Windows

One of the reasons that Windows 11 has been welcomed with open arms for both home and business computer upgrades is that it isn’t dramatically different from Windows 10. This upgrade is mainly focused on helping users do tasks faster and find things more easily.

If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to upgrade to Windows 11, we’ll go through several of the most helpful features below that might make you want to upgrade sooner rather than later.

And if you have already upgraded your machine to Windows 11 or purchased a new PC with the OS installed, you’ll want to look over these features to make sure you haven’t been missing out on some productivity enhancers.

Snap layouts

One challenge that tends to be universal across multiple users is the struggle of trying to work in more than one window at a time on your PC screen. You can end up spending time resizing the windows just right, then need to open a window to full size to reach a scroll bar and end up back at square one.

Many users will app-switch, meaning they switch between one app window that is fully open and another that isn’t. This is also time-consuming.

In a study of user productivity, it was found that 56% of app users said that switching between apps makes it difficult to get essential work done and costs them at least 30 minutes per day.

Enter… snap layouts in Windows 11.

This feature is designed to solve this problem by providing the user with several options for window arrangements that snap windows into place. The view is designed so you can reach all scroll bars and menu items in a particular app window.

This is one of the most time-saving features of the new operating system and it’s very intuitive and easy to use.

Texting & video calls from Teams on the desktop

If you’re one of those people that hates typing out texts on a tiny smartphone screen only to have it altered by a rogue auto-correction, then the new Teams integration in Windows 11 is going to be a welcome change.

Teams is now natively integrated on the taskbar, so there is no application you need to install. Setup only takes a few minutes and involves you putting in your name and a mobile phone number.

Using the Microsoft Teams icon from the desktop, you can instantly begin connecting to people via SMS or video/audio chat. You can even share a screen during your meetings.

The To Do widget

One of the new features in Windows 11 that doesn’t look fully finished is the widgets panel. This feed has a few basic applications in it at the moment, and more are expected to come, which will make it even more useful. You get to this panel through an icon on the taskbar, and the widget feed can be tailored with local weather, traffic, news, and more.

One of the helpful features you can use right now is the To Do widget. It allows you to quickly create a task list and check off those tasks without having to open another application.

The widget can be added in seconds to your panel and can be quite a time-saver because of the easy access right from your desktop.

Streamlined Start/Search Menu

If you’re still using your File Explorer to search for documents, you can save a lot of time by using the Start/Search Menu instead. Click the Windows icon on the taskbar (which has now been moved to the middle instead of far left) and type your search keyword at the top.

This is a master search that will bring up documents, settings, applications, and even web pages. Searching using the Start Menu is faster than trying to find a file in the Explorer.

The newly streamlined interface also reduces the clutter of the old Windows Start Menu making it easier to get where you need to go and find the programs you use every day.

Task view

Task view is the virtual desktop feature that had been introduced in Windows 10. This remains a very handy feature for separating the different areas of your work to stay focused.

You can use the task view icon on the taskbar to create a different virtual desktop with different open applications and documents. For example, you could keep your email open on one virtual desktop and then use another when you’re in a video call and sharing screens.

Over the years it has not been abnormal for Windows Updates to cause issues for users. Third party software could potentially function different or not at all after updates. Your printer may stop working. You could lose a shortcut.

While inconvenient, it isn’t Microsoft intentionally causing you grief. To simplify it as much as possible, Microsoft makes changes they find necessary. Sometimes, those changes cause already installed software (and potentially any future installed software) to stop working.

These issues seem to be more prevalent in Windows 10 and there are more than a few I would classify as large scale issues. Microsoft attempts to fix issues that are reported, based on how impactful they are and how many users they affect. If a common sound driver isn’t working for 50% of Windows users, that would be a priority fix.

So where do these issues come from?
Windows has different types of updates. The large updates with major changes to the system are called Feature Updates. These updates have been rolling out twice a year and in the opinion of many, this is where the issues originate.

