Microsoft Releases Two New Windows 11 Builds in the Beta Channel

And just as expected, several new goodies are included

Microsoft has released new Windows 11 testing builds for users who are part of the Beta channel in the Windows Insider program.

As per the company’s new approach, Microsoft is now shipping two builds at the same time, one without the latest features and a second build that does have the latest features.

The two new builds shipping to users in the Beta channel are the following:

Build 22622.440 = New features rolling out. Build 22621.440 = New features off by default.

The biggest change is the introduction of the new taskbar overflow, which has until recently been part of the Dev channel exclusively.

Not a long time ago, however, it was discovered that the taskbar overflow was already available in the Beta channel, only that it wasn’t enabled by Microsoft. So with this build, users who are getting the first build are also allowed to test the taskbar overflow without any other changes on their side.

“We’re reintroducing taskbar overflow, with a newly designed experience for Windows 11. This taskbar experience has been thoughtfully crafted to offer you a more productive switching and launching experience when space is constrained. Your taskbar will automatically transition into this new overflow state when it has hit its maximum capacity. In this state, taskbar will offer an entry point to an overflow menu that allows you to view all your overflowed apps in one space,” Microsoft says.

At the same time, this update also includes dynamic widgets on the taskbar.

“We’re trying out some changes to bring more dynamic Widgets content to your taskbar. In addition to seeing live content from the weather widget, you’ll also start to see live updates from the sports and finance widgets, along with breaking news alerts,” Microsoft explains.

The latest builds can be downloaded by Beta users from Windows Update.