What you need to know
- Windows 11 build 22000.527 and Windows 10 builds 19042.1566, 19043.1566, and 19044.1566 all had their preview release notes published.
- Expect a lot of Edge-related highlights for both.
- These are non-security updates, so don't expect news on major vulnerability fixes.
It's a big day for Windows 11 and 10 as both are receiving stacked update lineups from Microsoft. Windows 11 is getting the lion's share of the action but the three build releases for Windows 10 21H2, 21H1, and 20H2 also contain a lot of new items. As a reminder, Windows 10 version 2004 hit its end-of-servicing date back in December 2021, so if you're still on that, these updates won't apply.
To start, here are the highlights Windows 10 users can expect:
- New! Provides the ability to share cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge.
- Updates an issue that causes Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode to stop working when you press the F1 key.
- Updates an issue that affects dialog boxes in Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode.
- Updates an issue that causes screen readers to describe a back button as "button" rather than "back button".
- Updates an issue that sometimes causes the Chinese Simplified Input Method Editor (IME) to become completely unusable.
You can see additional details, as there are some other quality improvements for Windows 20H2 specifically, over at Microsoft's blog.
On the Windows 11 side of the fence, expect even more updates:
- New! Provides the ability to shares cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge.
- New! Adds the clock and date to the taskbars of other monitors when you connect other monitors to your device.
- New! Adds weather content to the left side of the taskbar if the taskbar is aligned in the center. When you hover over the weather, the Widgets panel will appear on the left side of the screen and will disappear when you stop hovering over the area.
- Updates an issue that affects dialog boxes in Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode.
- Updates an issue that causes Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode to stop working when you press the F1 key.
- Updates an issue that displays right-to-left (RTL) language text as left justified on File Explorer command menus and File Explorer context menus.
- Updates an issue that might cause the time zone list in Settings to appear blank for users who are not administrators.
- Updates an issue that displays right-to-left (RTL) language text as left justified on File Explorer command menus and context menus.
- Updates an issue that causes incorrect tooltips to appear in an empty area on the taskbar after you hover over other icons like battery, volume, or Wi-Fi.
- New! Opens Microsoft Office files that are in the Start menu's recommended section in the browser. This occurs if the device does not have an appropriate Microsoft Office license and the file is stored in Microsoft OneDrive or Microsoft SharePoint. If there is a license, the file will open in the desktop app instead.
Be sure to check out the full 22000.527 update page for an exhaustive list of all the improvements made in the preview release, as there are many more than what's listed here (as if that wasn't a lot already).
We already knew some of these items were coming, but this is the proper log of everything. There's a chance lists like these may crop up more often now that Microsoft's made it clear feature updates for Windows 11 will happen more often.
