Microsoft seems particularly inspired with Windows 11. And the publisher has been extremely active since the release of its new operating system, regularly publishing new versions integrating fixes as well as improvements and new functions. So much so that it is sometimes difficult for the average user to keep up with the updates and new features they bring… Here is a small inventory of the situation in March 2022.
The last version
The current version of Windows 11 is numbered 22000.556 released in February 2022. Microsoft is expected to release a new version in March. It should obviously bring several new features and fixes. To begin with, the Redmond giant promises to strengthen the security of its system by monitoring the installation of new applications. It is a module called Smart App Control (SAC) which will automatically block applications considered unreliable or potentially malicious. To see in practice if he will not be too zealous, as is often the case with this kind of device…
On a completely different note, Microsoft wants to make everything regarding subscriptions easier, especially for Microsoft 365, formerly Office 365. So the Your Microsoft account section, at the top of the Accounts page in Settings, will show details regarding the information used and alerts if the payment method needs to be updated, to prevent the subscription from being suspended due to an expired bank card, for example. Users who do not have a Microsoft 365 subscription will be able to directly access the free versions of Office applications online from this section.
In addition, Microsoft wants to make it easier to use an Android phone with Windows 11. From now on, all “clean” installations of Windows – that is to say, excluding automatic updates – will offer during their initial configuration to link an Android smartphone directly with the PC.
The company will also continue to improve the visual consistency of its operating system, which is really necessary when we still see remnants of old versions lying around in Windows 11. Thus, the “Open with” dialog box will finally abandon the Windows 10 style to adopt the graphic codes of Windows 11. Still in the graphics department, the Start menu will evolve further. From now on, when we superimpose two pinned applications, a small animation will indicate that a folder will be created.
Finally, Microsoft wants to make Windows 11 an eco-responsible operating system. Windows Update will thus modify its operation to download and install updates at specific times of the day, in order to adapt to the hours when the electricity supplied comes from renewable sources. For now, it’s hard to say if this system designed with partners electricityMap and WattTime will be effective or if it’s just green washing to ease your conscience…
The latest news
Microsoft has kept its promise: since February 15, 2022, Windows 11 has benefited from its first major update. It was announced by Panos Panay, the head of the operating system, who announced it last month in a post on the Windows blog entitled “A new era for the PC”, which extolled in an enthusiastic tone the merits, the successes and promises of the new operating system from the publisher of Redmond. And the fact that following a Patch Tuesday released on Tuesday February 8 which fixed many persistent bugs, some of which caused performance drops in recent PCs, Microsoft began the general deployment of its new version of Windows 11, via Windows Update .
As always, Windows Insider program members had the opportunity to preview many new features, some of which are now included as standard, while others will arrive later.
As promised, the February 2022 release of Windows 11 gets new apps as standard. It is, more precisely, new versions of old applications, namely Notepad (the Notepad) and Media Player (the Windows multimedia player). Naturally taking advantage of the new Mica design of Windows 11, these new modules mainly benefit from modernized functions. Thus, Notepad, which can go into a dark world, finally allows action undo on several levels instead of just one and it benefits from an improved search and replace function.
For its part, the new Windows 11 fashionable media player comes to replace Groove Music for playing music while offering better management of videos. It can also replace the current Movies & TV app.
Finally, in the gadgets and accessories department as futile as they are popular, we are still waiting for the introduction of the famous 3D emojis that Microsoft has already unveiled and even introduced in Teams, its videoconferencing application. And if they will not bring anything functionally, we can already bet on the future popularity of these modern emoticons, which will benefit from a neat design and a great richness, since there will be an impressive 1,800 !
The publisher says nothing, however, regarding other developments already started via the Insider program. We do not know more regarding the grouping of all the settings within the parameters to put an end to the dispersion and the graphic inconsistency of these multiple elements which have persisted since Windows 7.
Sources: writing and web
Microsoft seems particularly inspired with Windows 11. And the publisher has been extremely active since the release of its new operating system, regularly publishing new versions integrating fixes as well as improvements and new functions. So much so that it is sometimes difficult for the average user to keep up with…
