With Build 22581 for Windows 11, you can go from the Dev to the Beta Channel.

• Microsoft has now released a new Preview Build for Windows 10.
  
• Dev Channel Insiders have a brief window to migrate to Beta with Build 22581.
• You should be aware that all Insiders now have access to the tablet mode taskbar.
• Check out the complete changelog here and let us know what you think of the latest updates.

What a turn of events this is. Windows 11 Preview Build 22581 has been issued to the Dev and Beta channels at the same time.

This is your queue if you wanted to go from the Developer Channel to the Beta Channel and try out a fresh experience without having to reinstall Windows.

Yes, we'll show you how to do it so you'll be ready if you decide to take the plunge.

How can I go from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel?

As previously stated, the restricted opportunity for Insiders to switch channels has opened now that the Dev and Beta Channels are receiving the identical builds.

If you're one of the Insiders who wants to change things up, here's how you can do it:

1.Press the Win key + I to access Settings.

2.Select Windows Update, then Windows Insider Program.

3.Click on Choose your Insider settings.

4.Select Beta Channel.

5.The next time you receive an update, it will be for your new channel.

That bine said, keep in mind that this window will close once builds with higher build numbers are released to the Dev Channel. 

If your device remains on the Dev Channel and receives a build with a higher build number than what is available on the Beta Channel, you will need to do a clean installation of Windows 11 on your device in order to switch to the Beta Channel.

Is there anything else in Build 22581 that you should know about?

The tablet-optimized taskbar, which first appeared in Build 22563, is now accessible to all Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels.

This function is only available on devices that can be used as tablets, thus it will not work on laptops or desktop computers.

Several changes to the taskbar have also been made, with the top borderline now stretching throughout the full taskbar, which will be visible to all users regardless of device type.

Fixes

[Taskbar]

• Another issue was fixed, which caused taskbar previews in languages other than English to utilise the incorrect typefaces for the window title.
• With auto-hidden taskbars, drag and drop to taskbar should now work.
• When dragging something to pin to the taskbar, the message on the dragged item will now have rounded corners (for example, displaying an X if it's not supported).
• Swiping to collapse the tablet-optimized taskbar now doesn't bring up the widgets board.

[Start menu]

• Fixed an issue that caused the search box at the top of Start to flicker on occasion.
• Fixed an underlying issue where tapping one of the letter headers in the All apps list would cause it to think you'd tapped one of the letter headings in the All apps list.
• Updated the context menu when right clicking a pinned app to say “Move to front” rather than “Move to top”, so it’s clearer what will happen.

[Focus]

• A Clock app update (11.2202.24.0 and higher) has been put out to address an issue in which the Clock app was unable to update the Windows Focus state while configuring focus sessions in the Clock app.

[File Explorer]

• Corrected a few instances where icons were missing adjacent to context menu and command bar entries (for example, for the Next Desktop Background entry in the context menu if you right click the desktop while using a background slideshow).
• A few minor tweaks to the context menu and command bar icons, particularly the copy icon.
• Folders that contain only other folders will now display an icon with a slip of paper to signify that the folder has content, rather than an empty folder icon.
• Fixed an underlying issue that could result in File Explorer crashing when the Group By option was used.

[Input]

• Fixed a bug in which the conversion option in the context menu of the Korean IME was not working.
• Corrected an issue where the IME toolbar was not properly showing/hiding when using the previous version of the Japanese IME.
• After rebooting or upgrading, the touch keyboard is now more reliably displayed on the login screen after tapping the PIN or password box.
• When utilising the "Black and White" text input theme, some of the text on the touch keyboard was difficult to read.
• Made another fix for the “size and theme” link under Settings > Time & Language > Typing > Touch Keyboard not working.
• Fixed a bug in which the touch keyboard continued to display previous text candidates when switching to voice typing.
• The “Press Enter” and “Press Tab” commands should be working when using voice typing for Chinese (Traditional) now.
• Fixed an issue where the three- or four-finger touchpad gesture for altering the volume level of your audio was not working with certain Bluetooth audio devices.

[Settings]

• Changes to Sounds to Program Events (for example, deactivating certain system sounds) should be retained in future upgrades.
• When a contrast option was activated, the battery icon in the Bluetooth section of Quick Settings became more visible.

