Microsoft has released a new Window 11 Build 22000.160 to insiders in both Dev and Beta channels. The new build brings the new Clock app with earlier teased Focus sessions feature.
We have heard feedback from customers that staying focused and being productive is really challenging. We feel that too! With hybrid working and learning becoming the norm, focusing on digital health has never been more important, and the new Focus Sessions feature is designed to help.
Here are some things for you to try as you use Focus Sessions to stay focused on the things you want to get done:
Focus Timer: Achieve your goals and get more done with a focus session. Tell us how much time you have, and we’ll set up the rest.
Focus Timer helps you achieve your goals and get more done.
Find Your Perfect Audio to Focus with Spotify: Research has shown that audio reduces the chance of getting distracted by other things. Focus Sessions supports connecting your Spotify account to help you find the perfect audio to help you focus. Learn more about how Spotify can help you to be more productive.
Focus Sessions supports connecting your Spotify account to help you find the perfect audio to help you focus.
Stay on top of your tasks with Microsoft To Do: Select the task you would like to work on during your focus session and check it off once it is done. Focus Sessions integrates with Microsoft To Do, enabling you to manage your To Do tasks without having to switch context. Leverage Focus Sessions to work on your tasks planned for the day and make the most out of it.
Focus Sessions integrates with Microsoft To Do, enabling you to manage your To Do tasks without having to switch context.
Habit Building: To help you build healthy digital habits, you can set a daily goal and challenge yourself to not break your streak!
Track your daily progress by setting a daily goal for your focus sessions.
Microsoft has also released ISO images for Windows 11 Build 22000.132. You can download the ISO images by clicking here.
With the Windows 11 ISO images, Microsoft has also introduced a new Windows 11 setup experience. Read the full changelog provided by Microsoft below.
As you use these ISOs to install Windows 11, you will go through the new Windows 11 setup experience (often referred to as the “out of box experience” or OOBE for short) which is designed to build excitement for Windows 11 right from the moment you first turn on a new Windows 11 PC for the very first time. Based on your feedback, we have added the ability to name your PC during the setup experience too. After running through the setup experience, the Get Started app is a new first run experience app that will help you quickly get setup on a new PC. Try these things out and let us know what you think!
You can now name your device directly within the Windows 11 setup experience (OOBE).
Changes and Improvements
The new Clock app for Windows 11 with Focus Sessions has begun rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. See this blog post for all the details!
We have been testing the ability to see estimates for how long a restart for updates would take in places like the power menu under Start, in restart notifications, on the Windows Update Settings page and inside the Windows Update icon that shows up at the lower right of Taskbar. We are making a small adjustment for this feature so that it only shows on PCs with SSDs. If your PC has a standard HDD, you will no longer see estimates. We hope to bring estimates back to PCs with HDDs once we iron out a few more bugs.
Fixes
Taskbar:
We fixed an issue where the “location in use” icon was showing in the Taskbar sometimes even though the usage was blocked by your preferences.
Known issues
[REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.
[BETA CHANNEL] We’re investigating reports from Insiders in the Beta Channel where after upgrading to Windows 11, they are not seeing the new Taskbar and the Start menu doesn’t work. To workaround this if you are impacted, please try going to Windows Update > Update history, uninstalling the latest cumulative update for Windows, and the reinstall it by checking for updates.
We’re working on a fix for an issue that is causing some Surface Pro X devices to bug check with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.
Start:
In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.
System and Windows Terminal is missing when right-clicking on the Start button (WIN + X).
Taskbar:
The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
Search:
After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.
Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.
On pen enabled devices, apps may not launch from the Search panel. If you experience this issue, please log out and back in to resolve the issue.
Settings:
Certain searches using the search box in Settings may crash Settings.
Bluetooth:
We’re investigating reports from Insiders with paired Bluetooth LE devices that are experiencing an increase in Bluetooth reliability issues and bugchecks after resume from hibernate or when Bluetooth is turned off.
Widgets:
The widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.
Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.
[Family widget] Some users may see a ‘connect a device to see screen time activity’ message even with screen time settings enable.
[Family widget] Location information may not be available for some users on iOS.
Store:
We are working to improve search relevance in the Store including resolving an issue where in some cases the ordering of search results is inaccurate.
The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.
Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.
Windows Sandbox
Within Windows Sandbox, the language input switcher does not launch after clicking the switcher icon on the Taskbar. As a workaround, users can switch their input language via any of the following hardware keyboard shortcuts: Alt + Shift, Ctrl + Shift, or Win + Space (the third option is available only if Sandbox is full-screened).
Within Windows Sandbox, the IME context menu does not launch after clicking the IME icon in the Taskbar. As workarounds, users can access the functionalities of the IME context menu with either of following methods:
Accessing the IME settings via Settings > Time & language > Language & region > (e.g. Japanese) three dots > Language options > (e.g. Microsoft IME) three dots > Keyboard options.
Optionally, you may also enable the IME toolbar, an alternative UI to quickly invoke specific IME functions. Continuing from above, navigate to Keyboard options > Appearance > Use IME toolbar.
There is an issue where some Insiders may be some missing translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.
Chat from Microsoft Teams
Experience is localized for English (US) only. Additional languages and locales forthcoming.
When you make an outgoing call, while you do not hear a ring tone, the user interface shows that the call is getting connected.
In a video call, sometimes people videos freeze or display a black image. There is a workaround to this issue, which is to pin the video that freezes and unpin it to fix the problem.
When switching between calls, the previous call is not automatically put on hold, so audio and video streams continue on both calls. Be sure to complete a call before taking another.
