Windows 11's Next Big Update Arrives Next Month With Start Menu Folders, New Gestures (theverge.com) 84
Microsoft is planning to release its next big Windows 11 update, version 22H2, on September 20th. The Verge: Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge Microsoft will roll out Windows 11 22H2 through Windows Update on September 20th, a week after the company's regular Patch Tuesday fixes. Microsoft has been testing Windows 11 22H2 for months, and it will include a number of new improvements, like app folders in the Start menu, drag and drop on the taskbar, and new touch gestures and animations. Microsoft is also adding a new Live Captions accessibility feature with 22H2, which is ideal for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or anyone who wants to caption audio automatically. Similarly, a new Voice Access tool that allows people to control their PCs by using voice commands is part of 22H2.
The Task Manager is also being overhauled in Windows 11 22H2, with a new dark mode and a far better layout that includes a new command bar and an efficiency mode to limit apps from consuming resources. Snap Layouts will also be greatly improved in 22H2, making it easier to drag and app to reveal all the layouts you can use to arrange apps. Microsoft is also working on tabs for File Explorer, which will arrive a little later than September 20th.
The Task Manager is also being overhauled in Windows 11 22H2, with a new dark mode and a far better layout that includes a new command bar and an efficiency mode to limit apps from consuming resources. Snap Layouts will also be greatly improved in 22H2, making it easier to drag and app to reveal all the layouts you can use to arrange apps. Microsoft is also working on tabs for File Explorer, which will arrive a little later than September 20th.
When will they admit... (Score:3, Informative)
What ever happened to stability?
What ever happened to performance?
What ever happened to usability?
Every one of these "up"grades results in a million more bugs that have to be fixed in the NEXT release. Sad, really.
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Outsourced, and the executives adopted a 10 year plan to give you "operating system as a service." Win 11 doesn't let you create an offline account or disable telemetry.
Anyone who cares... (Score:5, Informative)
Anyone who cares disables telemetry, uses a safe activation method and gives zero fucks about what Redmond might want and of course installs without a MSFT account.
https://www.tomshardware.com/h... [tomshardware.com]
The first thing to learn about OS and software is how to get them free and one one's own terms. Caring about official methods is mostly childish. Fuck 'em, I take what I want.
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Caring about official methods is mostly childish. Fuck 'em, I take what I want.
I...are you...is this a joke?
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Nope. I use a pirated copy of 10 LTSB. Minimal telemetry and spyware with 10 years of updates.
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Anyone who cares disables telemetry, uses a safe activation method and gives zero fucks about what Redmond might want and of course installs without a MSFT account.
The easiest method I've been able to find is simply deny all outbound traffic by default and whitelist software you want to communicate over the network.
The key is using advanced firewall from within group policy editor and disabling rule merging. When this is done APIs, windows..etc can fuck with the firewall rules all they want to no effect. Everything in the advanced firewall app outside of the one within the group policy editor is summarily ignored.
The day MS overrides this to let their malware out of
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"Just modify the contents of your install disk, it's easy, then try no@thank.you as your email over and over until it fails!"
Fuck off with that
Also no, you can't disable all telemetry with Windows itself, you also need to hack at things, like O&O Shutup 10 did/does
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Anyone who cares... Pretty much no one cares. You are very much an outlier.
A strange one at that. Someone who seems to care about privacy but then proceeds to pirate and fight with his privacy invading OS? If you *actually* cared you wouldn't run Windows.
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What ever happened to stability?
Windows is far more stable now than it has ever been. Like do you even remember the days where a media player could cause a bluescreen, or alt tabbing a 3D game to a desktop would lock up your system?
What ever happened to performance?