Twice a year, your system has a good chance of having something not work correctly for an unspecified amount of time. Not a great user experience. Feature updates are intended to create a better user experience, make needed changes, or improve functionality. The broken software, drivers, or even data loss are just free bonuses.

Additionally, Microsoft has two groups for how updates are sent out. If you are a Windows Insider, you get the upgrade first and act as a live tester to eliminate the worst of these issues. Then, once Microsoft determines they are ready to deploy to the second group of users, the feature updates push all of the changes all at once, for better or worse.

Good news ahead
I have been hard on the updates because of the level of frustration caused by them for consumers and professionals alike. Thankfully, Microsoft recently announced that next year it will start a new model for its update cycles. Instead of two major feature updates every year, there will be one major and one minor feature updates per year. The schedule will include major upgrades in the spring and minor upgrades in the fall.

There are more changes to the way updates work coming as well, and I believe they will help prevent many of the problems that the updates the last two years have caused.

There are changes to the deployment model coming as well. The Insiders will still receive the updates first, but the rest of the Windows users will catch a big break here.

Instead of the major feature update coming all at once, the feature changes and upgrades will be released slowly. As Microsoft’s John Wilcox notes, “we are using a controlled feature rollout (CFR) to gain better feedback on overall build quality, [so Slow Ring subscribers] may not see the new 19H2 features right away.”

These last two years haven’t been easy, but the new process will almost certainly save us a lot of time, alleviate a few headaches, and make for a better user experience.

Basically, what they were supposed to be doing all along.

Here it comes again. Windows is coming back with another large feature update for Windows 10, named Redstone 5. As always, Microsoft is attempting to give people more of what they want and better the user experience.

The upgrades and changes slated to hit this fall vary greatly, from a dark theme for File Explorer to the new Windows 10 smartphone integration feature.

While there may be a little something for everyone, what can you expect your experience to be? We can start by examining the numerous changes coming our way this fall.

The first new feature is Clipboard history and sync. By pressing the Windows key and V, you can open up Clipboard history. Allowing all of those copy and pastes you’ve been doing to be easily recalled. This feature will be great for some users and some will never utilize the functionality.

For an IT professional like myself, I spend a lot of time copying and pasting different things in, not limited to passwords. This brings up many questions, including, “How secure will the sync between devices be?” and “Will any personal information be safe to copy and paste this way, when there is an obvious trail left?” This remains to be seen, but the potential for usefulness, if secure, is exciting.

Another new feature I mentioned earlier is the Dark Theme for File Explorer. This feature allows the color of File Explorer to be changed from white to black. Eyes rejoice! Many people find browsing files and even reading easier to do with a black background and white font. If the brightness is just too much for you to look at day in and day out, then this feature is for you! There is no downside or issue I can see with this feature, as it is purely cosmetic.

Everyone, welcome SwiftKey to Windows 10! Back in 2016, Microsoft purchased the SwiftKey keyboard. SwiftKey is a touch screen keyboard that allows for swipe styling typing. Not impressive on its own, the SwiftKeyboard boasts that it has more accurate autocorrect and predictions by learning your writing style. SwiftKey is intriguing, but a feature that, in reality, doesn’t change much for most people.

The final big feature, the Windows 10 smart phone integration, is equal parts exciting and scary. Any new sync system has the potential to be attacked, depending on the security in place.

The integration brings you the instant access to your photos from your phone to your PC. There are also plans to add sync notifications in the future. There is also the “Continue on PC” option that will allow you to access a link from your computer, picking up where you left off on your phone.

While there are no earth-shattering changes, the biggest concern is how these updates and changes to Windows 10 will affect you in the long run. As with updates in the past, there is a possibility that any of these new system changes will cause issues with different existing applications and processes. 2017’s Fall Creator’s update was the culprit behind numerous applications failing, even people having to do full system restores for no real reason.

While the update will be available in early fall, I would suggest avoiding installing the update until you have to. Especially in a business setting. You can try it at home first, but unless you are running the same applications, there is no way of telling how the changes will affect your system until others discover potential issues.