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With Windows 11, Microsoft is bringing modern touches to the computing experience.
In particular, the new design aims to help users get what they are looking for faster. However, the changes go beyond the surface. Microsoft is changing the rules of its App Store to offer more variety and even bring Android apps to PCs, adding improvements that promise to boost gaming. New touchscreen controls and a better way to configure onscreen windows can make it easier to sit at your computer for extended periods of time.
There’s a lot at stake, with Windows at the heart of Microsoft, with companies using it for their employee’s devices and consumers using it for entertainment. The current version, Windows 10, is the best PC operating system in the world, and the company doesn’t want to lose this leadership position as it faces competition from companies like Apple and Google.
On Monday, less than a week after the reveal of Windows 11, Microsoft released the first preview version of the software to people participating in the Windows Insider program, giving them their first chance to try new things.
If you want to test it for yourself, go to the Settings app in Windows 10 and sign up for the Windows Insider Program section. Just be careful: the software is still new and has not been fully tested, and it has some issues, which means you may need to find workarounds.
If you want to minimize Windows errors, you probably shouldn’t upgrade yet.
Microsoft plans to start rolling out the upgrade more widely later this year and next.
Here are seven major reviews available for Windows 11 so far:
1. Start button. Perhaps the biggest change is the move of the Start button from the left corner of the taskbar to the center, as well as the icons of open apps and pinned icons to the taskbar. The change will take some getting used to. You instinctively want to move the mouse to the left, and after you do that and click near the edge of the screen, nothing will happen. But for people with large computer screens, accessing the new site may be easier. If you need to move the start button to the left, the option can be found in Settings> Personalization> Taskbar.
2. Start menu. Gone are the things you pinned to the Windows 10 Start menu. What you see instead is a bunch of thematic apps called pinned. Some of them will appear there automatically and you can remove them from the Start menu. To avoid having problems reproducing the set of programs that you saved to the Windows 10 Start menu, take a screenshot before upgrading to Windows 11. The Start menu also prominently displays the Recommended section containing recently viewed programs and files.
3. The keyboard. Windows 11 has a more complete onscreen keyboard that includes access to emojis, GIFs, clipboard, word suggestions, handwriting recognition, and the ability to design a theme personalized. Some features of the onscreen keyboard in Windows 10, including the ability to display the numeric keypad, are missing.
4. Settings. Microsoft has revamped the Settings app, adding things like widgets to show paired devices, an important link to rename your PC, and a way to see the subfolder you’re looking for. In addition, the options bar on the left does not change as you move from section to section, making it easier to navigate. There are six wallpapers to choose from as well. The menu options have been moved and some sections have new names. A new option allows the operating system to remember the location of the front windows when reconnecting an external monitor.
5. Dynamic refresh rate. A new option in Windows 11 can help extend battery life if you’re using a laptop. Many laptops have a refresh rate – the number of times the screen displays a new frame per second – of 60Hz. Increasingly, Dell, HP and other computer manufacturers are releasing laptops with higher refresh rates. Higher refresh rates, such as 120Hz, can be useful for games and other activities, such as drawing. But running at a higher pace can quickly consume energy. If you have a supported device, you can enable the new dynamic refresh rate setting which may reduce the setting for less important scenarios, such as reading email.
6. Consistent touch gestures. Microsoft takes touch gestures that people might have used on trackpads in Windows 10 and displays them on screens. The experience will make using a touchscreen PC more like using a tablet like an Apple iPad, and will differentiate Windows PCs from Apple Macs, which don’t come with touchscreens. Swiping up with three fingers displays apps and desktops in task view. Scrolling down brings up the desktop. Swipe left or right to go to the most recently used app window. And moving left or right with four fingers lets you switch between desks.
7. Create group windows. Windows 11 makes it easy to organize two or more application windows that you want to use at the same time. This builds on the ability to align windows to the left or right sides of the screen in Windows 10, as well as the Android customizations featured in the Surface Duo, Microsoft’s dual-screen phone. Hover over the Maximize button in an app and you’ll see options to arrange two, three, or even four windows. You click on the part of the screen that you want the current window to use, and then you choose other parts of the screen for other windows. After arranging the windows the way you want, you can go to the taskbar and quickly access your window group. If you open more, you can return to the group by hovering over the icons of the apps included in the group. You can also quickly close the group by hovering over it and pressing the X button.
Some key Windows 10 features are missing from this first preview release: Android apps and integration with Teams in the taskbar. They will come later.
a glance: Mahdi Microsoft on the launch of Windows 11, new features and design
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