As a part of its pledge to enhance Home windows 11, Microsoft is trying to clear up the Widgets board, together with hiding the MSN Information feed and the aggressive articles that pop up.
Microsoft is experimenting with the change in a brand new Home windows 11 preview construct rolling out to Insiders within the Experimental channel. “One of many areas we’re taking a look at carefully throughout the working system is the concept of ‘calm,’” Company VP Marcus Ash wrote in a weblog submit. “Whenever you’re designing an expertise for over a billion customers, what are the best defaults which are straightforward, easy, and restrict distractions?”
This method prompted Microsoft to make the Uncover feed within the Widgets board “quieter by default.” At present, it pops up the second you open Widgets, taking over a distinguished place by exhibiting you numerous articles from MSN Information. It will possibly bombard you with numerous clickbait tales and images, together with these about US politics, which will be distressing.
(Credit score: Microsoft)
The brand new preview construct removes the Uncover feed and MSN Information from the default view, inserting them in a separate tab. The corporate revealed a picture exhibiting the before-and-after. The revamp removes the in-your-face articles and replaces the Widget board with a extra minimalist, white-space method. The change helps deal with one in every of our personal complaints about Home windows 11: the default Widgets mode could be a noisy mess and probably alienate customers.
The preview launch arrives after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated this week that the corporate is working to “win again” customers by specializing in fundamentals and prioritizing high quality. Though Home windows has lengthy dominated the PC market, Microsoft appears to be conceding that it is dropping its grip on customers, as some are contemplating options akin to Apple’s reasonably priced MacBook Neo and Linux distributions like SteamOS and Ubuntu.
The calm philosophy is notable since Home windows has lengthy confronted complaints about bloat and intrusive Microsoft-recommended apps popping up on the OS. We’ll be curious to see how far this concept goes, however the choice to revamp the Widget board appears to be an indication of issues to come back for the mainstream Home windows 11 launch.
In his weblog submit, Ash added that the corporate has been making “progress on system efficiency throughout a number of areas of the working system,” together with lowering reminiscence utilization. “A number of of those modifications are starting to roll out to Home windows Insiders at present, and we shall be sharing extra of our enhancements in Widgets and in different areas over the approaching months,” he stated.
The corporate can also be addressing complaints that Home windows 11 is changing into weighed down by AI. Ash famous: “In Snipping Instrument and Photographs, we’ve eliminated the ‘Ask Copilot’ button solely. And in Notepad, we’ve changed the generic Copilot icon with a clearer ‘Writing Instruments’ label that higher describes what it does.”
About Our Professional
Michael Kan
Principal Reporter
Expertise
I have been a journalist for over 15 years. I received my begin as a faculties and cities reporter in Kansas Metropolis and joined PCMag in 2017, the place I cowl satellite tv for pc web companies, cybersecurity, PC {hardware}, and extra. I am presently based mostly in San Francisco, however beforehand spent over 5 years in China, protecting the nation’s expertise sector.
Since 2020, I’ve coated the launch and explosive development of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service, writing 600+ tales on availability and have launches, but additionally the regulatory battles over the growth of satellite tv for pc constellations, fights with rival suppliers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the trouble to develop into satellite-based cell service. I’ve combed via FCC filings for the newest information and pushed to distant corners of California to check Starlink’s mobile service.
I additionally cowl cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC compelled Avast to pay customers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and promoting their private data to third-party shoppers, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I additionally cowl the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in entrance of a Finest Purchase to get an RTX 3000. I am now following how the AI-driven reminiscence scarcity is impacting the complete client electronics market. I am at all times wanting to be taught extra, so please bounce within the feedback with suggestions and ship me suggestions.
