Windows 11 gets a rebuilt console engine with regex search, Sixel images and a 10x speed boost
Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 29558.1000 to the Canary Channel, part of the optional 29500 build series. The build carries a set of changes focused on the Windows Console, a handful of bug fixes, and small improvements to Settings and disk utilities.
A rebuilt console
The bulk of this build centers on the Windows Console, which is part of the open-source Windows Terminal project on GitHub. Microsoft is pulling accumulated contributions from that community back into the operating system’s built-in console host.
Several of the additions are notable for developers and power users. A new optional Atlas/Direct3D rendering path is available behind a registry key (HKCU\Console, DWORD UseDx=1). The Find dialog now supports regular expressions. The original rendering engine gains bold font support. Scrolling text performance improvements of up to approximately 10x in some scenarios are included, according to the associated GitHub pull request.
Paste behavior sees a fix for a longstanding issue where some characters could be dropped when the output code page was unable to represent them. The build also adds support for OSC 52, which allows terminal applications to write data directly to the clipboard, and adds Sixel-based inline image rendering, enabling tools like WinGet to display application icons within the console.
Accessibility work is part of the package as well. The legacy Microsoft Active Accessibility integration was rewritten, along with portions of the UI Automation support. Pop-up dialogs inside the console, including the F7 history window and the F2 and F4 line editing windows, were redesigned to improve compatibility with screen readers, assistive technologies, and other terminal emulators.
Snap-on-input behavior is now enabled by default only when VT processing is active. More reliable snap on input/output in WSL and PowerShell is included. A fix is present for an issue where Alt + Numpad clipboard events could mistranslate Codepage 936 text. Rectangular copy via Edit > Mark was also corrected.
Bug fixes and settings improvements
Outside the console, the build addresses an authentication error that affected Insiders trying to connect to Azure Virtual Desktop in recent Canary flights. Settings gains a performance improvement for configuring power options under System > Power & Battery.
The chkdsk disk checking utility was updated to support volume paths containing spaces when the path is enclosed in quotes, for example: chkdsk “C:\My Volume\SD Card”. An unexpected error message that appeared when opening the Group Policy Editor in the prior two flights has been removed.
Canary channel caveats
The Canary Channel is Microsoft’s earliest and least stable testing tier. Builds released there may ship with limited documentation, and features that appear in Canary builds may never reach general availability. Microsoft notes that features can change, be removed, or be replaced at any point in the development cycle. Exiting the Canary Channel requires a clean install of Windows 11.
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