Windows 11 24H2's latest KB5046740 is huge and it fixes many of the OS' most frustrating bugs

The latest preview release for Windows 11, version 24H2, has many new features and improvements. While it’s worth noting that not all users will receive these updates immediately, they’re definitely on the way. Here’s our pick of the best new features to look out for.

Tailored Experiences is now personalized and offers an out-of-the-box experience (OOBE). It is on the Recommendations and Offers page and in the Privacy area of the Settings section.

The system tray shows a shortened date and time. Also, the notification bell icon might not show if you have set the toggle for “Do not disturb” to on.

When you right-click apps pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will appear for apps that are enhanced with them. KB5046740 also allows Windows 11 24H2 users to access files with admin rights with a single click by holding Shift and CTRL, and clicking a jump list item.

This update adds a new section for touchscreen edge gestures, and the IME toolbar will hide when apps are in full-screen mode.

KB5046740 brings more capabilities to Phone Link: you can share content with an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and your desktop.

The Dynamic Lighting Settings page will show a placeholder message when no compatible device is attached to your computer. Windows 11 now adds the Forward, Backward, Outward, and Inward direction options to the Wave effect. The Gradient effect now has the Forward direction option.

This update improves the speech-to-text and text-to-speech features in Windows. You might get a message asking you to update your language files manually. You can get those files from Microsoft Store. This change affects those who use Narrator, voice access, live captions, live translations, and voice typing.

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure your devices have a robust and reliable servicing stack to receive and install Microsoft updates.

Task Manager’s several dialog menus, including Disconnect and Logoff, now support dark mode and text scaling, meaning you can personalize them.

Finally, the Windows subsystem for Linux works after suddenly crashing for dozens of users.

KB5046740 for Windows 11 24H2 is available through Windows Update and is optional. It’s worth noting that KB5046740 is bigger than the usual non-security Windows 11 updates. This might be due to these updates taking a break until January.

You can read KB5046740’s full changelog here.