There are many aspects of Windows 11 that are genuine improvements over previous versions, but there are also many more annoyances, especially if you are sick of seeing Copilot AI everywhere. Microsoft has now announced a bold new plan: actually listening to PC owners about what they want in Windows 11.
A new blog post from the Windows team explained, “Every day, we hear from the community about how you experience Windows. And over the past several months, the team and I have spent a great deal of time analyzing your feedback. What came through was the voice of people who care deeply about Windows and want it to be better.”
The first significant change coming to Windows 11 is a more customizable taskbar, with the long-awaited return of the top and vertical modes. Windows supported moving the taskbar to different sides of the screens for years—at least as far back as Windows XP in 2001—but the rebuilt taskbar in Windows 11 never added back that functionality. Several third-party applications proved it could be done, such as Start11, but its official return will be much appreciated.
Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft also plans to remove “unnecessary Copilot entry points,” starting with the Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad. That should mean fewer Copilot buttons and menus everywhere in Windows. The Widgets panel in the taskbar, which might be the most annoying and intrusive aspect of Windows 11, will have “quieter defaults, more control over when and how widgets appear, and improved personalization for the Discover feed.”
The initial release of Windows 11 included the most significant update to File Explorer since Windows 7, with a more modern design, tab support, and a rebuilt context menu—the latter feature remains controversial. Microsoft is promising “a quicker launch experience, reduced flicker, smoother navigation and more reliable performance for everyday file tasks.”
Finally, the company is planning changes to system updates. The ability to skip updates during device setup will come to Windows 11, along with restarting or shutting down without installing updates, and longer update pauses.
If Microsoft actually delivers on these changes, and other annoyances are not added in their place, Windows 11 could end up as a much better operating system. I would love to know why the company is only making these changes now, though—complaints about the missing vertical taskbar and aggressive automatic updates have been ongoing since Windows 11 was released in 2021. Perhaps someone higher up at the company was getting tired of the ‘Microslop’ jokes, or it was becoming more difficult to sell new PCs (especially with the MacBook Neo being a success), or something else.
Regardless of the reason for Windows 11’s new strategy, it sounds like a step in the right direction. These changes will start being tested in the Windows Insiders channels later in March and April, with a full rollout to all PCs expected afterwards.
Source: Windows Insider Blog
