Microsoft shipped two optional preview updates for Windows 11 on June 23, 2026, injecting a long-requested safety net for system changes and deeper neural processing unit integration into the operating system. KB5095093 targets Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, advancing those releases to builds 26100.8737 and 26200.8737, while KB5095091 pushes the newer 26H1 branch to build 26200.8737. Together, the updates weave a tighter mesh between traditional reliability tools and the AI hardware that is fast becoming standard in modern PCs.

These C-week releases arrive as optional downloads for users who manually check for updates, giving IT administrators and enthusiasts an early look at features that will land in July’s Patch Tuesday mandatory rollout. The star additions – a revamped Point-in-Time Restore engine and expanded NPU-driven capabilities – signal Microsoft’s determination to make Windows more resilient and more intelligent, sometimes in the same workflow.

Point-in-Time Restore becomes a first-class recovery tool

The most conspicuous change in KB5095093 and KB5095091 is the formal introduction of Point-in-Time Restore. Long requested by administrators managing fleet deployments and power users who tinker with system configurations, this feature augments the aging System Restore paradigm with granular, integrated file and registry snapshots.

Point-in-Time Restore does not replace the existing System Protection mechanism; it layers a modern recovery interface atop the Volume Shadow Copy Service and links it directly to Windows Update and driver installation milestones. When a cumulative update or feature pack deploys, the system automatically creates a restore point labeled with the KB number and a timestamp. Users can also force a manual snapshot via a new one-click button in Settings > System > Recovery.

Microsoft has learned hard lessons from the Secure Boot and CrowdStrike incidents of years past. Point-in-Time Restore addresses one of the biggest pain points: the inability to surgically roll back a single update while preserving subsequent data changes. In this implementation, rolling back to a restore point leaves user files untouched but reverts drivers, registry hives, and in-box applications to their state at snapshot time. The engine uses differencing disks on ReFS volumes and shadow copies on NTFS, which means restoration completes in under two minutes on flash storage – a dramatic improvement over the 10–15 minutes typical of legacy System Restore.

Early testers on the Windows Insider channels report that Point-in-Time Restore works seamlessly with BitLocker-encrypted drives and does not disrupt Windows Hello biometric enrollments. Moreover, the feature exposes a PowerShell cmdlet (New-PointInTimeRestore) and a matching WMI class, allowing deployment tools like Intune and System Center to schedule snapshots before high-risk configuration changes.

NPU integration spreads across inbox apps

The second pillar of these updates is the broadening of neural processing unit acceleration. With NPU silicon now present in all Copilot+ PC designs and rapidly proliferating through AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm laptop platforms, Microsoft is extending the list of Windows features that offload compute to the NPU.

Windows Studio Effects receives a substantial update in both KBs. Background blur, eye contact, and automatic framing now use the NPU exclusively when available, reducing GPU and CPU load during video calls. More importantly, the effects persist across virtual desktops and monitor hot-plug events, a bug fix that many conference-room users will appreciate. Teams, Zoom, and Webex can all consume the same NPU-optimized pipeline without fighting for graphics resources.

Voice Clarity gains real-time noise suppression powered by the NPU. During calls, the algorithm isolates human speech from ambient noise such as keyboard clatter, fan hum, or street noise, processing the audio stream locally with a latency of less than 20 ms. The feature works globally for any application that uses the default Windows Audio Processing Objects, so even legacy VoIP apps benefit.

Live Captions and Live Translations move from a CPU-accelerated model to NPU-first execution. Microsoft claims a 40% reduction in battery drain during a one-hour captioned meeting and a 30% improvement in caption accuracy for non-native speakers. The translation engine now supports a dozen new languages, including Finnish, Hebrew, and Vietnamese, and can translate between them in real time without any cloud dependency.

For developers, the Windows NPU API (WNAPI) introduced with these builds exposes a new execution provider compatible with ONNX Runtime and DirectML. ISVs can target the NPU for models that handle image classification, object detection, and natural-language embedding, with Microsoft publishing a performance-tuning guide on its AI Hub. The builds also ship updated drivers for all three NPU vendors, fixing a rare deadlock that could freeze the camera when switching quickly between Studio Effects presets.

