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In my last column, I discussed the value of big releases as an opportunity to add functionality, refocus messaging, and strengthen an ecosystem. However, as I noted, what constitutes a major release is the subjective appeal of a developer, with their credibility in the eyes of the beholder. While there are some improvements under the hood in Windows 11, Microsoft heavily focused the initial post on the new look of Windows, including revisiting some transparency effects that were first tried with Windows Vista. It has also extended the PC’s software library by integrating support for Android apps (both through Amazon’s app store and sideloading).
While it hasn’t yet been implemented in early versions of Insider, Microsoft has made Teams chat part of the kind of integration game that’s been the hallmark of Apple OS updates. Especially when considered alongside the integration of Meet into Gmail and elsewhere by Google, it helps explain why Apple ultimately opened up FaceTime conversations to other platforms through web clients.
The changes all support Windows 11’s theme of bringing users closer to the people and things they love. To a lesser extent, so does the streamlining of other visual elements. The first of these is the revamped Start menu which leaves behind the jarring visual inconsistency of Live Tiles, the long-standing attempt to reinvent icons. Additionally, the options grid revealed when swiping from the right has been replaced with more differentiated and better organized controls while the left side of the screen houses sliding widgets in an interface like the one used by MacOS Big. Sure.
One of the best examples of the new operating system for doubling a premium user experience, Windows 11’s improved Snap feature relies on the ability to quickly resize and lock windows on half the screen by adding six layouts that appear where you hover the mouse over the Maximize button. The functionality contrasts with Apple’s efforts to improve multitasking in iPadOS, with Microsoft seeking to further simplify the long-standing challenge of window organization chaos in desktop operating systems and Apple seeking to expose how a Windowless operating system can provide more flexibility in displaying information from the desktop OS.
However, in a surprising move for Microsoft, some features were removed from Windows 11. For example, the Timeline feature in the task view, which allows resuming application sessions from any PC, already has been touted as a big step forward in the transition between multiple devices on any PC. But the feature was confusing and required OneDrive access, which inhibited adoption, so it won’t move forward. Additionally, Microsoft may have been blocked by not controlling mobile client platforms. One can still manually ‘push’ a work session from a mobile device using the Continue on PC application from Microsoft and the announcement of Windows 365 portends a future where continued work on multiple platforms is possible. forms could lead to access to a single working environment. Less surprising is the removal of Cortana, from which Microsoft has slowly withdrawn.
Meanwhile, in a shallower but more curious strike, custom options have been removed from the taskbar icon context menus. It’s not the kind of deletion that will force users to raise their fists to the sky and shout a “Why!” Extended. as an aerial shot zooms out. However, discovering them has been one of those little revelations in a platform that has always been smart about taking advantage of context menus; a little more consistency doesn’t justify their elimination, so maybe Microsoft should reconsider or at least introduce some more standardized options.
PREVIOUS AND RELATED COVER
Windows 11 reminds the PC ecosystem of the value of major releases
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