Windows 11 launched to the public on October 5th, but Microsoft is already looking forward to the operating system's next major update arriving during the first half of 2022. Today, the company pushed out Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22489 to testers on the Dev Channel, and it brought several changes, including a new Microsoft account page in Settings.
With this latest build, navigating to Settings —> Account will bring you to a revised page that provides expanded access to information regarding your existing Microsoft account. Near the top of this refreshed page, you'll find details about your recurring subscriptions (i.e., Microsoft 365) along with further information regarding how much OneDrive space you're currently using (including shared family members). We also see a helpful reminder that shows when your next recurring charge will occur for your subscription.
There are also links to see your previous order history from Microsoft, manage payment details, and check up on additional Microsoft subscriptions. Microsoft Rewards, which were already present in the current iteration of the Account page, is also readily accessible.
The update to the Account page will come as part of a future Online Service Experience Pack, which is a slightly updated take on the Windows Feature Experience Packs first introduced with Windows 10.
"The difference between the two is that the Windows Feature Experience Packs can deliver broad improvements across multiple areas of Windows, whereas the Online Service Experience Packs are focused on delivering improvements for a specific experience such as the new Your Microsoft account settings page," wrote Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc and Amanda Langowski.
According to Microsoft, the new Account page will first be rolled out to a "small set of Insiders" as it gauges reaction to the included changes. The company will then "ramp [up the rollout] over time."
Here are some additional improvements added with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22489:
- Discovery of Designated Resolvers has been added, allowing Windows to discover encrypted DNS configuration from a DNS resolver using only its IP address.
- The Connect app was renamed to "Wireless Display."
- "Apps & Features" in Settings is now split into two pages within Apps: "Installed Apps" and "Advanced app settings."
- The Windows Sandbox is now functional on Arm64 PCs.
A couple dozen additional fixes have been made to the operating system, while about 10 "known issues" have yet to be resolved. You can check out Microsoft's blog post on Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22489 to see the full details of what's included.
