Microsoft backports some features of Windows 11 22H2 to the original release.

Microsoft has already released several feature updates for its latest operating system, so those who stuck with the original Windows 11 release are missing out on a lot of cool changes (here are my top 5 features that Microsoft is planning to release in 2022 I added in Windows 11). However, Windows 11 21H2 (the original release) is still supported, and Microsoft continues to backport parts of the new version. The latest Windows 11 22000.1515 build, available in the Release Preview channel, has improved Windows settings with a few new features.

Windows 11 22000.1515 adds the Spotlight theme to the Personalization page and new subscriptions tools. Insiders can now manage OneDrive and Xbox subscriptions on the Accounts page, as well as receive OneDrive storage limit alerts. Some users will be more excited to get fixes for a bunch of annoying bugs that prevent certain apps from opening, memory corruption, and touch keyboard crashes.

Here is the full changelog for Windows 11 build 22000.1515:

• New! We combined Windows Spotlight with themes on the Personalization page. This made it easy for you to discover and turn on the Windows Spotlight feature.
• New! We’ve improved the Microsoft account experience in Settings. For example, you can manage OneDrive subscriptions and storage alerts.
• New! We provide the full amount of storage capacity for all your OneDrive subscriptions. It also showed total storage on the Accounts page in the Settings app.
• New! We’ve displayed storage alerts on the Systems page in the Settings app for Microsoft OneDrive subscribers. Alerts appeared when you were close to your storage limit. You can also manage your storage and purchase additional storage when needed.
• New! We showed Xbox subscription details on the Accounts page in the Settings app. Xbox subscribers can also manage their subscription on this page. Users who are not subscribers can find Xbox subscription options on the Accounts page.
• We fixed an issue that affected searchindexer.exe. It randomly blocked you from signing in or signing out.
• We fixed an issue that prevented you from finding a file based on the file’s contents.
• We fixed the problem of resource conflicts between two or more threads (known as deadlocks). This outage affected COM+ applications.
• We fixed an issue that affected conhost.exe. He stopped answering.
• We fixed an issue that affected some advanced applications. This issue prevented them from opening.
• We fixed an issue that affected the Domain Name System (DNS) suffix lookup list. The parent domain might have disappeared when you configured it.
• We added support for long URL lengths up to 8196 characters.
• We fixed an issue that might have occurred when the Input Method Editor (IME) was enabled. Applications may have stopped responding when you used the mouse and keyboard at the same time.
• We fixed an issue that affected FindWindow() or FindWindowEx(). They may have returned an invalid window handle.
• We fixed an issue that caused memory corruption. The problem occurred when you used specific HD Audio controller hardware.
• We fixed an issue that affected some systems that had firmware Trusted Platform Modules. (TPM). This bug prevented you from using Autopilot to set up these systems.
• We fixed an issue that affected printing in landscape mode in Microsoft Edge. The print output was incorrect. This issue occurred when you used Microsoft Defender Application Guard.
• We fixed an issue that prevented the touch keyboard from opening.
• We fixed an issue that prevented explorer.exe from responding. This issue occurs when you use the play and pause buttons on your keyboard on some devices.
• We fixed an issue that affected Windows Server 2022 domain controllers. When they handled Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) requests, they stopped responding.
• We fixed an issue that affected the Resilient File System (ReFS) MSba tag. This issue led to a non-paged pool leak.
• We fixed an issue that affected ReFS. This problem caused excessive use of the non-paged pool, draining system memory.

Changes and fixes in Windows 11 22000.1515 will come in future non-security cumulative updates. Those staying away from the Windows Insider program won’t have to wait long to get these sweet new features and improvements. You can find Microsoft’s announcement post here. On the official Windows Blogs website.