What would you like see or changed in Windows 11

/\8 · Jul 23, 2021

I though this might be interesting to see what others would like to see
changed or introduced, with a slim chance that Microsoft might take some
comments and make the changes.

I will start with something that I would like, I would like to be able to disable the
taskbar clock and date, like I could on windows 10.

And have the time next to the date on the fly out calendar of Windows 11,
this would add to a cleaner appearance of the taskbar.

Also why is the sound and network icon fixed to the taskbar,could it be in the
toolbar area like on Windows 10 was, with just the arrow to pop it up and check.

I am interested in what other members think could improve Windows 11,
and I think Microsoft should be as well.

21H2(os Build 22000.100)

PerpetualCycle · Jul 23, 2021

A number of these are "done right in windows 10 but taken away". 10 steps forward and 11 back.

- Right click context menus in the old-style or at least that have menu items relevant to the file (hence the term "context"), Or customizable context menus by file type.
- A uniform theme. How can it be, after so many years, that we don't have a dark them for windows such as Computer Management, device manager, disk management, etc. That ranks much higher than rounded windows edges
- On my second screen taskbar - a clock. Often I am watching video on the main screen and use the taskbar on the second to see the time. Why was that taken away
- Name folders in the start menu. There is no way to organize start items so you have this one big monolith and it is not easy to find things. And having the alphabetized start items up front in Windows 10 was a real convenience.
- A nebulous one - New features to make Windows 11 use easy and to improve performance.

Nuf for now, dinnertime

PerpetualCycle · Jul 24, 2021

That would open them in Explorer and I would have to go to the explorer window, select what I wanted, then remember to close the explorer windows when I'm done- that is not menu like behavior and not a replacement. I might as well create an explorer folder on the desktop with the links and just use that. What they had in Windows 10 start was useful - it would just pop up a submenu with the items organized in an array. when you select an item you would not need to close the menus, it was also easy to create "name folders" and populate them. This is a regression of utility in Windows 11.

/\8 · Jul 24, 2021

geneo said:
That would open them in Explorer and I would have to go to the explorer window, select what I wanted, then remember to close the explorer windows when I'm done- that is not menu like behavior and not a replacement. I might as well create an explorer folder on the desktop with the links and just use that. What they had in Windows 10 start was useful - it would just pop up a submenu with the items organized in an array. when you select an item you would not need to close the menus, it was also easy to create "name folders" and populate them. This is a regression of utility in Windows 11.

I see your point/my suggestions were not as useful as I thought.
They work for me/although it is clearer to me now what you were suggesting,
and you know when Microsoft are offering a new OS/we do not have much hope in
getting the old back.They just do not do that,so I guess we have to adapt,great input from you anyway
Thank you

Drybonz · Jul 24, 2021

I think a lot of people are going to want more customizability. It seems like they are marching us toward uniformity instead of adding options and making things more flexible. The changes are mostly cosmetic and the benefit seems to be outweighed by less options to customize to people's preferences. I think this trend goes back further than this upgrade, though.

vannn · Jul 24, 2021

Drybonz said:
I think a lot of people are going to want more customizability. It seems like they are marching us toward uniformity instead of adding options and making things more flexible. The changes are mostly cosmetic and the benefit seems to be outweighed by less options to customize to people's preferences. I think this trend goes back further than this upgrade, though.

customizability. that's it.

let the end-users have a control over their own respective personal preferences.

/\8 · Jul 24, 2021

"Customization Absolutely" this is what I would also like, although we have to be careful.
I have found a way to do some extensive customization to suit myself, and I am happy with the results.
I would like to elaborate and post some images, the thing is I do not trust Microsoft not to block what I have
done.
As they have done that already, I am very interested in having the ability to customize the taskbar clock,
I would like to disable it from the taskbar and have it appear on the calendar fly-out of Windows 11.

This was available in Windows 10, by using the keyboard shortcut win + alt + d, and was still in windows 11
I told Microsoft about this and how I preferred to use the shortcut from a mouse button with the taskbar clock disabled,
and in the next preview update it was no longer available/coincidence! I do not think so.

The disable taskbar clock was available in Windows 10, and why is the sound and network icons
locked to the taskbar, and not where they have always been in the toolbar area.

