Exploring More Leaked Windows 11 Builds
5 builds of Windows 11 21H2 has been leaked, 3 of them have just been leaked recently, I know I’m late, but that’s okay, we’re going to see all changes and little details throughout all the 4 builds. First up, build 21370, which was compiled on April 30th 2021. The setup phase of this build still bears the Windows 10 branding, with an additional note that tells you to NOT take any screenshots of this build, well, SYKE!. This build doesn’t enforce the artificial UEFI requirements as well as TPM 2.0. While the second phase of
the setup still bears the Windows 10 logo, the OOBE uses the newer iteration taken partly or entirely from Windows 10X. The background of the OOBE is likely a Hero background, or just a bright blue to dark blue gradient, and the icons of several sections on the OOBE are leaning to Windows 10X’s design, correct me if I’m wrong. The preparing Windows screen still uses the Segoe UI font originally from Windows 8 and didn’t have the three blue balls yet. Upon finishing the preparation, you can see that when we go to the desktop, the taskbar is transparent, this is a graphical bug as I wanna say. Restarting the OS, while loading the lock screen, you’ll hear this sound. Yup, the implementation of opting in the startup sound is as early as 21370, and it also uses the Windows 11 sound scheme too, which is cool. Apart from that, the lock screen still uses the Windows 10 design,
as well as its lock screen background. Here we are on the desktop, we can see that there are already changes from what we know in Windows 10, these include the confidentiality watermark, the build tag, and the centered taskbar icons. Within this build, the rounded corners on a program window are already implemented and applied as early as this build. Going back to the taskbar, the main icons such as Start, Search, Task View, and Widgets are animated, sadly, the rest are not. I really wish this animation stays to the final version. Also in the taskbar, you can see that
the time and date layout is using the three-row layout, which most of you know from build 21996. Opening the Start Menu, the UI and user experience have been changed to what would be seen in the final version, although as you can see, some applications are still “loading”, you’ll see why later. The application list looks the same as Windows 10, albeit with a different early animation, let’s replay it in slow motion. Looking at several options available in the Start Menu like the power options, the text is still small, which is what Windows 10 has too. This also applies to account settings, and specific app context menus like File Explorer
that appears in buggy circumstances. Another quirk I found is that the lack of the arrow icon for folders at the right side. Moving back a bit to the taskbar, the thumbnail preview still bears the Windows 10 design with sharp corners and Windows 10’s Segoe UI. And looking at the Action Centre, the feature uses the Windows 10 variant, albeit with rounded corners around the buttons. Also, do you notice that this new taskbar can be resized by using the registry?
Well, yeah, you can, by going to this path on the Registry Editor, and adding the “TaskbarSi” value, you can just restart explorer by leaving it blank, this will apply the small version of the taskbar, this taskbar uses the two-row time and date layout, this size is still work in progress as the taskbar will have a visible scrollbar behind the most-right application at it. Changing the value to 1 will bring back the normal size, while changing the value to 2 will uses the comically large version of the Taskbar, which I don’t think that’s normally available, even in Windows 10. There’s a new value which will introduce the Multi-Monitor Taskbar using “MMTaskBarEnabled” within the same key/path, but I can’t show you at the moment due to a quirk in VMware not trying to emulate two of my three monitors, even after VMware Tools has been installed. Next, going to this key/path and creating the “UndockingDisabled” DWORD value and setting it to 1 will bring back the Windows 10 shell, completely intact.
Anyway, snap layout feature in Windows 11 is already implemented in here, and you can use it just like how you are supposed to use it. Although, with this feature, I found one quirk, whenever you unsnap a window from the snap layout, the window border will be unrounded, this will be rounded back once you make the window inactive. Speaking of snap, the Aero Snap animations in this build are still from Windows 10, this applies to all animations, either to the side, corner, or to the max. The maximizing, restore, and minimize animations are also maintaining the Windows 10 version. And sadly,
the Aero Peek in this build is kind of broken as you can see, when I hover over one app, the reflective border is out of place, it will be stable some time, but overall, it’s a bit broken. Going to the Settings, there’s a dark mode theme available, even though it’s a prototype, applying the theme will make all possible applications dark, and applying an earlier variant of the 2015 Hero background. It’s still work-in-progress as each window will have a white outline. One thing I missed from the Taskbar is that the File Explorer icon is still using the earlier version with a bit smaller icon, comparing to other icons visible. Opening the Start Menu, the Get Started app has an earlier icon with a two-arrow compass. And by opening the app, there’s an image of an earlier look of Windows 11 with monochrome icons such as the Windows logo, search, and Task View, an earlier look at the start menu with the “My apps and websites” taken from Windows 10X, the “Entertainment” app group looks different, as well as no visible power options and user account options. Briefly looking at the system applications, Notepad and Paint now have their newer fluent icon as seen in the Taskbar, although the newer iteration of the apps would not be present until later updates of build 22000.
