As a part of its pledge to enhance Home windows 11, Microsoft is seeking to clear up the Widgets board, together with hiding the MSN Information feed and the aggressive articles that pop up.
Microsoft is experimenting with the change in a brand new Home windows 11 preview construct rolling out to Insiders within the Experimental channel. “One of many areas we’re intently throughout the working system is the thought of ‘calm,’” Company VP Marcus Ash wrote in a weblog submit. “While you’re designing an expertise for over a billion customers, what are the best defaults which can be straightforward, easy, and restrict distractions?”
This strategy prompted Microsoft to make the Uncover feed within the Widgets board “quieter by default.” At present, it pops up the second you open Widgets, taking on a outstanding place by displaying you numerous articles from MSN Information. It might bombard you with numerous clickbait tales and pictures, together with these about US politics, which could be distressing.
(Credit score: Microsoft)
The brand new preview construct removes the Uncover feed and MSN Information from the default view, putting them in a separate tab. The corporate printed a picture displaying the before-and-after. The revamp removes the in-your-face articles and replaces the Widget board with a extra minimalist, white-space strategy. The change helps handle certainly one of our personal complaints about Home windows 11: the default Widgets mode generally is a noisy mess and probably alienate customers.
The preview launch arrives after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned this week that the corporate is working to “win again” customers by specializing in fundamentals and prioritizing high quality. Though Home windows has lengthy dominated the PC market, Microsoft appears to be conceding that it is dropping its grip on customers, as some are contemplating options reminiscent of Apple’s inexpensive MacBook Neo and Linux distributions like SteamOS and Ubuntu.
The calm philosophy is notable since Home windows has lengthy confronted complaints about bloat and intrusive Microsoft-recommended apps popping up on the OS. We’ll be curious to see how far this concept goes, however the resolution to revamp the Widget board appears to be an indication of issues to return for the mainstream Home windows 11 launch.
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In his weblog submit, Ash added that the corporate has been making “progress on system efficiency throughout a number of areas of the working system,” together with lowering reminiscence utilization. “A number of of those adjustments are starting to roll out to Home windows Insiders at the moment, and we might be sharing extra of our enhancements in Widgets and in different areas over the approaching months,” he mentioned.
The corporate can be addressing complaints that Home windows 11 is turning into weighed down by AI. Ash famous: “In Snipping Software and Photographs, we’ve eliminated the ‘Ask Copilot’ button fully. And in Notepad, we’ve changed the generic Copilot icon with a clearer ‘Writing Instruments’ label that higher describes what it does.”
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Michael Kan
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I have been a journalist for over 15 years. I bought my begin as a faculties and cities reporter in Kansas Metropolis and joined PCMag in 2017, the place I cowl satellite tv for pc web providers, cybersecurity, PC {hardware}, and extra. I am at present primarily based in San Francisco, however beforehand spent over 5 years in China, masking the nation’s know-how sector.
Since 2020, I’ve coated the launch and explosive progress of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service, writing 600+ tales on availability and have launches, but additionally the regulatory battles over the growth of satellite tv for pc constellations, fights with rival suppliers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the hassle to increase into satellite-based cellular service. I’ve combed by way of FCC filings for the newest information and pushed to distant corners of California to check Starlink’s mobile service.
I additionally cowl cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC compelled Avast to pay customers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and promoting their private info to third-party shoppers, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I additionally cowl the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in entrance of a Finest Purchase to get an RTX 3000. I am now following how the AI-driven reminiscence scarcity is impacting the whole client electronics market. I am at all times wanting to study extra, so please bounce within the feedback with suggestions and ship me ideas.
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