5 upcoming Home windows 11 additions that I am most enthusiastic about

Again within the

Windows 10
days, there was a time period through which Home windows improvement felt rudderless. Microsoft’s cadence of bi-annual function updates had slowed to a crawl, new additions like Timeline and My People felt haphazardly carried out at greatest, and there was no signal of a transparent and overarching imaginative and prescient for the platform.

This all modified with

the release of Windows 11
in 2021. With then-Govt Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Microsoft Panos Panay on the helm, a serious Home windows rejuvenation try took maintain on the firm. Described by executives as “the subsequent technology of Home windows” and a “reinvestment” within the working system, new options and enhancements started hitting the OS at a gradual tempo, as did a complete Fluent Design visible overhaul of many user-facing shell components.

Regardless of Panay departing from Microsoft again in fall 2023, Home windows 11 has maintained a comparatively aggressive and accelerated improvement state. Apart from the flashy

AI-based Copilot+ features
that require a PC with a neural processing unit (NPU), the bottom Home windows 11 expertise continues to see enhancements made at a basic stage, too.

I have been enjoying round with a few of Home windows’ upcoming additions by way of the Home windows Insider Program, whereas counting on a utility generally known as ViVeTool to assist allow hidden and experimental options which might be nonetheless actively in improvement. Listed here are 5 upcoming Home windows 11 options that I am personally probably the most enthusiastic about, and that I am unable to wait to see hit platform stability within the coming months.

A much more customizable Begin expertise is on the best way

Since its debut in 2021, I’ve by no means been the largest fan of Home windows 11’s Begin Menu. Apart from not making one of the best use of area, I discover it to be too inflexible and too simplistic. Fortunately, Microsoft has heard our collective complaints, and has announced that an all-new Begin Menu design is on its approach. To this point,

I’m enjoying this refreshed design
— I like that my complete library of apps is accessible on a single display, and I like that I can toggle off the really useful part if I so please. The short

Phone Link
entry button is a pleasant contact, and the

Apple App Library-esque organization
possibility can also be welcome in my eyes.

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2

The return of seconds in notification heart

A Home windows 10 staple is about to re-debut on WIndows 11

One among my favourite Home windows 10 options has at all times been the massive digital clock plastered on the calendar taskbar flyout, which makes it straightforward to reference the present time right down to the second. Sadly, this second-by-second clock did not survive the large Home windows 11 shell rewrite, and I have been clamoring for its return since 2021. With

Windows 10 set to reach end of life
later this 12 months, Microsoft seems to be throwing a bone to longtime followers of the OS who’ve resisted upgrading their PCs till now. For me, displaying seconds throughout the management heart and calendar interface is a kind of small additions that I did not absolutely admire till it was gone.

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3

A brand-new Drag Tray

Quickly, sharing information and media will probably be a far simpler affair

Home windows 11 has its personal native sharing API, which permits for system-wide file and information share integration throughout surfaces just like the Share Sheet and the right-click context menu. Sadly, nearly all of third-party builders have not tapped into this function, and most desktop PC customers merely drag-and-drop information and media from one app window to a different. Microsoft’s upcoming drag tray function appears to streamline the sharing course of, by introducing a brand new context-aware bar on the high of the show when dragging a file on display. When interacted with, the drag tray expands, permitting you to shortly drop your file right into a appropriate app, ship the file to your telephone, or invoke the complete share sheet web page. In my testing, the function is surprisingly intuitive, and I discover myself using it each with my mouse cursor and with my finger.

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Microsoft is gearing as much as carry glanceable applets to your locked PC

Ever since

Windows 8
in 2012, Microsoft has supplied third-party app builders an API for tapping into lock display content material. This enables apps to show climate situations, new emails, calendar updates, and different info in a glanceable ticker view close to the system clock and date. Over the previous couple of years, we have seen a

renaissance of lock screen widgets
throughout platforms like iOS, iPadOS, and Android, and Microsoft seems to need in on the motion. In an upcoming replace, full-sized desktop widgets will probably be pinnable on the lock display, with choices to rearrange, reorder, scroll, and modify widgets from throughout the Settings app.

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5

Clearer battery life indicators

Microsoft has redesigned the system tray’s battery icon

In an effort to enhance the legibility of your PC’s battery standing, Microsoft has redesigned the battery iconography throughout the Home windows 11 taskbar. This new design, which is presently in preview, extends the scale of the battery icon, introduces yellow and crimson colours for power-saving and low energy, respectively, and facilities the lightning bolt image. These are all good quality-of-life modifications that enhance accessibility, however my private favourite new addition is the power to show the present battery proportion on the taskbar. I at all times toggle this setting on when establishing a brand new telephone, pill, or Mac, and I am blissful to see it lastly make its approach to PC.

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