Some cool new features. I like the saving progress in Notepad. Makes sense for many things I do.

Cool new HDR image display for backgrounds.

HDR Background Support You can now set JXR files to be your desktop background and if you have an HDR display, they will render in full HDR.

First – make sure your device has an HDR display or is connected to a HDR display that supports HDR. You can check this by going to Settings > System > Display and checking the HDR toggle.

Next, download an HDR .JXR file to your device. Then right-click on your desktop, choose “Personalize” and then “Background”, and under “Personalize your background” – go and select the .JXR file you downloaded to your device.

You can download example .JXR files here to try this experience out on your HDR-capable device/display.

The background should load on your display. If you have multiple displays attached to your device, the background will show as HDR or SDR depending on each display’s capabilities. When using external displays attached to your device, we recommend running the HDR Calibration app for best picture quality. Please note that for this build, there may be some issues with the HDR version of the desktop background not correctly display on some laptops with HDR.

Upcoming Bug Bash!

August 2023 Bug Bash Coming Soon: Starting on August 2nd, we’ll be having our next bug bash! The bug bash will span the latest features available in preview builds across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. Stay tuned for more details in next week’s flight blog posts.

Build 22631.2050 = New features rolling out. Build 22621.2050 = New features off by default.

Modernized File Explorer Home, Address Bar, and Details Pane Now that File Explorer is powered by Windows App SDK, we are introducing a modernized File Explorer Home powered by WinUI. Recommended files for users signed into Windows with an Azure Active Directory (AAD) account will be displayed as a carousel and support file thumbnails which is coming soon. Quick Access folders (available by default for users signed into Windows with a Microsoft account), Favorites, and Recent also bring in an updated experience with WinUI.

New gallery on the File Explorer