed some high hit rate explorer.exe crashes that affected recent flights during general use of Windows.
● Fixed a bug with Windows Insiders trying to upgrade directly from Windows 10 to recent Windows 11 Dev Channel builds.
Tablet-optimized taskbar
● You no longer need to swipe twice from the tablet-optimized taskbar to display Start or Quick Settings - once the taskbar is fully expanded, continue swiping up to display them.
● Fixed an issue where using a swipe gesture to invoke the Start menu could be displayed on the wrong screen if an external monitor was connected.
● Notifications will no longer overlap with the tablet-optimized taskbar.
● Fixed an issue where the desktop area may not be fully rendered if you invoke the task view.
● Middle-clicking an app icon to launch a new instance of that app should now work again.
Start Menu
● Fixed an issue where the Start folder would still display animations even if you disabled the animation effect.
● Mitigated an issue that caused Start's fixed and folder layouts to be reset to default after explorer.exe was restarted.
● Fixed a potential issue that caused transparent lines to appear on the side of the Start menu when changing the monitor scale.
Focus
● You will now see the same break in Focus sessions that start from the Notification Center for more than 30 minutes as sessions that start from the Clock app.
● If Do Not Disturb was turned on before starting a Focus session, stopping the Focus session will no longer turn off Do Not Disturb.
● If you open a Focus session, it will not be reset if you now have to log out or restart.
● Fixed an issue that caused your keyboard focus to accidentally move to the top of the Notification Center when ending a Focus session under Calendar.
● Fixed an issue that prevented you from adding apps to Settings > System > Notifications > Set Priority Notifications.
Input
● Fixed an issue that prevented searching for enraged emojis using the word anger (kızgın) in Turkish.
● Fixed an issue where Japanese IME would accidentally switch to Katakana mode when the focus was set to the UAC dialog.
● Recently mitigated an issue where if you removed a third-party IME for that language in Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region, but did not uninstall it, it might still show up in the input switcher.
● Fixed an issue that caused the mouse to be invisible in certain application fields, as well as some unexpected cursor-related application crashes on recent flights.
● Fixed an issue where gestures brought into the notification center from the side of the screen did not work in Arabic or Hebrew display languages.
Settings
● Network and Internet top title issue where chevron was upside down in Arabic and Hebrew display languages.
Window
● If you turn off transparency under Settings > Personalization > Colors, the background of ALT + Tab will no longer be transparent.
● If you drag a window to the top of the screen and then drag it back down, the snapshot layout's dismissal animation now displays more consistently.
● Made a small tweak to fix an animation glitch when calling Snapshot Layout at the top of the screen.
● Fixed an explorer.exe crash that occurred when dragging certain windows across the snapshot layout at the top of the screen.
● Mitigated an issue that caused the task view to appear unresponsive if you called the task view while the snapshot assist was displayed on the screen.
● Did some work to fix an issue where ALT+Tab could get stuck open if you invoked it via a quick gesture on the touchpad.
● Fixed an issue with Explorer.exe crashing that could occur when the application entered and exited fullscreen mode.
Network
● Mitigated an issue that caused some devices to be unable to use the cellular network connection in the past few releases.
● Resolved an issue that caused Wi-Fi speeds to drop in previous flights.
Voice Access
● Fixed an issue that caused the Voice Access banner to block the top row of desktop icons or the top of full-screen applications.
Live Captioning
● Live captions will now be displayed on your desktop.
● If the Live Caption window is forced to float (such as when using a full-screen application), the "float on screen" window position will now correctly display as the selection in the settings flyout.
● The maximum height of the Live Caption window is now limited to 40% of the display height.
● Live Captions will no longer crash when shrinking the maximum height of the Live Caption window.
● Switching mono audio will no longer crash the Live Caption.
Narrator
● Fixed an issue where the narrator reads the collapsed section in Settings > Accessibility > Narrator when using Shift + Tab for navigation.
Task Manager
● Fixed several high hit rate Task Manager crashes.
● Fixed an issue where if the focus was inside the details page and you started typing, the focus would stop moving through the list of processes after the first letter.
● If you use the performance page in summary view, the title bar of Task Manager will now be hidden.
Other
● The percentage of volume flyout displayed when using the hardware key will now always be centered in the design.
● Improved the way keyboard focus and navigation works when moving and closing accessibility options on the lock screen.