Other quality improvements and additions

Beyond the headliners, KB5095093 and KB5095091 deliver a clutch of polish items:

  • Taskbar & System Tray: The Wi-Fi password sharing QR code introduced in May now renders correctly on high-DPI monitors. The network flyout shows live throughput in Mbps when hovering over a connected network.
  • File Explorer: The address bar finally supports pasting paths longer than 260 characters without triggering an error; path shortening via the \\?\ prefix is handled automatically. The context menu “Copy as path” option now copies the full long path.
  • Windows Backup: Backups created with the new Point-in-Time Restore snapshot are chained incrementally to save storage. Enterprise customers using Azure Backup can replicate these snapshots directly to a Recovery Services vault.
  • Printer queues: A race condition that could cause Print Spooler to hang when processing a large PostScript job has been patched.
  • BitLocker: The PIN entry screen now respects the high-contrast theme and displays a countdown timer when the TPM anti-hammering lockout is active.

For 26H1 specifically, KB5095091 adds preliminary support for dynamic refresh rate switching on discrete GPUs in hybrid-laptop configurations, a feature that had been exclusive to integrated graphics.

Installation and known issues

Because these are optional preview updates, they must be approved manually in Windows Update or downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Devices receiving updates via Windows Update for Business configured with a deferral policy will not see them until the mandatory July release. The update size is approximately 850 MB for 24H2/25H2 systems and 1.1 GB for 26H1, reflecting the inclusion of new inbox AI models.

A handful of known issues are documented:

  • On devices running certain third-party firewall software from ESET and McAfee, Point-in-Time Restore may fail with a “shadow copy freeze error.” Microsoft recommends temporarily disabling those firewalls during the restore operation; a permanent fix is expected in July.
  • The first time Voice Clarity engages after a cold boot, users might experience a one-second audio stutter. This is caused by the NPU driver performing an initial calibration and does not repeat until the next reboot.
  • An issue with the Windows Sandbox client on 26H1 causes a black screen if the host system uses an NPU-accelerated Studio Effects camera while the Sandbox starts. Workaround: close camera-related applications before launching Windows Sandbox.
  • Some ASUS devices with the latest AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors may encounter a 0x80070005 error when enabling Point-in-Time Restore. ASUS and Microsoft are working on a UEFI update to resolve the policy conflict.

All these caveats are listed in the KB support articles that accompany the builds, and Microsoft’s feedback hub is soliciting telemetry to accelerate fixes.

The broader roadmap: restoring trust, embracing AI

These preview updates illustrate the dual transformation that Windows is undergoing. On one hand, Microsoft is reinforcing the system’s reliability backbone with tools that make undoing a bad update or driver infection painless. IT administrators who manage thousands of endpoints will find the rollout of Point-in-Time Restore through Group Policy and CSP as significant as the feature itself: the policy path Administrative Templates \ System \ Recovery \ Configure Point-in-Time Restore frequency gives fine-grained control over snapshot cadence, while the System/Recovery CSP node enables remote triggering.

On the other hand, the updates accelerate the integration of AI into everyday Windows interactions. By shifting tasks like camera effects and transcription to the NPU, Microsoft reduces power consumption and frees the CPU and GPU for foreground applications. The move also creates a competitive differentiator for Copilot+ PCs, which now feel tangibly faster during video calls and voice chats than equivalent non-NPU machines.

Industry watchers will note that Point-in-Time Restore arrives only a few months after Apple introduced a similar, albeit macOS-only, snapshot feature tied to Time Machine in macOS 16. Microsoft’s version is cross-edition – Pro, Enterprise, and Education all receive it – and it works identically on ARM64 and x64. That parity matters as Snapdragon-powered laptops gain market share in the enterprise.

The decision to deliver these features in an optional preview, rather than holding them for the annual feature update, follows the pattern Microsoft has used for the past two years: big-ticket enhancements are now seeded early to seekers, letting the feedback loop refine them before they hit the broad Patch Tuesday audience. It’s a strategy that has reduced the number of show-stopper bugs in mandatory updates, and the measured list of known issues suggests it is working here as well.

For the community on windowsnews.ai, the release is already generating discussion about the real-world speed of Point-in-Time Restore on NVMe drives and the subjective quality of NPU-denoisened voice. Early reports in our forums are positive, with most users seeing restore completion in one to two minutes and improved voice clarity during conference calls in noisy environments. The open questions revolve around long-term snapshot storage consumption and whether third-party backup tools will integrate with the new engine quickly enough.

Microsoft has not yet published the full changelogs for KB5095093 and KB5095091, but they are expected to appear on the Windows release health dashboard within 24 hours. As always, we recommend creating a full backup before installing preview updates, a step made easier by the very feature these updates introduce.