Since the introduction of dark mode to File Explorer, Windows users have encountered a “white flash” when opening or maximizing a File Explorer window. This bug is over five years old and remains a major annoyance. But Microsoft is finally doing something about it. The latest Windows 11 Insider build (22621.2338, or 22631.2338 for Beta Channel testers) introduces several bug fixes and improvements, including a fix for the “white flash” issue.
As explained in Microsoft’s release notes, the new Insider build “fixes an issue for dark mode users, where you see a white flash when opening File Explorer.” Microsoft also patched a bug that made the File Explorer command bar illegible when switching from light mode to dark mode. The change was first noticed by users on the r/windows11 subreddit, who are very excited to see a fix for these longstanding problems.
Additionally, this release patches some taskbar and Task Manager bugs. Dragging app icons into the taskbar should no longer cause explorer.exe to crash, and Insiders should no longer see app labels in their taskbar when such labels are disabled. Insiders should have no trouble opening the Task Manager, which previously suffered from a bug that prevented it from launching (in Insider builds, not mainline Windows 11 releases).
Microsoft is also rolling out some new Windows 11 functionality. It now allows users to uninstall the Camera, Cortana, Photos, and People apps. Phone Link can now be fully disabled through your Bluetooth settings, and a new Let’s Focus widget provides a convenient way to kick off Focus Sessions, a feature that’s tucked in the Clock app. You can read the full list of changes and improvements in Microsoft’s release notes.
To reiterate, these changes are only available in the latest Windows Insider build (22621.2338). Bug fixes are automatically implemented in the Windows Insider release, though new features (such as the Focus Session widget) are turned off by default. The new features are turned on in Windows 11’s latest Beta Channel release (22631.2338). Mainline versions of Windows 11 will inherit these features and bug fixes over the coming months.
Source: Microsoft via r/windows11
