Windows 11 build 25281

10.0.25281.1000.rs_prerelease.230113-1248
	Build of Zinc
OS family	Windows 11 (NT 10.0)
Version number	10.0
Build number	25281
Build revision	1000
Architecture	AMD64, ARM64
Build lab	rs_prerelease
Compiled on	2023-01-13
Expiration date
Timebomb	2023-09-15 (+245 days)
SKUs
	Home (N, Single Language, China); SE (N); Pro (N, Single Language, China); Pro Education (N); Pro for Workstations (N); Education (N); Enterprise (Evaluation, G, GN, N, N Evaluation); IoT Enterprise; Team
About dialog

Windows 11 build 25281 is the eighth Insider Preview and the seventh available client build of Zinc, the 23H2 development semester of Windows as a service. It was released to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel on 19 January 2023.

New features and changes[edit | edit source]

Windows Spotlight[edit | edit source]

The new UI, initially implemented in build 25197 and later removed in build 25206, has been re-implemented with multiple refined visuals. This feature is only available in the English (United States) language, and can be toggled on manually by enabling Velocity staging keys 39880030, 40268500 (with the variant parameter set to 0, 1 or 3 for multiple visuals), 40522394 and 41744267.
The support of showing the "Learn more about this picture" icon at different positions has been implemented. This feature is disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by enabling Velocity staging key 41861575 with the variant parameter set to 0, 2 or 3 for placing the icon at the bottom right, bottom center or top right corner, respectively.

Shell[edit | edit source]

The Sound output page in the Quick Settings has been redesigned with new volume mixer feature, which has been absent since the original release of Windows 11. As part of this change, a new keyboard shortcut for invoke the page directly (⊞ Win+Ctrl+V) has also been added. These features are disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by enabling Velocity staging key 42106010.
The printer icon in the system tray on the taskbar has been updated in order to better align with other icons.
The UAC dialog when switching a network between private and public has been updated to come to the foreground rather than being behind other windows.

Settings[edit | edit source]

The Graphics page under System > Display has been redesigned in order to align with the design aesthetics of Windows 11.
The pop-up prompt to confirm removing a paired Bluetooth device under the Bluetooth and Devices page has been removed.
The "Enter a product key" dialog (toggle via System > Activation) has been redesigned in order to align with the design aesthetics of Windows 11. This feature is disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by enabling Velocity staging keys 36390579 and 42733866.

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

When navigating the taskbar using ⊞ Win+T and arrow keys, the position of the app icon will be called out by Narrator.
The ability to install Windows to the ReFS file system has been added. This feature is disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by enabling Velocity staging key 42189933.

Bugfixes[edit | edit source]

General[edit | edit source]

Fixed an issue where Narrator wasn't announcing when the @ mentions window popped up in Outlook.
Fixed an issue that was causing the system to get stuck when uninstalling some apps.
Fixed an issue which was causing the Windows print queue window to crash sometimes.
Fixed an issue which could cause SQL Server Management Studio to fail to launch.
Fixed an issue where Braille devices were incorrectly saying there was no screen on the latest version of Braille.

File Explorer[edit | edit source]

Fixed an explorer.exe crash which could happen when closing File Explorer.
Fixed an issue that was causing the error dialog when network discovery is off to point to the wrong location to enable it.
Fixed an issue that causes File Explorer to crash in dark mode when the new Details pane is enabled.

Settings[edit | edit source]

Fixed an issue where SSID wasn't being populated on the properties page for Wi-Fi under the Network & Internet page.

Shell[edit | edit source]

Fixed an issue where Quick Settings might not be able to re-open after going to the Wi-Fi section and closing the flyout.
Fixed an explorer.exe crash which could happen when right-clicking a snap group in Task View and selecting "show this group on all desktops."

Bugs and quirks[edit | edit source]

General[edit | edit source]

The system may hang at the boot screen when resuming from sleep or hibernate on certain ARM64 devices.
Using Windows Hello to sign in with facial recognition may not work on certain ARM64 devices.
The system may take longer than expected to upgrade to this build in certain cases.
The screen may freeze when using the browser and certain apps, primarily media player apps.

Shell[edit | edit source]

The taskbar may sometimes be cropped in half when using the tablet-optimized taskbar.
On some locales, the default font used in several UI elements (such as the date and time on the taskbar) may change to regular Segoe UI instead of Segoe UI Variable.

Task Manager[edit | edit source]

Some dialogs may not render in the correct theme when applied from the Settings page.
The data content area of the Processes page may flash once when theme changes are applied in the Settings page.

Settings[edit | edit source]

Switching the Search entry point on the taskbar from the search box to the search icon via Personalization > Taskbar may fail in certain cases.

Safe mode[edit | edit source]

Quick Settings and date/time clock on the taskbar may be missing due to the Capability Access Manager Service service not running.
Clicking Bluetooth & devices and Personalization pages may crash the Settings app due to an overrun of a stack-based buffer 0xc0000409.