The Alt+Tab interface now utilizes a full-screen interface with a semi-transparent background as in Windows 10, but with a newer window selection outline featuring rounded corners. Internet Explorer is still accessible within this version. As you have noticed on the logon screen, this build already has the Windows 11 sound scheme, and this applies to other aspects of Windows, take a listen. Oh yeah, I forgot about themes, even though the themes available in this build are only that of light and dark variant, the Windows 10 themes are still available, albeit unlisted. One thing I haven’t mentioned is that, according to BetaWiki, the State Repository Service is not working as intended, this is due to several built-in applications such as Microsoft Store failing to launch or running improperly, this also applies to Terminal, Photos, and Calculator. Imagine having an OS that doesn’t even have Calculator, heck, the whole
purpose of a computer in the first place is to compute, compute can be interpreted in the past as calculating numbers, oh, sorry for ranting. Since this is a development build of Windows 11, there are still several unpolished aspects. First up there’s inconsistencies on several parts of the context menu like the Desktop, File Explorer, Regedit, Task Manager, and Safely Remove Hardware aren’t having consistent highlight colour, or drop shadow for it. Next, right-clicking the taskbar
will randomly open Microsoft Edge, right-clicking any virtual desktop will crash explorer when using the Windows 10 shell. Oh, this one’s my favourite and will be a recurring theme throughout this video, Magnifier will NOT run, as well as Snipping Tool. The last one is, Windows Tools has multiple entries in the Start Menu. Second, build 21376, compiled on May 6th 2021. In the setup phase, this build brings small changes such as the use of Windows 11 logo on the setup boot screen, but this change is still partial as when you enter the second phase, the logo will revert back to Windows 10. And for the first time since Windows XP, there’s now a video that’s played before you enter the OOBE, this one’s previously cut off mid-way in 21370. In the OOBE, icons at the left side are changed to be more in-line with the Windows
11 design. Oh, by the way, the three blue balls, haven’t spawned yet in here. And also, the transparent taskbar bug is still present on the desktop when you enter it for the first time. After the VMware Tools has been installed, there are several minor changes. First off, the hash at the bottom left corner of the screen is visible to identify the leak source based on several minor modifications such as the time and date layout, the hash ID position, and the show desktop button size, how crazy is that? All of this comes from BetaWiki, by the way, be sure to check it out for more information. Next one, the animation from 21370 has been removed, the Windows logo on the button is darker, and File Explorer icon has been updated.
