Windows 11 build 22598 outs with new features in Dev and Beta Channels

Windows 11 build 22598 rolls out with new features in the Dev and Beta Channels.
The preview configures Spotlight as the default option for the desktop.
The Get Started app now launches automatically.
Build 22598 for Windows 11 also brings a slew of fixes.

As part of the version 22H2 development, Microsoft is now making available build 22598 for Windows 11 in the Dev and Beta Channels of the Windows Insider Program. This is a minor update with several changes and improvements that are expected to arrive with version 22H2.

Windows 11 build 22598, according to the official changelogs, sets the Spotlight for the desktop feature as the new default experience for new installations. Also, it will now try to display 4K desktop backgrounds when enabled. In addition, the Taskbar is getting a minor update that shows when you use spatial sound in the tooltip, and the Get Started app will now launch automatically after an upgrade to highlight the new improvements.

Windows 11 build 22598 fixes

Furthermore, build 22598 ships with many fixes for Taskbar, Start menu, File Explorer, Input, Settings app, windowing experience, Task Manager, and more.

Taskbar

Fixed an issue where if you used keyboard focus on the taskbar, hovers like previews would stay up during all taskbar interactions.

Fixed an issue that was causing taskbar badges to come back after explorer.exe crashes even if you had them turned off in Settings.

Made a fix for an issue where some mouse move events weren’t being passed to apps for icons in the system tray.

Fixed an issue where hovering over some app icons in the system tray wasn’t showing previews or tooltips.

App icons in the system tray should now be showing more reliably when opened again in this build.

Fixed an issue that delayed or prevented the show’s hidden icons flyout from opening.

Fixed an issue where Chinese characters weren’t displaying in the taskbar calendar when the Lunar calendar was turned on.

Addressed an issue where the visual indicator around an app icon when sharing a window might not go away once you’d stopped sharing.

Start menu

Fixed a crash when selecting the More button in Start’s Recommended section.

Addressed an underlying issue that could lead to Start crashing on launch when invoked with a gesture.

Fixed an issue that was causing the buttons and labels in Start to be the wrong colors while using contrast themes.

Addressed an issue where if you swiped to scroll the contents of a folder in the pinned section of Start, it would unexpectedly close Start.

File Explorer

Addressed an issue that was causing the context menu to not render completely sometimes and be transparent.

Task Manager

Mitigated an issue causing the Performance page CPU graph to be colored as if Show Kernel Times was enabled even though it wasn’t.

Did some work to further improve Task Manager reliability.

Added access key support for Run New Task (ALT + N), End Task (ALT + E), Efficiency Mode (ALT + V), and other buttons on each page. If you press ALT, the letters will display next to the button.

With a process selected, pressing the Delete key will now end the process like it used to.

CTRL + Tab and CTRL + Shift + Tab will now cycle through the pages in Task Manager.

Fixed an issue where the memory composition graph was blank instead of filed in with the appropriate color.

Mitigated an issue leading to the GPU graph on the performance tab not being displayed in some cases.

The icons in the Status column of the Processes page are no longer touching the side of the column.

Fixed an issue where “Efficiency mode” was missing the status column of the Users page.

Input

Improved the performance of launching the touch keyboard on the login screen.

Fixed an issue where if you had selected text with touch in certain apps like Settings, the backspace key in the touch keyboard would have to be tapped twice for it to delete.

Voice typing should no longer stop responding if you repeatedly press WIN + H.

Fixed an issue for people with a large number of input methods, where the currently selected one might not be in view when you opened the input switcher.

Fixed the link at the bottom of the Chinese (Simplified) IME appearance settings so it points to Settings > Personalization > Text Input.

Addressed an issue where the emoji panel’s background image and color might not be rendered correctly after using options in Settings > Personalization > Text Input.

Settings

Fixed an issue where high DPI options in the Compatibility tab of the properties for an executable weren’t working.

Narrator should now read the view options we added in Settings > Apps > Installed apps.

Windowing

Returned the missing animation when pressing WIN + D or clicking the Show Desktop button.

We addressed an issue when using snap layouts with touch which could result in an acrylic sheet getting stuck on top of the window.

The thumbnails in Task View should no longer be inverted when using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

Fixed an explorer.exe crash when invoking Task View.

If you have a lot of windows open, they should no longer become superimposed on top of Desktops in Task View.

Fixed an issue when using ALT + Tab with a screen reader, where if you ALT + Tabbed back to certain app windows, focus would be set to a pane within the window rather than the whole window.

Fixed an underlying issue where accented colored title bars (when enabled) for certain apps and File Explorer were only displaying when the windows were maximized.

Mitigated a rare issue that could sometimes lead to the system hanging when changing the resolution in certain games.

Addressed an issue causing white pixels in the corners of some apps when using dark mode.

Did some work to address an issue where certain app windows wouldn’t move to the expected area after selecting them using snap assist.

Fixed a glitch in the animation when using snap layouts at the top of the screen to snap windows.

Live captions

Fixed an issue where the very top of maximized apps (for example, title bar window management buttons) couldn’t be reached with touch while live captions were positioned at the top.

Live captions will now tell you when it’s done downloading and ready to caption.

Windows Subsystem for Linux

Fixed an issue that would prevent WSL2 from mounting the host file system on ARM64.

General fixes

Fixed an issue from the previous flight where the acrylic might not extend across the entire login screen.

Fixed an issue that was causing the volume and brightness keys that appear when your use your hardware keys to be cut off in the middle.

Running powercfg /query should work now when launched from syswow64 or from a 32-bit process.

Fixed an apostrophe that wasn’t rendering correctly in the text when doing an offline scan from the Windows Security app.

Removed an extra “be” in the text describing Smart Account Control in the Windows Security app.

Fixed an issue for certain language which could lead to question marks being displayed in the place of some of the text when upgrading to a new build.

If you have increased the text size under Settings > Accessibility > Text Size and launch setup from a Windows ISO while booted into your currently installed OS, the text displayed in the setup window will now be increased to match your preferences.

Devices using Windows Information Protection (formerly EDP) policies can now access-controlled data via protected apps such as Outlook, Word, Microsoft Edge, etc. as expected.

In addition to the fixes, the company also highlights several known issues that you should know about upgrading to this build, including problems downloading and installing this flight, and issues with the Taskbar, File Explorer, Widgets, network, and Live captions.

Install Windows 11 build 22598

If you want to download and install the Windows 11 build 22598, you need to enroll your device in the Beta Channel or Dev Channel using the “Windows Insider Program” settings from the “Update & Security” section.

Once you enroll the computer in the program, you can download build 22598 from the “Windows Update” settings by clicking the Check for Updates button. However, you will need a device that meets the minimum system requirements to receive the update if you are new to the Windows Insider Program.

If you have a device in the Beta Channel, and you prefer not to install previews of version 22H2, it’s now the time to go to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program and select the “Choose your Insider settings” and change the channel to Release Preview.

Update April 15, 2022: Microsoft is now rolling out build 22598.100 as update KB5014100. However, the update does not include anything new, it’s only designed to test the update mechanism through the Dev and Beta Channels.

Update April 19, 2022: Microsoft is now rolling out build 22598.200 as update KB5014105. However, the update does not include anything new, this is only another test for the update mechanism service.