[Windowing]

• If you change the keyboard focus in Task View to Desktops, the border around the thumbnails now has rounded corners.
• When using the Arabic or Hebrew display languages, hovering over the Task View icon on secondary monitors did not bring up the Desktops flyout.
• Fixed an issue where the window would animate in from the wrong location when you picked one of the Microsoft Edge tabs displayed in snap assist.
• If you move a window into the corner of a snap layout, it should now minimise properly.
• Fixed an issue where snap layouts would display unexpectedly while moving a window, rather than only displaying a hint for Insiders using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.
• Corrected an issue when rotating your tablet before the previous screen rotation animation completed resulted in the rotation animation abruptly terminating.
• Fixed an issue where utilising the three-finger touch gesture to quickly dismiss all apps could cause windows to become trapped in a shrunken state.
• Reduced the size of the region above a notification that was not being transmitted through to the underlying window, so that it is the same size as the notification's side.
• Fixed an issue that prevented users from dragging the title bar of a maximised window with their finger.
• Fixed an issue where keyboard focus could be lost if the Open or Save dialogue was open in an app and you used ALT + Tab to go away from the app and then back.

[Voice access]

• Fixed an issue that was causing voice access to crash when using commands to capitalize text in Office apps.

[Narrator]

• In Office programmes, Narrator will now accurately indicate whether or not a table cell has an image.
• When Narrator is reading with scan mode in Microsoft Edge, it will no longer stop reading when getting to some embedded links and buttons in the middle of text, like on nytimes.com.

[Task Manager]

[Other]

• A bug was fixed that caused the volume flyout that displays when you use your hardware keys to become stuck on the screen.
• Fixed an issue that could cause explorer.exe to become stuck and fail to fully initialise during the first login.
• A couple more concerns with explorer.exe's dependability have been resolved.

Known issues

• [BETA CHANNEL] We will not be offering new builds to Windows Insiders in China on Lenovo PCs in the Beta Channel for the time being.
•  As a workaround, please join the Release Preview Channel first, install Windows 11 from there (Build 22000.xxxx), and then switch to the Dev or Beta Channel to receive the latest Insider Preview build. This issue is understood and will be fixed in an upcoming build.

[Taskbar]

• On 2-in-1 devices, the taskbar does not always collapse after launching an app or touching outside of the extended taskbar.
• On 2-in-1 devices, some parts of the OS aren't currently tracking the height of the expanded taskbar, thus you can notice overlapping components like Widgets overlapping with the taskbar.
• [ADDED 3/24] We’re investigating reports of increased reliability issues when launching Notification Center.

[File Explorer]

• It's possible that opening suggested results displayed while typing search terms into File Explorer's search box won't work.
• We're working to resolve issues with icon sizing, visual defects, and text clipping in the OneDrive storage flyout.

[Input]

• [ADDED 3/24] We’re investigating reports of issues displaying input UI surfaces – including emoji panel, candidate windows, and clipboard history.

[Widgets]

• When pinning from the Feed, the pinned widget is sometimes put above rather than below other pinned widgets. If this occurs, the recently pinned widget will be moved to the expected default place within 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can sign out of your Widgets board and then sign back in to fix the problem.
• Some users report issues with widgets in the pinned section rendering wrongly after rearranging widgets in the widgets board. If this happens, simply sign out of your widgets board and then sign back in should fix the issue.
• When performing the swipe from the left edge of the screen touch action, the Widgets panel may not load as expected. The Widgets icon or the Win + W key combination can be used to start the programme.

[Narrator]

• Natural voices are breaking up sporadically in the latest build. Restart Narrator to resolve the issue.

[Live captions]

• Certain apps in full screen (e.g., video players) prevent live captions from being visible.
• Certain apps that were towards the top of the screen and were closed before live captions started will re-open behind the live captions window at the top. While the app is in focus, use the system menu (ALT + Spacebar) to shift the app's window down.
• While live captions is at the top, the very top of maximised apps (e.g., title bar window management controls) cannot be reached with touch.
• Any more information you may require can be found on Microsoft's official release website, which has all of the information you require.
• Are you thinking about switching to the Insider Channel? Let us know what you think in the comments area below.