Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel running Windows 11 24H2. The update encompasses various modifications, such as the transition of additional time and language settings from Control Panel to Settings, the activation of Unicode UTF-8 for global language support, and the replication of existing user language and region settings to the welcome screen and system accounts. The keyboard settings have been relocated from the Control Panel to the Settings menu. The options for character repeat delay/rate and cursor blink rate can now be found under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard and Settings > Accessibility > Text cursor.

The update also resolves various concerns in File Explorer, such as problems with mirrored icons, tooltips, and black flashes. The update enhances support for text scaling on desktop icons and resolves issues with Narrator failing to announce actions in File Explorer. Enhancements have been implemented to facilitate the launch of cloud files and the loading of context menus.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 (Beta Channel)

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 (KB5064075) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. 

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

We’re moving more time and language settings from Control Panel to Settings:

• You can now add additional clocks from Settings > Time & language > Date & time under the collapsed section which can be expanded for “Show time and date in the system tray”. For those unfamiliar with the feature, these additional clocks display in Notification Center, as well as the tooltip when hovering over the clock in the taskbar.
• You can now change your time server from Settings > Time & language > Date & time, under “Additional settings”.
• The formatting settings for date and time have moved from Settings > Time & language > Language & region to Settings > Time & language > Date & time, and you can now change your AM/PM symbol from here as well (along with other existing formatting settings).
• You can now change number and currency format from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Region” section.
• If you’d like to enable Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support, there is now a toggle for this under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Language” section.
• If needed, you can now copy current user language and region settings to welcome screen and system account, as well as new user accounts, from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under “Additional settings”.

We’re moving more keyboard settings from Control Panel to Settings:

• The setting for character repeat delay/rate has moved to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
• The setting for cursor blink rate has moved to Settings > Accessibility >Text cursor. Keyboard character repeat delay/rate is used to control the character repeat duration and repeat frequency. Cursor blink rate is used to control the cursor blinking frequency.

[Other]

• We have updated more dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals including the dialog for when an app can’t open.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue where some of the icons in Details, Preview, and navigation panes of File Explorer weren’t properly mirrored when Arabic or Hebrew display languages.
• Fixed an issue where the tooltips in File Explorer might unexpectedly stay visible.
• Fixed an issue where duplicating a tab in File Explorer on a maximized window would result in a black flash.
• Improved support for text scaling on desktop icons, addressing an issue which could lead to overlapping icons and text.
• Fixed a couple cases where Narrator was unexpectedly not announcing actions in File Explorer (when using the “create new” library option, and when expanding details while copying files).
• Made some more performance improvements – particularly to help the performance of launching cloud files and loading context menus.

[Start menu]

• Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where they might unexpectedly see a category generated for every letter of the alphabet with blank icons, when opening the Start menu in the “All” section after updating to the previous build.
• Fixed an issue where Visual Studio wasn’t showing in the correct category.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed a few issues impacting Task Manager reliability, including a recent issue which could cause Task Manager to freeze when going to the performance section for some Insiders.
• Fixed a few issues impacting accessibility – including adjusting minimum field sizes, improving contrast for the column headers on the Details page when contrast themes are enabled, and addressing a focus issue with the ‘Select Columns’ dialog on the Details page.

[Input]

• Fixed an underlying issue where if you tried to type Chinese with an IME after copying something with CTRL + C could result in the first character getting dropped.
• Fixed an issue where if you were typing on the touch keyboard with the Changjie, Bopomoji, or Japanese IME wouldn’t work if you had switched to using the previous version of the IME.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue where if you attempt to add a security key under Settings > Account > Sign-in options could result in Settings crashing.

[Other]

• Fixed an underlying issue with dao360.dll resulting in some apps crashing after the last two builds.
• Fixed an issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience bugchecks with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION in the latest builds.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 (Beta Channel)