Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Build 21354

Published April 7, 2021

Microsoft today is releasing Windows 10 build 21354 to Insiders in the Dev Channel. Here’s a look at what’s new.

Microsoft today is releasing Windows 10 build 21354 to Insiders in the Dev Channel. This release follows up build 21343 which was released a couple of weeks ago. Today’s build contains new personalization options for the News and Interests section on the taskbar, improved display settings, a new Camera Settings page, and more. Here is a look at what you can expect.

Windows 10 Insider Build 21354

The “News and Interests” feature on the taskbar is getting new personalization options. Microsoft exec Brandon LeBlanc writes: “Now, when you hover on the weather on your taskbar, you’ll see a new “Manage interests” button appear at the top of the window. This button links to a new full-page personalization experience, where you can choose the topics that you’re interested in.”

Content adaptive brightness control (CABC) disabling helps improve battery performance on PCs. You will find CABC by heading to Settings > System > Display.

This build introduces a new Camera Settings page that gives you the ability to add/remove cameras and configure image settings for each one.

MSPaint is now updated via the Microsoft Store. Microsoft originally made this announcement back in 2017 and is now following through. The Snipping Tool is now updated via the Microsoft Store and outside of major OS updates via Windows Update.

Here is the list of other changes and improvements to expect in this build:

[News and interests] As mentioned previously, we have enabled the ability to deselect “Open on hover” in the “News and interests” taskbar options. This is based on your feedback.
The default path to access Linux files from Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux has been changed from `\\wsl\\` to `\\wsl.localhost\\` to improve performance and reliability. You will still be able to access Linux files using `\\wsl$\\`.
Under Settings > Update & Security > Change active hours, you will find the toggle turned on for “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity”, if you have never adjusted this feature. We are starting a roll out a change for Insiders that makes this setting on by default. With this setting turned on, Windows Update will be able to schedule automatic restarts when you are typically not using your device more accurately.
As of the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, all pinned sites (regardless of what version you were using when you pinned them), should now use the taskbar behavior described here without you first having to unpin and re-pin the site.
On ARM64 devices, you can now toggle compatibility settings for x64 applications.
Under Settings > Personalization > Device usage, you can select all the ways you plan to use your device to get customized suggestions for tips, tools, and services.

And here is the list of fixes contained in today’s release:

[News and interests] As mentioned previously, we have enabled the ability to deselect “Open on hover” in the “News and interests” taskbar options. This is based on your feedback.
The default path to access Linux files from Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux has been changed from `\\wsl\\` to `\\wsl.localhost\\` to improve performance and reliability. You will still be able to access Linux files using `\\wsl$\\`.
Under Settings > Update & Security > Change active hours, you will find the toggle turned on for “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity”, if you have never adjusted this feature. We are starting a roll out a change for Insiders that makes this setting on by default. With this setting turned on, Windows Update will be able to schedule automatic restarts when you are typically not using your device more accurately.
As of the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, all pinned sites (regardless of what version you were using when you pinned them), should now use the taskbar behavior described here without you first having to unpin and re-pin the site.
On ARM64 devices, you can now toggle compatibility settings for x64 applications.
Under Settings > Personalization > Device usage, you can select all the ways you plan to use your device to get customized suggestions for tips, tools, and services.

Fixes

[Gaming] We fixed an issue where certain games may crash, will not sync save data when a game is played on a different device, or will not save when a new game is installed.
[File Explorer] We fixed an issue resulting in all folders pinned to Quick Access in File Explorer disappearing if you installed Build 21343. Please note that this fix prevents the issue from occurring going forward, it will not bring back the ones that were unpinned if you installed the impacted build previously.
[File Explorer] We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing that the entire folders section of Quick Access was missing after installing the previous flight.
We fixed an issue impacting Search reliability in the previous flight.
[News and interests] Fixed an issue where news and interests could occlude other content on the taskbar especially on smaller screens.
We fixed an issue where the tooltip text for items in Start’s Power button menu wasn’t displaying correctly.
We fixed an issue resulting in a crash if you entered WinPE and tried to enable Narrator using WIN + CTRL + Enter.
We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing a bug check with error SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED when rebooting or shutting down in the previous flight.
We fixed an issue that could result in a bugcheck when starting WSL.
We fixed an issue that could result in the Windows Update Settings page showing progress dots but never loading.
We fixed an issue where navigating to Power and Sleep in Settings would crash Settings.
We fixed the issue where a random toggle that didn’t do anything was appearing under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.
We fixed an error resulting in some Insiders recently seeing an error when trying to add a password to a local account that was created without a password.
We fixed an issue where if you opened the Pinyin IME settings via Search, the Settings page would be unexpectedly blank.
We fixed an issue that could result in your desktop background going black after snapping an app to the side of your screen.
We fixed an issue where some of the text in Snipping Tool wasn’t displaying correctly.
We fixed an issue causing the Handwriting Input Panel to not work for pen input on ARM64 PCs.
We fixed an issue impacting clipboard history reliability.
We fixed an issue resulting in characters being duplicated in certain apps when typing with the Korean IME.
We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to insert composition strings when typing with an IME after copying and pasting a text box in PowerPoint.
We fixed an issue resulting in key events being lost when renaming files in File Explorer while typing with an IME.
We fixed an issue where when typing with the Japanese or Chinese IMEs in certain apps that have their own UI for IME candidates, the IME candidates were not displayed in the app’s UI.
The fix we mentioned in Build 21327 to address an issue where a toggled key on the touch keyboard had the wrong background color is now rolling out to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.
We fixed an issue causing an increase in login time in the previous flight.
We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders finding that boot time was longer in the previous flighting.
We fixed an issue resulting in the network button on the login screen not working and potentially crashing.
We fixed an issue causing some logins to hang on a black screen. If you continue to see a similar problem, please file a new feedback in Feedback Hub.
We fixed an issue that could result in freezes when watching videos in Chromium-based browsers in recent Dev Channel builds.

Remember that Insider builds are meant for coders, IT admins, and Windows 10 enthusiasts who want to test new features and submit feedback to Microsoft.

These builds are not meant for inexperienced users. They are also not meant to run on your primary production machine. Insider builds contain many known stability issues that can cause your system to become unstable or even crash.

For more on this build’s full list of changes, known issues, and workarounds make sure to read Microsoft’s full blog post.