Microsoft brings some widget improvements in Windows 11 with the latest build release

On April 19, 2024, Microsoft released the Preview Build 26200 for Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary Channel bringing some improvements to the Windows 11’s widgets in the taskbar. The latest build release also fixes a few known bugs and issues.

Canary Channel Preview Build 26200 brings improvements to widgets in the taskbar of Windows 11

The build 26200 brings two major improvements relating to widgets in Windows 11. Firstly, this build allows developers to send notifications from their widgets to the taskbar button. In short, if something happens and you want to see it, the widgets will pop through an animation from the taskbar to let you know. 

While this sounds like a change, many of you might not want widgets to act this way. Therefore, Microsoft has added an option to turn off such widget behavior.  

Not to forget the rollout of widget improvements in Windows 11 is limited and not all can see the changes yet. Microsoft has only made this feature available for users in the European Economic Area (EEA). However, if the feedback is positive, the Redmond giant might widen the rollout in the coming days.

With the build 26200, Microsoft is also reverting the energy-saver icon in the system tray that changed in the previous build release. Now, you will see the old look with the popular leaf icon.

Fix for Copilot auto-launching restart issue is coming soon

Besides talking about improvements to widgets in Windows 11, Microsoft noted that it is investigating an issue related to Copilot auto-launching after the restart. It also said that the rollout of auto-launch behavior on boot it introduced with the previous build isn’t related, which stopped in March.

The software giant says that it is working on the fix and might release it soon. The Redmond giant also addressed other issues related to voice access and writing through Windows Ink in the updated Copilot.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft mentioned that Canary Channel Build 26200 fixes a few known issues. You can check them out below.

Fixes for known issues

Taskbar & System Tray

• Fixed an issue that caused a dead zone you couldn’t click inside of next to the notification center.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the page icons in quick settings to not work in secondary settings pages.
• Fixed an issue where keyboard focus wasn’t shifting to the top item of the new page correctly after switching pages in quick settings.

Input

• Fixed a tabtip.exe crash, which could impact the ability to input text.

Windowing

• Fixed an issue which could cause RemoteApp windows to get cut off when using 200% scaling.

Multiple Desktops

• Fixed an issue where the option to set a different wallpaper on each desktop wasn’t working.

Do you find the widgets improvements in the taskbar of Windows 11 handy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.