Windows 11 is set for a change to the Start menu that wasn't popular in preview and is sure to be even less popular when it makes its full debut on Microsoft's operating system next week.
The change in question involves a new account manager section that has been added to the Start menu (although I say added, but the real controversy is not so much its addition as the fact that it replaces an existing, more useful feature). (Well, not so much replaces as hides, and we'll come back to that.)
This is currently part of the most recent preview update (for June, KB5039302, which contained a nasty bug, by the way), but it will become the cumulative update for July very soon (next week, in fact, on July 9, which is “Patch Tuesday”).
Microsoft explains in a support document for KB5039302: “This update initiates the rollout of the new account manager on the Start menu. When you use a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows, you can see an overview of your account benefits. This feature also makes it easier to manage your account settings.”
Windows Latest has experienced the change firsthand, pointing out the differences between how the Start menu works now and how it will change next week (in theory).
So the change applies to the profile picture and name, which are displayed at the bottom left of the Start menu. Currently, clicking on them brings up a small menu of options that allow the user to log out and lock the PC (basically some of the shortcuts you'll see on the CTRL+ALT+DEL screen).
This has become a new dashboard that offers settings and reminders related to your Microsoft account, as well as information about Microsoft services such as OneDrive or Microsoft 365.
However, as Windows Latest notes, you'll receive notifications about services like Microsoft 365 whether or not you subscribe – in fact, part of the goal here is to persuade you to subscribe, as a link is provided to discover all the “benefits” of Microsoft 365.
The old functionality hasn't been completely replaced here, though, as there's still a three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the new panel, and clicking it brings up the old options for signing out, locking, etc.
Analysis: Make your opinion known
There are two levels of annoyance here. First, while the logout options are still present, they are hidden away, buried one level down in the menu system, so an extra click is required to access them. (In fact, less observant Windows 11 users might not even notice the three-dot icon.)
Second, as users on the Microsoft Feedback Hub have pointed out, they don't want to see any more Microsoft account-related gimmicks in the Windows 11 interface. In particular, they don't want any additions that are just another form of advertising, such as highlighting the benefits of Microsoft 365.
Sadly, Microsoft seems to be adding these kinds of “recommendations” all over Windows 11 right now, and this is just another example. What I’m particularly surprised by is that I saw this change in Dev Channel testing, but it suddenly seems to have made its way to the release version of Windows 11.
Or it will if Microsoft includes it in the cumulative update for Windows 11 that's due out next week, which seems very likely. Unless enough people raise objections, which is why you might want to do your part in that regard if you're as concerned as I am about this continued tampering with the Start menu or other key parts of the interface, like the Settings app, that Microsoft seems to be increasingly obsessed with.
Note that not all Windows 11 users will see this change immediately with the July Update, if the measure is implemented as planned, because Microsoft is rolling it out gradually.
That's still a ways off, though, unless Windows 11 users can change the software giant's mind, and as one whistleblower points out, Microsoft could make an easy change to alleviate some of the pain here: namely, leaving the existing options at the bottom of the new panel, rather than moving them one layer down in the interface, hidden away.
