New Windows 11 Canary Builds Out with Better Sound Settings, Taskbar, Storage & More

Microsoft has released two Canary updates for Windows 11 Insiders, alongside Dev and Beta updates. First, Insiders in the regular Canary channel (aka Experimental (26H1)) are getting Build 28200.1873. Meanwhile, those who are on Canary 29500 series Channel (aka Experimental (Future platforms)) are getting Build 29576.1000.

Here’s the changelog for both the updates:

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29576.1000

[Sound settings]

We’ve been making some improvements to Settings > System > Sound in the latest Canary builds. This includes:

• We’ve updated the design of the volume slider, so now if there is audio actively playing it will be displayed on the side.
  
• If your audio device supports hardware acceleration, an option to allow hardware acceleration has now been added to the Advanced section in Properties that device.
• Configuring exclusive mode for an audio device is now available in the Advanced section of the Properties for that device, so you don’t have to navigate to Control Panel to do it.
• Configuring adaptive communication sound levels (reducing volume of other sounds when communications activity is detected) is now available directly in Settings, so you don’t have to navigate to Control Panel to do it.
• The option to set an audio device as default sound device for communication will now always display in Properties, just greyed out if the device is already the default (rather than the control hiding in this case).

[Point-in-time restore for Windows]

• Point-in-time restore for Windows empowers you to quickly roll your device back to a previous state — helping minimize downtime and simplify troubleshooting when disruptions strike. Whether you’re dealing with a widespread outage or a one-off issue, point-in-time restore helps recover your system (including apps, settings, and user files) to get you back to productivity faster. For more details, check out our documentation.

Point-in-time restore shown in the Troubleshoot menu for Windows RE

[Task Manager]

We’re making a few improvements to Task Manager: 

• We’re updating Task Manager to provide better insight into NPU usage for PCs that include an NPU. New optional NPU and NPU Engine columns are now available on the Processes, Users, and Details pages. The Details page also adds NPU Dedicated Memory and NPU Shared Memory optional columns to give you deeper visibility into how workloads are using NPU resources. Additionally, if there are neural engines that are part of a GPU, they will now appear on the Performance page, providing a more complete view of AI‑related system activity.
• We’re also adding a new optional Isolation column to the Processes and Details pages, allowing you to see which apps are running in an AppContainer.

Once these changes are available to you, you can add any of the new columns by right‑clicking a column header in Task Manager and selecting them from the menu.

[Other]

• Fixed an underlying issue causing some rendering issues in certain apps with recent Canary flights.

Windows 11 Insider Experimental (26H1) Preview Build 28200.1873

• This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Xbox Mode]

• Xbox full screen experience is now Xbox mode
• We’ve added an improved first run experience when entering Xbox mode

[Touch Keyboard Experience for Voice Typing]

• We’re updating the experience when you use voice typing with the touch keyboard to make it feel more streamlined and intuitive. The new design removes the previous full‑screen overlay and instead shows voice typing animations directly on the dictation key, helping you stay focused on what you’re doing without extra visual distractions. 

Before the update:

After the update:

[Storage]

• Improved the performance when navigating to see storage on large volumes via Settings > System > Storage > Advanced Storage Settings > Disks & Volumes.
• Updated Settings > System > Storage, so rather than seeing a UAC prompt immediately when you go to the page, you’ll only see it when going to view temporary files.

[Network]

• Fixed issue causing Settings > Network & Internet > Data Usage to show large unrealistic values in recent Insider builds.

[Other]

• Improved performance of launching startup apps after boot (apps which display under Settings > Apps > Startup).