Personalization is the name of the game these days! And the newly released Windows 11 build 22504 is filled to the brim with new options in this regard that let you customize various elements to your liking.
Elements like themes for the touch keyboard and other input experiences like IMEs, the emoji panel, and voice typing.
This is the final flight of the month, as Microsoft makes clear that another build will not land next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. Action will resume come December, which itself promises to be a slow month as we sign off the year.
But build 22504 can be downloaded right now on devices that are enrolled in the Dev channel of the Windows Insider Program.
One of the biggest new changes is the expansion of the themes for the input experiences, as well as the ability for personalized combinations of emoji face and skin tones of family members, couples with heart, kissing, and people holding hands.
We live in a society, after all!
The new theme engine also lets users create their own theme with a custom background image, in addition to the existing 13 themes. These new customization options are available under the new “Text Input” section under Settings > Personalization.
Redmond says that it plans on rolling out the new theme customization options for Insiders in stages, as it wants to collect feedback and only then decide if these features are reliable enough for broader availability in the Insider program.
Build 22504 is also high on other changes that fix various bugs and reported issues in the operating system. The full changelog is available at the link above, sorted by changes and improvements, fixes, as well as known issues.
Microsoft adds that some of the fixes noted here could end up in the GA version of Windows 11 21H2 that is now publicly available.
