Something to look forward to: Microsoft released new Windows 11 Insider Preview builds to the Canary, Dev, and Beta channels this week, bringing multiple new features for developers and power users. The most notable change in build 29558.1000 for the Canary channel is a major overhaul of the classic Command Prompt, including the addition of modern features from the open-source Windows Terminal.
One key addition is support for rendering inline graphics such as Sixel images, allowing advanced command-line tools like the Windows Package Manager (WinGet) to display app icons and other visuals directly in the console.
The legacy host is also receiving a significant performance boost, with Microsoft noting that scrolling can be up to ten times faster in some scenarios. The update also introduces an optional Atlas/Direct3D rendering path that can be enabled via a registry key.
Another welcome improvement for developers and power users is increased clipboard reliability. Microsoft has fixed a critical bug that could delete pasted characters due to code page limitations. The update also adds OSC 52 copy support in conhost, extending functionality that was previously limited to Windows Terminal. In addition, it resolves an issue that could mistranslate Codepage 936 text when using Alt+Numpad input.
The build also updates the Find dialog with support for regular expressions, making it easier to sift through complex outputs. Text rendering has been improved as well, with support for bold fonts in the original rendering engine.
Accessibility updates include a rewrite of legacy MSAA integration and parts of UI Automation support, improving compatibility with screen readers, magnifiers, speech-to-text tools, learning aids, and other assistive technologies.
The updated console experience is part of Microsoft's broader effort to modernize the Windows Console rather than treating it as a legacy compatibility layer. While many of these enhancements directly benefit developers and power users, improvements to the underlying subsystem extend those gains to a wider audience, including organizations that still rely on older scripts and deployment tools.
These features are included in Insider Preview build 29558.1000, released to the Canary channel on Monday. As usual, the rollout will be gradual, starting with a subset of Insiders and expanding over time to reduce the risk of widespread issues.
There's no word on when any of these features will make it to the stable channel, but Microsoft will take user feedback into account before making that decision.