Why Microsoft can we not have control over small things like this, stop being so dictatorial and presenting your
new OS, in a like it or not manner " because this is what you do, and always have"

Winuser · Jul 24, 2021

The more I use and try different things in Windows 11 I have to say I want nothing changed, Just improved. If I want something to be the same as it was in Windows 10 I could have staid in Windows 10.

plat · Jul 24, 2021

Well, I was very used to the Taskbar being able to be positioned at the top in Windows 10. This falls under the aegis of greater flexibility to customize one's desktop. I don't want to have to resort to too many third party software in order to get a better experience; I'd like Microsoft to start bringing back what it took away.

Oh, and a more user-friendly Defender UI--which admittedly was bad in 10 also. I don't want to have to do three or four mouse clicks to access something like the various Client versions. I'm sure there will be more as this evolves.

NaviVR · Jul 24, 2021

100% I'd like it if I didn't have to go into settings to change audio sources. It's super inconvenient now.

Winuser · Jul 25, 2021

NaviVR said:
100% I'd like it if I didn't have to go into settings to change audio sources. It's super inconvenient now.

Reading your post I decided to try right clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar and found a bug. . When I clicked on Sound Settings the System > Sound box opened. Then I tried clicking on Open Volume Mixer and the Settings System box opened. Now when I click on the Sound Settings sometimes I get the System > Sound box and sometimes I get the Settings System box. If I click on the back arrow the correct box opens.

NaviVR · Jul 25, 2021

Winuser said:
Reading your post I decided to try right clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar and found a bug. . When I clicked on Sound Settings the System > Sound box opened. Then I tried clicking on Open Volume Mixer and the Settings System box opened. Now when I click on the Sound Settings sometimes I get the System > Sound box and sometimes I get the Settings System box. If I click on the back arrow the correct box opens.

There's that, but I also just want to be able to change it without having to open a whole new box in settings to begin with. It's not a deal breaker but in my use case between content creation and gaming or just watching youtube I switch my audio sources throughout the day. Just as a QOL improvement it should be switchable at the icon itself.

Winuser · Jul 25, 2021

NaviVR said:
There's that, but I also just want to be able to change it without having to open a whole new box in settings to begin with. It's not a deal breaker but in my use case between content creation and gaming or just watching youtube I switch my audio sources throughout the day. Just as a QOL improvement it should be switchable at the icon itself.

Windows 11 is still in the early stages . MS might add this in a future update. It might also help to use the Feedback Hub to bring this to MS's attention.

davidvkimball · Aug 4, 2021

Generally speaking, there's as lot I like about Windows 11. Although right now, it feels mostly like a newly designed Windows 10. I love the new interface, sounds, etc that contributes to the new UX, but feature wise it doesn't feel much different than Windows 10.

