Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21332: Rollout of News and Interests reset

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21332Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21332
  • Microsoft released the Insider Preview Build to the Dev channel – Build 21332.
  • The rollout for News and Interests in the taskbar has been reset along with some layout changes.
  • Some issues introduced on previous flights have been addressed, while others remain.
  • Some new issues with the current build have also been discussed.

Microsoft has now released an update on the Dev channel for Insiders: Preview Build 21332. Although Microsoft no longer associates releases in the Dev channel to specific versions of Windows 10, it is likely that the features and improvements in this release are to appear in Windows 10 v21H1 when released on the stable channel.

Preview Build 21332 will reset the rollout of News and Interests in the taskbar, meaning many users will lose this feature temporarily. Microsoft is currently working on finalizing the layout and content of the News and Interests through feedback. This release also includes other fixes and improvements that have been discussed further in the article.

If you are subscribed to the Dev Insider Channel, you will receive this update automatically through Windows Update. Let us dig into what build 21332 has to offer.

What’s new in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21332

Roll out of News and Interests has been reset

After playing around with the News and Interests flyout in the Taskbar, Microsoft has finally set a standard for how it will look (for now). The following layout has been decided for the News and Interests flyout through repetitive changes and feedback from the consumers on the Dev channel.

The flyout will now display the content in 2 different columns, making it convenient for users to glance over the daily news, weather, and more. By default, the flyout will open via hovering over it or clicking on it. However, Microsoft plans on giving the option to users to open it only by clicking on an upcoming update.

These changes resulted in Microsoft resetting its rollout of News and Interests. Therefore, some of you might lose the feature temporarily. But don’t worry, it will reach you again soon.

Other changes and improvements

Aside from the changes in features, here is a list of other improvements that have been made by Microsoft:

  • The feature released in Preview Build 21318 called “Paste as plain text” is now rolling out to all Dev channel subscribers.
  • The theme-aware splash screens, which were previously disabled because of a technical error, are now being re-enabled for everyone in the Dev channel.
  • Both 3D Viewer and Paint 3D will no longer be pre-installed upon fresh installation of Windows 10. However, these apps will be available for download through the Microsoft Store. Note that installation build 21332 will not remove these apps if already installed.
  • The Math Input Panel app is being removed from Windows. However, the math recognition engine that powered the app will now be available as an “Optional Feature” by the name Math Recognizer. It can be installed by navigating to the following path in Windows 10:
    Settings -> Apps -> Apps & features -> <a href="optionalfeatures" class="rank-math-link">Optional Features</a>.

Fixes

Several other fixes have been made to the OS. Here is its description:

  • An issue resulting in a bugcheck when Surface Pro X devices would wake from sleep has been fixed.
  • The problem of the device getting hung while an Xbox controller was connected and then the device was restarted, shut down, or entering sleep mode has been addressed.
  • The issue with the About page disappearing in the Settings app in the last release has been fixed.
  • The OS info link not working on the Windows Update page within the Settings app has been fixed.
  • The issue with some search results in the Settings app being missing has been addressed.
  • The crashing of the Settings app when opening the Power and Sleep page has been fixed.
  • The status information on the Windows Update page not being displayed in the recent builds has been addressed.
  • The issue of the Chinese text for the lunar calendar in the clock and calendar flyout not displaying properly has been fixed.
  • The unexpected scrolling of the quick action area in the Action Center, while it was collapsed, has been taken care of.
  • A bug affecting the GPU Compute support in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) has been removed.
  • An issue with the clipboard history not showing the latest entries has been fixed.
  • An issue where the touch keyboard would be dismissed automatically when opening another app while the taskbar button to manually invoke it had been pressed has been fixed.
  • The problem of some gifs being registered as a single image has been addressed.
  • The issue of the red heart emoji appearing black when entered using the search bar from the touch keyboard has been fixed.
  • Pinyin IME having the tips displayed in black while using the dark mode would make it unreadable. This issue has been fixed.
  • An issue when typing with certain IMEs where Narrator wouldn’t announce when you expanded or collapsed the displayed information in the candidate window has been addressed.
  • The problem with certain TV tuners not working has been fixed.
  • The issue of the occasional bugcheck when renaming a file or folder on an SD card has been fixed.
  • The problem resulting in a random bugcheck on devices running Trend Micro has been addressed.
  • The issue with the black screen or the File Explorer crashing with Bitdefender installed has been fixed.

Known issues

Here are the issues Microsoft is currently aware of in this new release:

  • Microsoft is aware that the update process hangs for extended times while attempting to install the new build.
  • Live previews for pinned sites in the Taskbar have not yet been published for all insiders. Hence, users might see a blank or grey image when they hover their mouse over the Taskbar’s thumbnails.
  • Microsoft is currently working on enabling a new taskbar experience for insiders. However, users can unpin the pinned sites from the taskbar, remove them from Microsoft Edge by going to the edge://apps page, and then re-pin the sites.
  • News and Interests:
    • Often the News and Interests window cannot be closed using a pen.
    • News and Interests may not be available when signing into Windows with no internet connection. It does however return when the device comes online.
  • Insiders using ARM64 architecture who had installed Qualcomm Adreno graphics driver on their Surface Pro X may experience lower brightness levels. Microsoft says that this issue has been resolved through a preview update for the graphics driver that you can download by clicking here.
  • Some devices with Realtek network adapters with the driver version 1.0.0.4 may experience frequent network disconnections, which Microsoft is working on fixing.
  • Some display devices with a high refresh rate and correctly configured settings are still displaying games at 60 Hertz.
  • You will no longer be able to access the network flyout from the login screen after installing this build. Microsoft suggests that if you absolutely need to connect to a new network from the login screen, you can use a wired network, or take your computer closer to another wireless network that has been preconfigured so it will connect automatically.
  • There is a DWM memory leak that Microsoft is working on.

How to install Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21332

If you are subscribed to the Dev channel of the Windows Insider Program, then you shall automatically receive the new update through Windows Updates. However, if you are anxious to receive the update without waiting, here is what you can do.

Open up Windows Updates by navigating to the following:

Start Menu -> Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update

Now, if the system does not automatically start searching for updates, click on Check for updates for a manual search online. The system will then start to download the latest update available and install it automatically once it is downloaded. Reboot the computer once installed.

Since a standalone ISO image for this build has not been made available, updating your current version is the only way to install this build right now.

Rollback/remove Windows 10 Insider Preview update

If you do not wish to keep the installed preview update for some reason, you can always roll back to the previous build of the OS. However, this can only be performed within the next 10 days after installing the new update.

To rollback after 10 days, you will need to apply this trick.

Cleanup after installing Windows Updates

If you want to save space after installing Windows updates, you can run the following commands:

dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore
dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
Windows image cleanup

You can learn all about the Microsoft Insider Programs and check out how to join and manage them. You can also join the Windows Insider Program  without creating or registering your Microsoft account.

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Subhan Zafar is an established IT professional with interests in Windows and Server infrastructure testing and research, and is currently working with Itechtics as a research consultant. He has studied Electrical Engineering and is also certified by Huawei (HCNA & HCNP Routing and Switching).