New wallpapers and better window snapping come to latest Windows 11 preview builds

Enlarge / A PC running Windows 11. (credit: Microsoft)

Windows 11 has settled down a lot since its original release, but Microsoft continues testing new features and tweaks to the operating system in its Insider Preview program. So far this month, the builds have focused on bug fixes and UI tweaks, but a few notable changes are notable enough to call out.

This week's build, version 22598, is relatively low on user-visible changes. One is that "a limited number of Windows Insiders" performing clean installs will have their desktop wallpapers set to rotating Windows Spotlight images by default. The other change is Microsoft experimenting with 4K wallpapers via Spotlight. There's also a new album-centric view for artist pages in the redesigned Media Player app.

Last week's preview, build 22593, brought some changes for the File Explorer and some window management improvements. The default view for new File Explorer windows is now called "Home," though the available content doesn't change much. Folders can still be pinned to your Home window, but the "Quick access" label has been moved from the navigation sidebar to the main window, and "pinned" files are now called "Favorites" to make them more consistent with the labeling used in OneDrive and Office.