AI assistant Copilot is online, and Microsoft Win11 Dev preview Build 23493 is released

IT Home News on June 30, Microsoft today pushed Build 23493 update to Windows 11 Dev preview users, which brings a number of new additions and improvements.

Windows Copilot Preview

As early as the Build conference in May, Microsoft launched the AI ​​assistant Windows Copilot for Windows 11, and now this version has finally launched an early preview version of Windows Copilot.

This first preview focuses on the integrated UI experience, with more features to be released in subsequent previews. To use Copilot, users must upgrade to Windows 11 Dev Preview Build 23493 or higher, and Microsoft Edge version 115.0.1901.150 or higher.

Users can launch Windows Copilot by simply clicking the new button on the taskbar (or pressing WIN C). Windows Copilot will log in using a Microsoft account or Azure Active Directory account.

Windows Copilot will appear as a sidebar docked to the right, will not overlap desktop content, and will run separately next to open application windows, allowing users to interact with Windows Copilot at any time.

In the first preview, users can ask Windows Copilot a series of questions or take the following actions:

• "Switch to dark mode."
• "Turn on Do Not Disturb."
• "screenshot."
• "Summary this site." (Activity tab in Microsoft Edge)
• "Write a story about a dog that lives on the moon."
• "Take me a picture of a peaceful koi pond and lily pads."

Additionally, Windows Copilot and Bing Chat generate contextual responses and improve the user experience in Windows.

Please note that not everything shown in Build for Windows Copilot is included in the first early preview. For example, Windows Copilot has a basic set of Windows settings plug-ins, but no third-party plug-in support yet (will be available later).

Windows Copilot will only be available for grayscale testing for some Dev preview users, so IT Home friends may not be able to experience it after upgrading.

New settings homepage

Microsoft has introduced a new homepage in Settings that provides a device overview, quick access to key settings, and helps users manage their Microsoft accounts.

Microsoft has added interactive cards in Settings to easily manage various device and account-related settings and organize them by commonly used functions. Each card is optimized to provide users with the most relevant information and controls. Users can see up to seven cards, with more coming soon

• Recommended settings: This card adapts to the user's specific usage patterns and provides timely and relevant setting options, aiming to simplify the user's settings management and save the user's time.
• Cloud Storage: Provides users with an overview of cloud storage usage.
• Account recovery: Make your Microsoft account more secure by helping users add additional recovery information so that the account will not be locked even if the user forgets their password.
• Personalization: Update background themes or change color modes by providing one-click access.
• Microsoft 365: Let users quickly understand their subscription status and benefits, and be able to perform some key actions directly in Settings without needing to access the Internet.
• Xbox: Similar to Microsoft 365 Cards, users will be able to view subscription status and manage subscriptions from the Settings app.
• Bluetooth Devices: Users can quickly access and connect to the most commonly used Bluetooth devices.

Note: This feature is only available for Windows 11 Home and Professional editions, not for devices managed by organizations, and is currently only available in grayscale for some Dev Preview users.

Restore backup supports more applications

This version expands the backup and recovery functions and supports more applications. Users will now see restored desktop app pins on the taskbar and Start menu, including desktop apps that were not installed from the Microsoft Store.

Just click on the app icon to start restoring desktop apps on Microsoft Store. If the app isn't available in the Microsoft Store, users are directed to download and install the program from the web.

After users upgrade to this version, after backing up via the new Windows Backup app or by accessing Accounts/Windows Backup in Settings, they will be able to restore their backups during the Out of the Box Experience (OOBE) when setting up a new PC. Or reset the computer to the backed up version.

Local support for reading more file formats

As announced by Microsoft at its Build conference in May, this release adds native support for reading other archive file formats using the libarchive open source project, such as:

• .tar
• .tar.gz
• .tar.bz2
• .tar.zst
• .tar.xz
• .tgz
• .tbz2
• .tzst
• .txz
• .rar
• .7z

New volume mixer experience in quick settings

Microsoft has introduced a new Enhanced Volume Mixer in Quick Settings, allowing for quick customization of audio on a per-app basis and providing additional controls to dynamically swap devices.

