Microsoft reveals its internal mechanism to activate Windows 11’s undisclosed features
The proprietary program known as “StagingTool” at Microsoft, used by staff to unlock top-secret, unpublished capabilities in Windows 11, has been inadvertently made public. The software giant routinely puts experimental or hidden Windows 11 features through their paces in public operating system releases. However, Windows fans have been forced to rely on third-party programs until this point to gain access to hidden features that Microsoft has yet to make available to all testers.
The unintentional release of Microsoft’s StagingTool the day before yesterday was part of the company’s “bug bash” event this week. During this event, developers invite input from Windows 11 testers to squash any lingering flaws before a major upgrade is released. Microsoft is anticipated to release the next major update for Windows 11 in September. This version will include native support for RAR and 7-Zip files.
On Wednesday, Twitter user XenoPanther made the initial discovery of the StagingTool, after which Microsoft swiftly deleted it a few hours later. The proprietary program is currently being distributed extensively across the Windows user community. StagingTool is remarkably similar to the third-party tool known as ViveTool, which Windows devotees have been using for years to activate hidden capabilities of Windows 11. StagingTool was developed by the same company.
You may change feature IDs that allow some unreleased aspects of Windows 11 by using an application called StagingTool, which is a command-line tool. It is especially helpful when Microsoft employs A/B testing for features, in which case only a small fraction of Windows Insiders will have access to a feature before Microsoft rolls it out more generally to testers. In other words, it is particularly beneficial when Microsoft utilizes A/B testing for features.
Windows fans watch for new features whenever Microsoft rolls out a new build for testing. The Windows user community can view what operating system changes Microsoft is testing with before the software giant even recognizes the new capabilities. The operating system has secret flags that activate functions and allow users to see those enhancements.
Microsoft is well aware that community members can enable these hidden capabilities. In a blog post from the previous year, Amanda Langowski, the lead for the Windows Insider Program, recognized that some of the program’s more technical participants had discovered that some features were purposefully blocked in the versions that had been flighted. “We also recognize that some of our more technical insiders have discovered that some features are intentionally disabled in the builds we have flighted.”
Given that this is an internal tool that developers use to test unreleased features, the leak of Microsoft’s own StagingTool makes activating hidden features easier and more “official.”
