Microsoft has just released a new update for Windows 11 in testing, which brings some useful improvements, including a change to the Start menu and also to the lock screen, along with a new button for sharing files.
Testers are currently trying out the new features in the Release Preview channel for Windows 11 (versions 23H2 and 22H2), which is the last round of user testing that pre-release builds go through before the final release. This means we can expect these features to arrive very soon.
One change I'm pleased to see is that Microsoft is revising one of its recent changes to the Start menu, namely the new settings related to the Microsoft Account.
You may remember that the introduction of the New account manager section in the Start menu caused controversy because it hid a useful option under another layer of menu. That was the sign out option, which went from being right there in the profile panel of the Start menu to being hidden behind the three-dot menu (top right) in the new account manager panel (which replaced the old profile interface).
The good news is that Microsoft has listened to complaints from people who don't want to be forced to click another time to log out of their account, so in this preview build, the option is back where it was before, with no additional clicks required to access it. Additionally, Microsoft notes that you can switch user profiles by clicking the three-dot icon and choosing one from the menu that appears.
Another part of Windows 11 that has been modified is the lock screen, which now has media controls towards the bottom of the screen whenever media playback is running on the PC.
Additionally, you'll soon be able to share files stored on your device when they appear in Windows search results via a new share button.
These aren't the only menu changes here, and you can see the full list of additions with more details in Microsoft's Windows Insider blog post.
A minor update, yes, but useful nonetheless.
While this isn't the most dynamic update, it does offer some useful tweaks and bug fixes that should make the Windows 11 experience a bit smoother, and as noted, I'm really glad to see the change to the Start menu.
As for the new file sharing feature in Windows Search, it could be more useful if Microsoft spent some time further improving and fine-tuning the core of the search experience: the process and the results. Hopefully, more work will be done on that front.
The features mentioned here are also being tested for Windows 11 24H2, ahead of its release, which should arrive very soon.
