Windows 11 gets new Start menu folders, touch gestures, and more

Microsoft is getting new touch gestures, Start menu folders, a redesigned Task Manager, and many more improvements to Windows 11. In addition, a new version of Windows 11 is available for testers today, and it's packed with new features that seem to significantly improve the usability of Windows 11. Microsoft is also bringing drag and drop back to the taskbar.

The new Start menu folders will allow Windows 11 users to customize the pinned section of the Start menu in folders. Drag one app on top of another to create a folder, and you can rearrange apps within folders and delete them. The ability to rename folders is coming in future test builds, but it's nice to see more customization to the Start menu, given that Windows 11 launched without many ways to tweak the menu layout.

If you've always been a fan of gestures in Windows 8, Microsoft is soon bringing five new touch gestures to Windows 11 that will make using tablets a little easier. The first is the ability to swipe up on the taskbar to open the Start menu and swipe down to dismiss it again. You can also swipe between pinned, all apps, and recommended/more on the Start menu.

The third new touch gesture lets you swipe up from the bottom right of the taskbar to bring up the Quick Settings menu, useful if you need to quickly toggle airplane mode or access Bluetooth settings. Animations for opening Notification Center have also been improved, and there's a new full-screen gripper on touch-oriented apps that will prevent accidental swiping from the edges of a tablet's screen. Microsoft also says that rotating your device between portrait and landscape orientation is getting "faster" and "more responsive."

Microsoft's new Snap Layouts feature in Windows 11 is also being improved, allowing you to drag an app to the top of a window and reveal all the layouts it can use. Microsoft is also upgrading its Focus feature to include a Do Not Disturb mode. It makes it much easier to quickly silence notifications, so you only see the priority or alarm ones.

Live subtitles will soon be built into Windows 11, accessible from a Winkey + CTRL + L shortcut. Live subtitles will greatly benefit people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but they are also available for anyone to use and enjoy. automatically generated on the device from any content that includes audio. Subtitles can float in a window or display at the top or bottom of a screen. This seems like a great accessibility improvement for Windows 11.

Other improvements along the way include the ability to drag and drop to the Windows 11 taskbar. This was a big part that was missing from the initial release, so Windows 11 users will be happy to see this return. Microsoft is also making it easier to view your OneDrive storage within File Explorer and improving the Quick Access feature to let you pin files and folders.

In an effort to reduce power consumption on PCs, Microsoft is also changing the default values ​​for sleep and screen-off in power settings in Windows 11. You'll only see these new settings if you clean your Windows 11 installation, but New PCs in the future will presumably ship with more aggressive sleep/screen-off options.

Last but not least, the redesign of Task Manager in Windows 11 is now official. It includes a new command bar and a dark theme, along with an efficiency mode that allows you to limit the consumption of system resources by applications.

As always, these new Windows 11 features are only in testing right now, which means some of them will likely appear in monthly updates throughout 2022. Microsoft has just delivered the first major update to Windows 11, and the company revealed that it will not wait to bring new features just once a year.