We have performance in spades providing you have the capacity for the OS to sit along side. In terms of raw performance each subsequent version of Windows has outperformed the previous one. Impressively enough in the past decade this even included bootup speed, which is impressive because of the insanely high R
Comment (Score:3)
Re:Comment (Score:5, Informative)
Even better, Windows 3.1 had folders in its application launcher too! :D
Next widgets on the desktop and in the start menu (Score:2)
Although to be fair, they never allowed live tiles on the desktop so if they actually do with widgets it will be an improvement.
Re:Next widgets on the desktop and in the start me (Score:4, Insightful)
Does "Active Desktop" from Windows 98 count as "live tiles" on the desktop !?
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Everything old is new again. And I bet the "live tiles on the desktop" is, once you cut through all the layers of crap, still just OLE.
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Does "Active Desktop" from Windows 98 count as "live tiles" on the desktop !?
Depends if the Live Tiles are a steaming turd that bog down your system to the point of it being unusable. Yeah remember the days when your desktop was literally rendered as a webpage ... in internet explorer no less.
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yeah, Active Desktop was garbage, but the widgets in Vista/7 worked pretty well. I normally used a few for things like resource monitoring, notes and alarms, and media control.
Start menu folders! (Score:3)
Ooh, start menu folders. What a great idea! I've been wishing for those since... well since the bastards took them away in Win 10.
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I've been wishing for those since
Why? I don't think I've used the star menu in any capacity other than to hit the documents, settings, or power button since Windows Vista introduced the ability to just type a search term.
I'm being legitimately honest here, I didn't know that folders weren't a thing anymore. I just checked and sure enough they don't exist on Windows 11. They still exist in Windows 10 though.
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Personally I've got hundreds of programs installed, many of which are special purpose and I may go months without using. After which it's not at all uncommon that I don't actually remember the name of the program when the time comes to use it. And unfortunately start-menu search is pretty useless for finding something if you don't know the name - unlike most Linux-menu searches which also search through the brief description attached to most programs.
So, either I have the programs organized into categorie
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But Win10 has folders in the start menu. It sure would be nice if you could manage them from there though, instead of the "start menu" directories buried in ProgramData and AppData
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Only one level of folders, which is not remotely sufficient.
E.g. If I put all my art programs in an "Art" folder, as I have always previously done, all the assorted documentation and utilities that would normally be grouped together in each individual program's folder gets mixed together with those from all my other art programs in one huge mess, with neither names or icons usually giving much hint of which go together.
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It isn't the new that we hate. It is the new that is new for new sake and nothing else.
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Are you an idiot or a troll or something? It isn't the new that we hate.
Of course, not
It's literally anything Microsoft does, even if it's something you hated them for not doing... that you hate.
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You're talking about very ingrained Windows users, people that can barely cope with a change in Windows let alone fathom the idea of switching to a completely different operating system. Their workflow is so Windows-centric that any disruption in that workflows - slight change to the Start Menu for instance - is a huge problem for them.
People who are perfectly comfortable using different operating systems won't even notice the change because they adapt to the necessity to not have to follow the Windows-cent
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It's literally anything Microsoft does, even if it's something you hated them for not doing... that you hate.
[citation needed]
Give just one example of this.
Re:Quick, everyone hate it! (Score:5, Insightful)
This isn't what Grampa had installed on his Packard-Bell, it can't be any good!
Actually, a start menu with folders *is* what Grampa installed on his Packard-Bell.
Personally, I'm highly impressed that Microsoft, using the vast resources at it command, has somehow been able to reverse engineer the deep secrets of this long-forgotten feature and re-implement it in modern times.
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You mean lost in all the malware on SourceForge, right??
After cleaning all the malware that was on their PC it was likely moved with it!
Doesn't work (Score:5, Funny)
I keep showing a gesture to Win11, but it doesn't fuck off.
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I keep showing a gesture to Win11, but it doesn't fuck off.
Linux & Apple user here -- the same thing frustrated me about, but FYI, that's an industry standard since all we want SIRI to do is figure that out - but it already knows and just ignores it.
