It’s almost been a year since the anticipated release of Windows 11 and adoption has been fairly steady. Here are a few key features that you may not know about yet.
Re-Imagined User Interface
Perhaps one of the most standout features of Windows 11 is their sleek, new user interface. A more consistent design pattern throughout their platform, this minimal UI may be up to take on a piece of the macOS market. They’ve introduced rounded corners and even brought back transparency to some of their elements giving us a nostalgic hat tip to Windows Vista.
Improved Desktop Management
The new OS removes the hassle of working with external displays. Instead of having to regroup any of your windows when disconnecting, Windows 11 remembers their relative location and scales to your single display with their new docking system. As a nice touch, you may also use different wallpapers to help identify each of the displays in your workflow.
Better Apps Out of the Box
Microsoft spent some time on this one. Rather than just giving the new OS a fresh coat of paint, they revamped some existing tools such as Notepad, Calculator and Paint, to give them a new, reliable user experience. On top of that, apps like the new Media Player take the center stage with a better feature-set than its predecessors.
Widgets
Widgets are certainly the newest trend in OS workflows. As a means of making them part of your routine, Windows 11 has made widgets more customizable than any of their previous versions. To add to the experience, Windows 11 has started compatibility with third-party data widgets such as: News, Weather, Sports, Traffic, and Stocks.
Snap Layouts
Window management is something Microsoft has already improved on over the years, but now improved snap options expand the realm of possibilities. You may access some of these options from the window thumbnail and even save layouts for groups of apps that you want to reuse later.