In this build, I don’t know if this is just me, but the context menu such as the desktop is not rounded anymore. In the Start Menu, all text in the account settings and power options has been made larger, as it should be. Even though the File Explorer context menu text is still smaller in some parts. The snap layout and the Aero Snap animation are still the same as in build 21370. Restarting the explorer to use Windows 11 shell,
the Search is partially broken as it flickers when you try to open it, and the Task View interface has been changed to use the Windows 11 design, right-clicking any virtual desktop will no longer crash explorer anymore. Aero Peek in this build is, let’s just say more unpredictable, hover over one app, and you’ll get white outline all over the apps, and hover over another, you’ll get what’s supposed to be the proper one, and hover over another, it’s back to the white outline version. Closing one application, and the Aero Peek is glitchy by moving the window reflection offset. Now that’s genuinely wild, but since this is a development build, I don’t feel so surprised by that. Oh yeah, about the
sharp corner on the context menu, yeah, it can’t be fixed by switching the theme, so unfortunate. Moving over several system applications, Get Started has a new image of the earlier Windows 11 look, with different icons for Microsoft Store, and Get Started. Internet Explorer is still available if you are wondering. And by the way, opening About Internet Explorer,
this build is so far, the earliest build to brand itself as Windows 11. Terminal now runs in this build, this also applies to Photos, Calculator, and Microsoft Store. But Magnifier still won’t run, on the bright side, Snipping Tool now runs, what could possibly go wrong, ay? Oh yeah, one last thing, the Windows Tools now only has single entry in the Start Menu. Next, build 21380, the oldest build leaked out of the 4, originally shown at the 2021 Hong Kong Computer Festival, and compiled on May 11th 2021. Before any of you type “oOh, tHiS WiNDos sUckEr
teLls uS a BuILD aLReAdy leAKed lAsT YeAR” in the comment section or in a Discord server, shush, I know it, let alone this is an addendum to the build 21380 showcase video I did a year ago, sit back and just watch. This build brings small tweaks to the preparing Windows phase. Even though the “Hi” and “Getting things ready for you” are in Segoe UI Variable, the main preparing screen’s strings are all in Times New Roman. Rebooting the OS, the lock screen background has been changed to one of the wallpapers available in Windows 11. Apart from that, the lock screen is still the same. By the way, every time you start it up, desktop.ini will launch, always, at least, in my case. Opening the Start Menu, the animation to “All Apps” has been polished. And in
this build, the context menu is now rounded again, although I do have to complain that it takes a long time, this due to SRS being unstable again. In this build, when you set the TaskbarSi value to 0, the taskbar will no longer have the visible scroll-bar anymore, this is great. But, I’m not entirely sure if the last two changes are already in 21376, or in 21380, tell us in the comments down below to know the correct answer. And also, a reminder that the Alt+Tab
interface is still using the semi-transparent background with rounded corners for each window, this information will become handy later on. As you may know already in the video I made a year ago, this build includes what would be the Windows 11 themes, these include Glow, Captured Motion, Sunrise, and Flow that has the early version of the current Bloom with different colour. Since this build has rounded corners on the context menu again, I can assure that as far as I find, many context menus are now more consistent with the proper highlight color, and I hope, the drop shadow too. The Aero Peek in this build is not glitchy and it works just as intended, but with the white outline in each window. And at least in this build,
right-clicking the Taskbar will no longer spawn Microsoft Edge, ya cheeky mustard. Using the Windows 10 shell is still possible in here, but, the Windows+X shortcut no longer functions, and Search is also just a dumb decorative feature. Oh also, if you’re wondering, the Terminal isn’t running again, and you know like build 21370, it also applies for Photos, Calculator, and Store. But, on the other side, Magnifier now runs, yeah, but Snipping Tool doesn’t, you know, the old switcheroo thingy. The last build in this video, 21385, compiled
on May 19th 2021. This build brings better fixes to several setup phases, for example the second phase of setup now uses the Windows 11 logo, the OOBE now uses likely Bloom as the background, and the preparing Windows screen is finally polished, and also, the balls! Restarting the build, there’s an interesting finding on the logon screen, there’s a “SKU1” user account, what is it? hmmm. Now, on the desktop, Bloom is finally used as the default wallpaper, replacing the Hero v2. And, when you set the theme to dark, the white outline on every window will no longer be present, wohoo. Also, the Windows 11 maximize, restore, and minimize animations are now available, and as seen in here, they’re the same as what we have nowadays. But, there’s still one recurring quirk still around, Aero Peek, yeah, it’s still glitchy, hope they’ll fix this in the future. And the Alt+Tab is reverted to the Windows 10 version?
What? I have no idea. But what I do have an idea on is the early implementation of the new Aero Snap animation, which already uses the frosted Mica frames, but each animation will spawn from the top left corner of the screen, whether for the side, for the corner, or for the max. Looking at system applications, Get Started now has a four-arrow compass unlike 21380, and now uses the current latest image of a Windows 11 setup. Running Internet Explorer
will now redirect you to Microsoft Edge, and for good reason, Terminal and other built-in applications are now properly running. Heck, even both Snipping Tool and Magnifier are running. Briefly going to the Windows 10 shell, Search is now completely useless. What do you think about the Windows 11 development so far? I know, only 4 builds that really show the Windows 11 development, oh yeah, build 21996 too. Do you want to see me take a look back at
that build? Tell me in the comments down below. You know what? I want more builds leaked, that’s what Leaktober does in October and November, nevermind, just, just roll out the Outro.
2024-12-29 08:18