Microsoft has also added a new keyboard shortcut (WIN CTRL V) that takes users directly into the volume mixer for faster control of the experience.

Natural voice narration in Japanese and English (British)

Microsoft is launching new natural voices in Japanese and English (UK), allowing Narrator users to more comfortably browse the web, read and compose emails, and do more. The natural narrator voice will use text-to-speech technology on modern devices and can be downloaded and used without an internet connection.

Changes and Improvements

General:

• Modify the default application and improve it, making it easier to use.

Taskbar and system tray:

• The new pinned to taskbar API adopts a new interface form.

Snap Layouts Window layout:

• New feature allows you to align multiple application windows together with one click. When users hover over the minimize or maximize button (or WIN Z) on your app, they will see the app icon displayed in various layout options, and the system will recommend the most effective layout option. This feature is only available in grayscale for some Dev preview users.

File Manager:

• Improved the performance of the archive function during Windows compression.

Fix content

General:

• Fixed an underlying issue that caused explorer.exe to crash when performing various actions, including when uninstalling the app, in the last two versions.

Dev Drive：

• Fixed an issue where symlinks might not work properly when using Dev Drive.

File Explorer:

• Fixed an issue where the count displayed for selected files in the details pane could be very large.
• Fixed an issue where the Delete key sometimes didn't work in File Explorer (including when executing Shift Delete).

Taskbar and system tray:

• Fixed multiple explorer.exe crashes affecting taskbar reliability.
• Fixed an issue that caused focus to be lost when moving back to the taskbar icon from the taskbar preview when using an ungrouped taskbar.

Search on the taskbar:

• Fixed an issue affecting search reliability for some Insider users in the last two builds.

task manager:

• Fixed an issue where Task Manager windows could not be moved by touch or pen.

Dynamic Lighting：

• Fixed the issue of missing device icons in device cards in Settings.

Windows Ink：

• Fixed an issue where users were unable to erase text using handwriting in Microsoft Edge.

Known issues

Windows Copilot：

• Users can use Alt Tab to exit Windows Copilot, but cannot return. Windows C will move focus back to Windows Copilot.
• After first launching or refreshing Copilot using voice access, users need to use the "Show grid" command to click the "Ask me anything" box for the first time.

Dev Drive：

• Performance may vary on different hardware. Users can submit feedback if they notice a decrease in computer performance.

Search on the taskbar:

• After changing the Windows display language, the search box on the taskbar may continue to display in the previous language for a while before changing to the new language selected by the user.
• Text scaling may not work in search flyouts.

File Explorer:

• Copying files from large archives or using "Extract All" may be slower than expected for "solid" .7Z or .rar archives.
• In some cases, the context menu background in File Explorer may appear transparent.
• Users may experience a File Explorer crash when dragging the scrollbar or trying to close the window during a long file load process.
• Focused on improving thumbnail loading performance for offline cloud files in the gallery, and memory usage in large collections.

notify:

• The copy button for quickly copying two-factor authentication (2FA) codes in notification toasts (first introduced in Build 23403) does not currently work in this build. Microsoft will fix it in a future version.

Dynamic Lighting：

• Using the wave and scroll wheel effects may make typing impossible in some applications.
• All device setting changes will not be applied to each device's settings.
• Switching user accounts will turn off the device LED.

Windows Ink：

• May not be able to write properly in the address box of Microsoft Edge.
• Windows Ink doesn't convert handwriting into primary content in Microsoft 365 apps (such as Word documents and Excel spreadsheets).
• The search box in Microsoft 365 apps (such as Microsoft Word) may not work properly when writing.
• Comments fields in Microsoft 365 apps (such as Microsoft Word) may not be written properly.

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