TPM (Score:1)
They can let me and everyone else in the business world know when the TPM pre-req is axed. No bean-counters will be replacing half their working PC's for Win11.
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They can replace them and they will. Microsoft will not axe TPM as it is a requirement for virtually all of their advanced security measures.
That said, most PCs have at least TPM 2.0 so this is a non-issue. I had a bank for a client with over 3000 machines and they ended up only replacing a couple of hundred because they reached their sunset period, not because they couldn't run more modern Windows. If you're not on a hardware refresh cycle of at least 4 years then you're already asking for all kinds of su
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If you're not on a hardware refresh cycle of at least 4 years then you're already asking for all kinds of support headaches these days.
Yeah, support headaches caused by Microsoft creating bullshit requirements that prevent you from using the perfectly good hardware you paid for.
I built my PC in 2015 and it is still going strong. I can run games at full settings in 1080p, which is the most demanding thing it ever does for long periods. (It's got 8 threads which is nice for compiles, too.) The idea that I should have replaced it by now because Microsoft and you said so is fucking stupid.
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If you think corporate laptops and desktops are treated the same as your gaming rig I've got news for you.
The last PC I built is similarly old and it runs Windows 10 just fine. I also have a four year old NUC which runs Windows 11 just fine.
It's pretty clear from your response that you don't do corporate IT as you'd know its not just Microsoft that puts you on the upgrade treadmill but its also the security, compliance, risk and audit teams. Risk teams in particular want you to be as up to date as possibl
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If you think corporate laptops and desktops are treated the same as your gaming rig I've got news for you.
Point to where I said that.
Do yourself a favor and be careful how you use the word stupid.
Making shit up to support your argument is stupid.
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The idea that I should have replaced it by now because Microsoft and you said so is fucking stupid.
Why would you have to have replaced it by now? Unless you really want to run Windows 11? Windows 10 support isn't ending until 2025 and even then there's no reason you can't install Linux on it if you don't want to continue with an unsupported operating system.
right-click (Score:4, Insightful)
Does MS plan to correct all of the right-click changes made in Win11 too? The neutered right-clicking in Win11 is maddening, makes no sense at all.
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You're not supposed to use a mouse. You're supposed to fondle the screen with certain gestures.
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How do I do something? Move you finger across the screen in a hidden arcane way, and just maybe, something will happen.
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And it's a very valid complaint. The day they created input or commands that can ONLY be done with the mouse is the day they went too far.
Similar to the fiasco that was adding the Ribbon - instead of making it an alternate to the menu system (which worked just fine and allowed people to get *fast* using it) they went ahead and *replaced* the menu system with it. Really need to club some developers upside the head with a clue-by-4 for that one.
There are plenty other examples I'm sure.
So yes, in my mind a v
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Re:right-click (Score:5, Informative)
From a command prompt or powershell or terminal, type
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
That sets the context menu click back to the old behavior.
Re:right-click (Score:4, Funny)
From a command prompt or powershell or terminal, type
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
That sets the context menu click back to the old behavior.
so intuitive.
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Re:right-click (Score:5, Funny)
From a command prompt or powershell or terminal, type
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
And yet people still claim Linux requires obscure commands in a terminal...
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reg is the program used for editing the registry in batch.
That key thou. Now that is an obscure one.
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And yet people still claim Linux requires obscure commands in a terminal...
To be fair the parent must have been a Linux user. A windows user would have said "download this unknown .reg file and double click it". or a real masochist would have said "start regedit".
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What about right-click on the taskbar to find Task Manager? Yes, I know it works on the Windows button now, and its still dumb to make this change for no apparent reason.
Neat (Score:2)
Bug update (Score:1)
Hey, Microsoft (Score:1)
I've got a gesture for you...
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Win10 has 3 years left (Score:2)
And it's been working just fine so why switch now when there is a stable and functional OS already?
