Welcome back to Windows Wednesday, where we take a look at everything new in Windows 11 across all development and release channels. Here’s everything Microsoft rolled out in Windows this week.
You canjoin the Windows Insider programto try out experimental features, but some changes are on a gradual rollout and not yet available to all Insider program members. You should not install Windows Insider builds on an important computer.
Settings
Even though the modern Settings appdates back to Windows 8in 2012, Microsoft still hasn’t finished moving everything out of the old Control Panel. That’s right, we’re now over a decade into Windows having system settings split across two places. Thankfully, Microsoft has taken a few more steps to fixing that problem in the Beta Channel and Dev Channel.
You can now add additional clocks from Settings > Time & language > Date & time, which appear in the Notification Center and the tooltip when hovering over the taskbar clock. The time server can also now be changed from Settings > Time & language > Date & time, under Additional settings, and the AM/PM symbol can be changed from Settings > Time & language > Date & time. The panels for changing number and currency format, Unicode UTF–8 for worldwide language support, and copying language and region settings also now live in the Settings app.
Microsoft also moved around at least one option: the formatting settings for date and time switched from Settings > Time & language > Language & region to Settings > Time & language > Date & time. Finally, two keyboard options have graduated from the Control Panel. The setting for character repeat delay/rate is in Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, and the cursor blink rate is now in Settings > Accessibility > Text cursor.
screen
Meanwhile, in the Canary Channel, everything related to system search is being merged into Settings > Privacy & security > Search, as seen in the above screenshot. The company said, “The page is refreshed with a new modern visual for you to clearly browse the settings and control your experiences inside Windows Search, with the items listed in a better order.”
Start Menu
The mobile device companion, which sits on the right side of the Start Menu, now has an updated design in the Dev Channel. Theinitial versionwas fairly basic and started rolling out to PCs last year, but it now displays more information at a glance.
Microsoft said in a blog post, “Now, you’re able to scroll to access more recent activity items so you can stay on top of updates from your mobile device. Users will be able to access messages, calls, photos, mobile app updates and more from this new updated layout.”
That’s all for this week! Nothing too exciting this time around, but we’ll keep an eye on more changes in the future.
