This week’s Dev Channel Windows Insider Preview build for Windows 11 adds another handful of useful and/or interesting improvements to the operating system, most notably improved support for the passkey standard that Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others are currently rallying behind.
While the Microsoft Edge browser has supported passkeys for a while, this week’s Insider build extends support to “any app or website that supports passkeys,” which can use built-in Windows Hello authentication (via a PIN, fingerprint reader, or facial recognition). ). scanning camera) to log in without requiring a password. You can also view the full list of access keys created on your device and delete individual access keys if you no longer wish to use them.
If your browser supports standard passkeys and has its own UI to handle them, you’ll need to select “Windows Hello or external security key” to use the built-in Windows UI instead.
The new Insider build also adds support for Unicode 15 emoji, a few changes to Windows’ location-based time zone setting, and a handful of fixes. But mostly for people complaining about last week’s Insider build, Microsoft has rolled back proposed changes that would have removed several relatively obscure settings from the Folder Options window in File Explorer.
“As is normal for the Dev Channel, we will often try things out and get feedback and make adjustments based on the feedback we receive,” Microsoft’s Amanda Langowski and Brandon LeBlanc wrote in a post detailing the new build’s changes.
The hodgepodge of different menu styles is a long-standing complaint about Windows: Windows 11 has come a long way in making the interface more modern and consistent on the surface, but in many places you only need to dig a few layers deep before you come across a old menu that looks essentially the same as it did in Windows 95. But when Microsoft tries to change or remove some of these elements, it invariably causes a backlash from the handful of users who apparently find these settings essential. It’s one of the reasons why Windows 11 still has all the Control Panel items from the Windows XP and Vista era, even though the Settings app can perform most of the same functions.
