It is Friday, which, for Windows Insiders, means one thing: new Windows 11 builds to try. Microsoft has just dropped three new releases. Build 26300.8068 is available in the Dev Channel, build 26220.8062 is out in the Beta Channel, and build 28020.1737 landed in the Canary Channel (with only one change in the release notes). Dev and Beta builds are identical, and they pack quite a lot of changes, from updated policies regarding preinstalled Microsoft Apps to recovery improvements, better OOBE, Drag Tray changes, and more.
Here is the changelog:
[Policy-Based Removal of Preinstalled Microsoft Apps]
- We have updated the “Remove Default Microsoft Store packages” policy for Windows ENT/EDU to include a dynamic app removal list. IT administrators can now remove MSIX/APPX apps by adding their app package family name (PFNs) to a dynamic list.
- To access the policy in Group Policy settings, open the local Group Policy Editor (gedit.msc) and navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > App Package Deployment > Remove Default Microsoft Store packages from the system.
- To remove an app via the dynamic list, add its app family package name to the multi-text list under “Specify additional package family names to remove.”
- To find app family package names, run the Get-AppxPackage command in a terminal. For example, here’s a command to get the package family name for Notepad: Get-AppxPackage *Notepad* | Select-Object PackageFamilyName
- The dynamic list is currently unavailable in the corresponding Intune CSP. When this feature becomes generally available, you can search for Remove Default Microsoft Store packages settings in the Settings picker.
- Known Limitation – OMA-URI and Multi-Entry Validation: OMA-URI cannot be used to validate multi-entry ADMX multi-Text policies; therefore, validation for the dynamic list must be done via Settings Catalog in Intune or Group Policy. Given that the Intune setting is not yet available in WIP, you will need to test using Group Policy.
[Windows Setup Experience]
- Expanding on our work, which started rolling out to Insiders last fall, you can now choose a custom name for your user folder on the Device Name page when going through Windows setup. This most recent update now makes it easier to choose a custom name. The naming option is available during setup only. If you skip this step, Windows will use the default folder name and continue setup as usual.
[Windows Driver Policy update]
- The Windows kernel has historically allowed 3rd party kernel drivers from the now- deprecated cross-signed root program and the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP). The WHCP program is a major step up in security compared to the cross-signed driver program, requiring driver compatibility testing, identity vetting and verification and virus scanning.
- Starting with this update, the Windows kernel will enforce a new policy removing default trust for cross-signed drivers. The policy allows 3rd party drivers from the WHCP program by default, with an allow list of trustworthy publishers and drivers from the cross-signing program.
- The feature is enabled in audit mode for a minimum of 100 hours and 3 reboots. If Windows determines that the drivers loaded during this time are compatible with the new policy, the feature is enabled. Otherwise, the system stays in audit mode.
- After enablement, while unlikely, some users running in enforcement mode may see cross-signed drivers blocked.
[Point-in-time restore updates]:
[Drag Tray > Drop Tray]
- Expanding on our work last week, Drag Tray has now been renamed to Drop Tray. We’re also moving the corresponding settings for Drop Tray from Nearby Sharing to now be under System > Multitasking.
[Input]
- Pen settings: we have made refinements to the Pen settings page, including small changes to the options for the pen tail button. A new option, “Same as Copilot key”, enables the pen tail button to launch the same app as the Copilot key.
Note: this is the only change in today’s Canary build 28020.1737.
[File Explorer]
- We are stopping the rollout of refinements to the context menu to work on some further improvements. We will bring this back in a future release.
[Other]
- Improved reliability of setting and using preferred display language.
- Removed extraneous unexpected error from sfc/scannow.
You can find the announcement blog post here (Dev build), here (Beta build), and here (Canary build).
