Microsoft are gradually rolling out new Windows 11 features to Beta users.
This means that the rest of us can expect them sometime later in the year.
Windows 11 – a new way to open files
If you drag a file from Windows Explorer, a “drag tray” will appear that shows the open applications on your PC. You can then drag your file into the application to open it.
We’re curious to see how this works for those of us with all our files in OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint (that should be all of us!). Our suspicion is that you may need to ‘sync’ the folder, which means it will work best with smaller folders.
For more information, refer to https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2025/02/21/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-22635-4950-beta-channel
Copilot + PCs get enhanced image search
This is currently being rolled out for individuals with one of the new “Snapdragon” Copilot+ PCs. Users can now locate photos stored in the cloud by describing their content in the search box on the taskbar. In addition to locally stored photos on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will also appear in the search results concurrently.
For more information, refer to https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2025/02/21/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-26120-3291-dev-and-beta-channels
Start menus gets Grid and Category Views
The new feature is reminiscent of a feature from previous versions of Windows. There will be a new ‘start’ view that displays your apps in alphabetical order, and a new category view that organizes all your apps into categories, sorted by usage.
For more information, refer to https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2025/02/21/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-22635-4950-beta-channel
