Windows 11 is now generally available and contains some good ideas, but it has received mixed reviews from users and critics. While some users appreciate the new WinUI and design refresh, many feel that the OS sacrifices productivity for a modern design and also made some fundamental changes to the overall experience for no good reason.
During Computex 2022, Panos Panay, head of Windows and Surface at Microsoft, noted that Windows 11 has the highest quality scores. The company continues to focus on “quality, quality, quality” while still adding new features and accessibility improvements to the operating system.
“The energy [at Microsoft] is palpable, again, from a data standpoint. You know, people are accepting the upgrade offer to Windows 11 twice as fast as we saw for Windows 10 and Windows 10 had that great moment,” Panos said in a conversation with Nicole Dezen, CVP of Device Partner Sales at Microsoft.
Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 is not available to everyone and is also completely optional as the company continues to support Windows 10. CEO Satya Nadella previously stated that companies have “adopted Windows 11 at a faster pace than previous releases,” contrary to popular belief.
Panos Panay echoed Nadella’s statement, adding that companies are rapidly adopting Windows 11 and that the pace is “faster than we saw in previous, any previous version of Windows.”
“…And it has the highest quality scores, added Panos. “This is the most important thing for our team: Quality, quality, quality† People who use it just love the quality of the product. This also translates into product satisfaction. It’s the highest product satisfaction of any version of Windows we’ve ever shipped.”
Panos Panos says he’s personally a fan of the way people explore and use new features in Windows 11 while finding ways to be more productive.
“Think of snap layouts. You see the benefit in that. It’s just phenomenal. And it’s been a game-changer for me personally and watching people just interact in and out of Windows 11. It was great,” added Panos.
Panos noted that Microsoft is taking feedback and listening to customers, and that more new features are on the way.
For example, Microsoft recently started experimenting with desktop widgets in Windows 11 Build 25120 or Sun Valley 3 / Version 23H2. Similarly, Microsoft is also exploring support for tabs in File Explorer to help users multitask and improve their productivity.
According to reliable sources, the Windows 11 2023 update will also add new tablet features, including the tablet-optimized taskbar originally expected to ship in Windows 11 22H2.
We don’t know what’s next for the Start Menu, but we’ve heard rumors that new customization options are in development.
With Windows 11, Microsoft moved the Start Menu to the center and removed many of the live tiles and folders from the personalization functionality it had in Windows 10
Microsoft even recently posted a video explaining that it relied on user feedback to create a new Start menu that everyone would love to explore. Most of the reactions to the video were negative, with people disagreeing with Microsoft.
In the comments, users said they just wanted to be able to personalize the Start menu like in Windows 10 with live tiles.
Version 22H2, expected to launch this fall, will support a few new options to tweak the Start layout slightly, but groundbreaking changes are still a long way off.