Microsoft Updates The Windows 11 Start Menu

Microsoft has confirmed what some Windows Insiders are already noticing – the Windows 11 Start Menu is getting a revamp and a panel for Phone Link.

The revamped Start Menu is probably not what former Windows boss Mikhail Parakhin had in mind when he said “Make Start Menu great again” in 2024, yet it is a step in the right direction. The page feels roomier and has more options for customization and organizing apps. Microsoft also added an all apps category view to automatically sort based on the categories used most.

Although the changes are unlikely to appease users who miss the Start Menu of Windows 10 and earlier – you’ll need to install one of the third-party tools to get close to what was taken away in Windows 11 – the addition of a panel for Phone Link will be welcomed.

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Microsoft has been evolving its Phone Link tool into a useful app for iOS and Android devices. Giving it an optional panel on the Start Menu provides easy access to calls, messages, and device information such as battery level. That’s assuming it all works: Phone Link can be a bit hit and miss (certainly where messages are concerned, where iOS functions such as group messages are not currently supported.)

Give ’em what they want

Microsoft also wrote, “We set out to solve one of the most common frustrations we hear…”

Mm. What could that be? The stream of buggy updates? An end to shoveling unasked-for AI functionality into places that didn’t need it?

No. According to Microsoft, one of the most common frustrations is “finding and changing settings on your PC.”

Rather than hunt for the required option, users can describe what they want to an AI agent. Microsoft gave the example “how to control my PC by voice” to bring up the relevant settings. “With your permission and at your initiation it can even complete the actions to change your settings on your behalf.”

Considering the occasional AI mistake, we’re not sure we’d trust an AI to run riot over the Windows settings app. We would have to look very carefully at what the agent proposed to do before letting it begin making changes to the operating system.

The settings agent will be coming first to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with Intel and AMD-powered devices following.

Other updates on the way include lighting controls for images – Copilot+ PC required – and object select. Notepad also gets an update – and will now allow users to generate text from a prompt, thus taking the application further and further from the original simplicity of the text editor.

The Start Menu update should reach Windows Insiders during the coming month before eventually rolling out more widely. The other updates will likely follow suit, although many will require Copilot+ PC hardware. ®

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