Windows 11 build 22449

Windows 11 build 22449 is the first Insider Preview build of Nickel, the 22H1 development semester of Windows as a service. This build was released to the Dev Channel on 2 September 2021.

Shell

 * The boot spinner that was introduced in Windows 10 build 19587 is now used by default in the boot screen.
 * Notifications now have an acrylic background.
 * The Sign-in options button has been added to the shutdown menu.
 * Right-clicking on the Bluetooth entry in Quick Settings and selecting Settings will now open the main Bluetooth & Devices page in Settings.
 * The Windows startup sound will no longer play after an unattended update (aka a scheduled Windows update when you are not at your PC).
 * Added a link to the touch keyboard personalization settings from Typing > Touch Keyboard to help improve discoverability.
 * Updated animation used in the notification introducing you to Windows Hello if it hasn’t been set up.
 * Updated the dialog when closing Windows Sandbox so that it has rounded visuals.
 * Adjusted the design of Notification Center to make the app names more visibly separated from the notifications.

Bugfixes

 * Explorer no longer crashes when using Alt.
 * The title in taskbar previews no longer uses the Arial font.

Upgrade
Upgrading to this build via Windows Update may fail due to a server-side deployment issue, which also leads to UWP components on the previous build being broken, affecting the shell as well as some built-in applications. This can be fixed by removing the  registry key and then rebooting.

Shell

 * The Widgets board may appear empty. This can be fixed by logging out and back in.
 * Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors.
 * The options to open System and Windows Terminal may be missing from the Win menu.
 * The taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.

Search

 * After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. This can be fixed by restarting Explorer and opening the search panel again.
 * The search panel may appear as black and not display any content below the search box.
 * Text may be unable to be inputted when using Search from Start or the taskbar. This can be fixed by pressing Win to open the Run dialog box and then closing it.

Bugcheck

 * Some Surface Pro X devices with this build may bugcheck with a.
 * Devices with this build installed may continuously bugcheck if WDAG is enabled.