Windows 11 is getting one of Windows 10s most divisive features

Date:
Thu, 09 Dec 2021 14:19:03 +0000

Description:
Windows 11 users should prepare themselves for a potentially unwelcome
visitor on the taskbar.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Windows 11 has a new preview build which reintroduces the weather widget to the taskbar, plus it adds new voice features on the accessibility front.

Windows 10 users are familiar with the News and interests widget, which
shows the local weather (and temperature) on the taskbar, and by default when hovered over, highlights a full weather report, breaking news, sports and other miscellany which can be customized ( or you can turn it off ).

This was ditched from the taskbar with Windows 11, but now with the latest preview build 22518, Microsoft has brought back a weather widget, which is billed as a new entry point for widgets on the taskbar.

It sits on the far-left of the default taskbar, and displays the weather just as with News and interests, and when hovered over pops up the widgets board, complete with whatever widgets youve loaded up, plus the headline news panel underneath.

This replaces the old (default) scheme of things with Windows 11, whereby the widget board had a normal-sized icon grouped with the Start button in the middle of the taskbar. Shifting it to the left to sit on its own, and giving it a full weather display, makes it far more prominent as was the case with Windows 10.

Other changes brought in with build 22518 include voice access, a feature
that allows for control of core elements of Windows 11 using just your voice. So you can give voice commands to open/close or switch apps, to search via your web browser, plus they can be used to interact with buttons or menus, or to control the mouse, or dictate text.

Theres a lot of functionality here, and Microsoft has provided a full list of voice controls you can peruse. Note that this is only available to testers with Windows display language set to English-US.

Finally, Microsoft has brought the Spotlight collection to the desktop, so those enticing pics you get on the Lock Screen can appear as your background, and these will be switched for other beautiful new desktop pictures from around the world every day. Analysis: Unnecessary clutter returns... But
voice features are great

The News and interests widget proved pretty controversial on Windows 10, and not popular with some folks, so there will likely be a number of Windows 11 testers grimacing to see its effective return to the taskbar. While its
tucked away on the left, its quite a large presence on the taskbar, and sometimes an annoying one when you accidentally brush the mouse over it, and the panel pops up briefly.

Of course, its still only in testing, and might not make the cut for release based on feedback we shall have to see. And you can still hide the widgets icon if you prefer, so there are options to deal with it, as ever. (It
reverts back to a small icon if youre using a left-aligned taskbar, sitting next to the Task view icon, by the way, as it would obviously be way too jarring for it to displace the Start button in that layout).

While the weather widget may remain divisive, implementing a whole new level of voice control with Windows 11 is great to see. Many of the controls here, incidentally, appear to have been brought over from Nuances Dragon speech recognition package ; if you recall, Microsoft bought Nuance back in April 2021. This looks like the start of Microsoft really ramping up voice controls with Windows 11. Find out where to buy Windows 10



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-11-is-getting-one-of-windows-10s-most-d ivisive-features/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)