I've used some newer Surfaces that had Win11 and it's fine I guess? I see where they are going with it kinda but the whole thing is still lost in split personality between old and new. "Settings" vs "Control Panel" is a perfect summation of the dysfunction they have to work through. Maybe Win12 will get it right finally.
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There won't be a 12, see I hear Windows 11 is the last version of Windows
https://www.theverge.com/2015/... [theverge.com]
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In yet another marketing stroke of genius, they're going to call the next version "Windows One 720 v2.1 SE 2046".
Don't call me until... (Score:2)
I don't care about anything until they bring back the Classic View.
Bluetooth 5.1 ? (Score:2)
Windows is actually the only operating system that don't implement bluetooth host features above version 5.1. Nothing changed in 2 years...
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None of the features above 5.1 benefit anything other than portable / low energy devices, and none of them are terribly exciting from an end user perspective either.
Heck my sub 1 year old phone doesn't support Bluetooth 5.2 and I'm not sure a single device in my house does either except for the girlfriend's Galaxy S21. My motherboard certainly doesn't (though I'm getting a new laptop soon which will have a 5.2 card in it).
Almost there (Score:2)
So Windows 11 has almost caught up with Windows 95. Perhaps by version 95.0 they'll actually get there.
It will be timed for Maximum Inconvenience (Score:2)
You can be sure that this update will arrive at your PC at some time when it is maximally inconvenient. Your ride will be outside honking his horn when the PC demands that you not turn it off and wait a small eternity until it updates and reboots a couple of times. Enjoy your Microsoft experience!
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Live Captions...hopefully not the same as Teams (Score:2)
I use Live Captions to quickly test my microphone in a Teams meeting (I'm usually the first in, so there's no-one to say "can you hear me?" to) and I now leave it on all through the meeting as hilarious entertainment if the meeting is boring. It is utterly hopeless at transcribing audio - making multiple mistakes in every sentence (often substituting words in a very amusing manner).
If it's that bad at audio transcription, I dread to think what damage the new Voice Access tool could do...
Voice control is stupid (Score:2)
I only talk to other people. And my cats.
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Yay, we got our Program Groups back (Score:2)
Start Menu Folders... !~ Now will the next update perhaps get us Nested Folders, Folders inside Folders back?
vertical taskbar (Score:1)
Appalled at Removed Features (Score:3)
Unfortunately about two weeks ago (on an emergency basis) I had to switch from a Dell Windows 7 machine to a new Dell Windows 11 machine (no other option available for Windows OS). I've never experienced a Windows OS clearly deficient compared to the one I used before, but this is it. There's a half-dozen things I had to edit the registry to get working reasonable. But then I'm agog at the swath of features I've been using daily for 20 years as core parts of my work flow, that were entirely eliminated with no way of getting them back:
- Separate icons on taskbar per window
- Arrange (stack) windows arbitrarily
- See arrows on scrollbars normally
- Set ratings property for media files
- Square corners on windows
- 3-keypress to put to sleep (now 4+)
Just to top it off, the current online help for Windows, in particular Microsoft Community, is a raging dumpster fire. Somehow they've arrived at a place where low-paid help somewhere in the world ("Microsoft Community Support Specialist", "Microsoft Agent", etc.) is incited to first-post every question with a "no problem we can help with that", copy-paste the question, and then link to a random unrelated MS support page. I don't know how many hours I've wasted in the last few weeks chasing down rabbit holes after fallacious suggestions at fixes for this stuff.
How do I upgrade? (Score:2)
How do I upgrade to windows 7?
Wait, Has Microsoft adopted MacOS? (Score:1)
Wow, All those features are in MacOS? Cool, I might be able to find my way around Windows again.
Best interface: MATE (Score:2)
I use Windows, MacOS, and Linux. I have used a few Linux DEs. MATE does everything I need and does not get in the way. MATE is full featured, without being cutesy.
JMHO, of course. I welcome other opinions. Although, I would think we can all agree that Gnome sucks.