- Windows 11 July Update is here
- It contains smart features including long-term pause of updates and a new recovery option.
- This patch also fixes a nasty bug that slowly consumes more and more disk space, but there is one issue to be aware of for Dell laptop owners.
Microsoft has released its monthly patch for Windows 11 and the July update is a big deal, containing a feature I’ve been waiting for for a while.
That would be the ability to pause updates on Windows 11 Home – beyond a short period of time, which has been the only choice to date – and there are some other impressive additions from Microsoft here.
I’ll pick out my top four features introduced by the July update, as well as rounding up some of the other more notable changes here. I’ll also highlight an important bug fix that’s been deployed for a nasty flaw that’s eating up your disk space – as well as a warning for some of those with Dell laptops (who might not be getting this update for good reason, as you’ll see).
As always, these changes were seen in the last optional update (June preview), and most of these features are rolling out gradually, so you may not see them immediately after installing this update (indeed, you may have to wait a while depending on how the update blows regarding your PC’s exact configuration).
1. Pause updates
Sometimes you want to delay installing an update because of a bug that worries you about potentially affecting your system, and so far Windows 11 users have only been able to avoid a given update for five weeks.
Okay, so it’s been a long time, but what if the bug is one of those persistent, thorny issues that Microsoft takes a while to fix? You may want to delay the update beyond five weeks, and that is now possible. The problem is that you will have to continually renew the deadline for each 35 day period, but you can still now keep a remote update for as long as you want. (Well, until you are forced to update to a new version of Windows 11, that is, when support for your current version runs out).
2. One-time restoration
Another nice addition is Point-in-Time Restore, a new recovery option you can use when something bad happens to your PC and you can no longer access the desktop. Point-in-time recovery allows you to restore a non-functioning system to a previous working state. It reverts to “full system state,” meaning all your apps, files, and settings are recovered as they were captured at that time.
I hope this is a feature you’ll never need, but if you do, you’ll be very happy. Note that system backups obviously take up disk space, with old backups automatically deleted after 72 hours by default. Additionally, if you have a system drive smaller than 200 GB, you will need to enable this feature yourself (as it will not be enabled automatically due to potential space issues – note that you can specify a maximum amount of storage space used).
The July update makes the widget panel “quieter,” by which Microsoft means it has eliminated a lot of clutter. The main change is that by default the panel just shows your widgets and Microsoft has gotten rid of the promotional nonsense in terms of ads and MSN feeds. Notifications and taskbar badges are also minimized by default, and widgets no longer open when you hover over them.
There are other streamlining measures here, and even if you don’t use widgets, I think this is a notable change because it shows the direction Microsoft is now taking with Windows 11 – relaxing on the upselling as was previously promised (if not banning it altogether).
4. Screen tint
Windows 11 received a number of accessibility improvements in the July Update, the first of which is a new screen tint capability. This does what it says on the tin, allowing you to tint the screen with a choice of colors to help reduce eye strain or to make text more easily readable. You can adjust the intensity of the tint, which is a very useful addition that will save users the hassle of downloading a third-party app to get these kinds of color overlays.
Other features in the July update
There’s a lot going on here outside of the major moves above, and that includes Microsoft increasing the launch speed of File Explorer (helping Windows 11 feel more performant overall).
There’s also a lot of work on the Bluetooth front, as Microsoft notes: “This update improves reliability and performance when connecting and using Bluetooth devices.” This includes better driver stability, improved audio routing for calls via Phone Link, and much more.
File Explorer has also been refined to be more reliable, and Microsoft has implemented a performance tweak to the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), meaning PCs will shut down faster. If you’ve ever sat there staring at your computer while it took 20 seconds to shut down, wondering what it was doing, this kind of behavior should hopefully become rarer in the future.
A major bug fix – and Dell laptop problems
There is good news for those of you suffering from a mysterious bug that is consuming storage space (due to an uncontrollable database file). This is fixed with the July update (the fix was in the June preview before), so you can grab it to fix the problem (hopefully).
There is some bad news when it comes to bugs though, which is that you won’t get this update on some Dell devices with Intel processors because Microsoft blocked it due to the July patch causing all kinds of weird issues. I say it’s bad news, but at least Microsoft caught the problem and stopped the update from being pushed to these machines.
Microsoft informs us: “This update may not be available for a limited number of Dell devices with Intel processors due to an incompatibility reported by Dell that can potentially cause unexpected shutdowns, poor performance, increased heat, and battery drain. We are working with Dell to prevent affected models from experiencing this issue and plan to release a solution for affected devices in the coming days.
So if you were wondering why you couldn’t get this fix on your Dell laptop, now you know. For now, you’ll just have to wait for Microsoft and Dell to resolve this issue.
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