Microsoft today pushed out a new Windows 11 Insider Preview (build 22499) to testers in the Dev Channel. The Dev Channel is Microsoft’s testing ground for features that will likely appear with the first major Windows 11 update, which should arrive during the first half of 2022.
The feature that Microsoft is crowing about the most with build 22499 is the ability to screen share apps with other participants on a Teams call. This is the company’s latest effort to make Teams the go-to solution for businesses otherwise drawn to competing solutions like Google Meet or Zoom.
To use the app sharing feature, you simply need to hover over an open app, after which a “Share this window” button will appear under the app’s thumbnail. Clicking the button will instantly share that app with other participants on the title. When you want to stop presenting, hover over the app again and click the “Stop sharing” button.
And to show that Microsoft isn’t hogging this feature just for Teams, it says that third-party communications apps will have the ability to integrate the sharing feature. It appears to be a relatively handy feature, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see it proliferate once the inevitable Windows 11 Spring 2022 Update arrives next year.
As with most significant new features added in Dev Channel builds, Microsoft says that it won’t be available to everyone all at once. Instead, the company is “beginning to roll this experience out to a subset of Windows Insiders with Microsoft Teams for work or school installed and ramp it up over time.”
In other news with this build, Microsoft says that the Clock app now supports sign-ins with Microsoft work and school accounts. In addition, Microsoft addressed over a dozen bugs with the operating system relating to Input, Windowing, and the Settings app. There are also some fixes lumped under the “Other” category, including clipping issues with the Out of Box Experience (OOBE).
If you are currently in the Dev Channel, the chances are that build 22499 is already waiting to install on your system in Windows Update. If it isn’t in the queue, you can simply hit “Check for updates” to seek the update to install. If you prefer, you can also perform a clean install of the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview by downloading the ISO directly from Microsoft via this link.
