When Microsoft launched Windows 11, it changed the Start Menu of the operating system drastically. Gone were tiles with different sizes, app folders, groups and more features. In fact, the only addition to the Start Menu that Microsoft added was a Recommended section, which users, up to this day, can't get rid of entirely to make room for more app icons.
I called the Start Menu of Windows 11 barely usable at the time, but even former Microsoft employees criticized Microsoft for it.
To Microsoft's credit, it did launch Start Menu improvements in Windows 11 version 22H2. The company returned folders support, which allow users to organize multiple icons in a single folder. The Windows release introduced Start Menu layouts, but these still did not allow for the full removal of the recommended section.
Things took a turn for the worse soon thereafter, as Microsoft started to experiment with highlighting websites in the recommended section, even websites the user never visited before. Then in March 2023, Microsoft started to roll out Start Menu promotions, which is an euphemistic term, as it tries to get the attention of non-Microsoft users to use a Microsoft account, and of Microsoft account users, to use the company's cloud services.
Twitter user PhantomOcean3 revealed a new Recommended section change that Microsoft is working on. Users of developer builds may hover over icons to get information about files and also thumbnails, if it is media.
Files displayed as recommended items show the name and last modification date only by default in current stable versions of Windows 11. Users may hover over the file to reveal the file's path, but that is about it.
The new hover feature that is being tested currently in developer builds of Windows 11 adds a thumbnail to the preview. Clearly, this works only for some files, especially images. It is likely that some other file types may also show thumbnails or previews of content.
Closing Words
The new thumbnail preview feature is a useful addition, as it adds more information to certain file types. Windows 11 users who use the Recommended section of the Start Menu regularly may appreciate this new feature.
Windows 11 users who find no use in the Recommended section will likely not be persuaded to start using it when the feature is introduced in stable versions of the operating system. At least some are still waiting for the off-switch to turn off the recommendations in the Start Menu entirely.
Now You: what is your take on this development? Do you use the Recommended section of the Windows 11 Start Menu?
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