UI / UX Uniformity: Finding other "universal" visual changes to design like what they've done with rounded corners and keeping them as consistent as possible.
- Right click context menu: designing a right click context menu that accommodates the modern design but doesn't remove any of the old functionality. I know one difficulty here is lots of Windows programs shove in their own right click context menu items into the right click and junk it up. But maybe creating a design system that works around these obstacles.
- True, universal dark theme: a dark theme that extends not only from Explorer and the taskbar but actually modifies legacy Windows applications as well, as mentioned earlier in this thread.
- System icon audit and replacement: the Windows team needs to go into the .dll files of their core system and update any icons that aren't brought up to Fluent Design standards. There are so many legacy Windows icons still part of Windows 11 it's baffling to me.
- Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and other programs of that ilk: why does it still look so dated? Bring these out of the Windows 7 age please!
Meaningful Customization: While I am thankful for the customization options available in Windows 11 today, there are some tweaks to my system I want to make without having to use Winaero Tweaker or some other third party app.
- Ability to remove ads & suggestions: I understand why Microsoft doesn't make this easy, but I want to remove anything remotely intrusive from my Windows experience, and annoying suggestions from things I don't care about takes the cake as the main thing I don't want.
- Better Start Menu customization: I'd like to modify my Start menu to remove the search bar, remove suggested section, and have folders akin to a smartphone app drawer design.
Widgets panel: this is extremely lacking in my opinion. I'd love for this to be the "live tiles replacement" it's trying to be, but right now it has very little that's compelling. 99% of the news sources from the "interests" I select are irrelevant and there's not a good way to really customize them to just the sources or topics I care about. We live in a world of niches, I'd like to apply a custom set of sources to get meaningful information to me. Weather is one thing, but "eSports" being news about every competitive video game on the planet makes me not want to use it at all.
Ability to create custom shell folders: I might be the only person on the planet that cares about this, but I'd love for the ability to create custom shell folders easily. For example, being able to place a folder into my Users folder and have its location be pointed elsewhere, like on a different drive on my PC. I know what I want can roughly be accomplished with folder shortcuts or libraries, but I find those experiences to be clunkier than just using a shell folder approach.
Improved calendar app on taskbar: I live and breath my Google calendar, and I'm delighted it integrates in the Windows 11 Calendar app. So why can't I get more meaningful connections to it on the taskbar calendar? In Windows 10 it showed more relevant agenda info, and they took that away with 11.
Animated desktop backgrounds: I don't know why Windows still doesn't have native animated/video wallpapers as an option. I'll continue to use Wallpaper Engine if I want to do this for now.
Uninstall all bloatware: there are just some Windows 11 apps I don't want and will never want, and I want to have the ability to remove them. For example: Cortana, Maps, Video Editor, Xbox Game Bar, etc. Why can I uninstall Windows Terminal, Paint, and Calculator but not Cortana or Xbox Game Bar?! It makes no sense.
Improved partitioning compatibility and feature set: something Windows could really benefit from is some superior partitioning native tools and also just being able to work with more hard drive formats. This is more nebulous but it is a continual annoyance for me.
Figure out what to do about Control Panel and be consistent: I love using Control Panel but only because it feels the most complete, especially compared to the Settings apps in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, but with Windows 11 they have an opportunity to fully replace it. However, there continues to be things you can only do in Control Panel, while they ALSO straight up remove items from Control Panel (like Windows update). I don't like having to switch between two settings applications all of the time. It's clunky and makes no sense. I say just put everything in the new Settings app, and then have a "God Mode" option that makes it appear in a huge list like IT pros want.
Stop forcing defaults and also make setting default programs easier: a huge turn off from using the Widgets or Windows built-in search is how they force you to use Microsoft Edge or Bing. Most consumers won't ever change this, just give techies a choice. I want links to open in Firefox and searches to be done in Google. Also, setting your default browser in Windows 11 is somehow even more of a pain than it was in WIndows 10 or 8.1. Just make it easy to pick the program/app you want to use, and let me click "set as default for everything."
See more specific PC info: being able to view more advanced PC info, like how hot my CPU is running (akin to Resource Monitor). Should all be visible in System. I shouldn't have to use third party apps like Speccy to get that information.
Ownership issues: I don't know why even as an admin of my own machine I always have to specify that I have permission to access folders like WindowsApps. The way permissions are setup sometimes in Windows makes no sense.
Minor gripes:
- I want a Task Manager shortcut when I right click the taskbar still. I know I can use CTRL+SHIFT+ESC but still.
- I want to be able to easily hide my Microsoft account email address in Windows settings when I do screenshares and such. It's annoying that it always has to be visible in Settings.
- I wish the folder icons for Favorites, Games, Contacts, Links, and Searches all kept their unique folder icons instead of transitioning to normal folder icons 64px and lower.
- I never want "Quick Access" to my default page in File Explorer. I'd much rather it be my User folder or This PC.
- I want to pick what appears on the left panel in File Explorer. For example removing OneDrive or adding a Project folder that I'd like to be able to expand and collapse.

This post was longer than I thought it would be.

Colif · Aug 4, 2021

I wouldn't mind it if the notifications sounds option was on the Settings/notification screen instead of hidden in Personalisation/Themes -sounds.
I was going to turn it off as I don't need it, then I had to work out where it was hiding.

Its early days, I hope they create meaningful links for these things

cereberus · Aug 4, 2021

Stop dumbing down start menu, file explorer etc.

Make the OS suitable for grown ups not children.

Anibor_11 · Aug 4, 2021

cereberus said:
Stop dumbing down start menu, file explorer etc.

Make the OS suitable for grown ups not children.

I agree completely.

Scramjet · Aug 4, 2021

I would like to see the install requirements removed so all Windows 10 users can upgrade at their own risk and enjoy Windows 11 ...lol

Mystere · Aug 4, 2021

I think most people really don't understand how software development works.

Software development takes a very long time. And there are two basic strategies. The first, is to develop the product in secret, and wait for every feature to be completed, tested, and verified before releasing. This can take years.. even decades for very complex products, and has historically resulted in what can loosely be called "boondoggles". The developers get no customer feedback until the very end, when it's way too late to change anything, and way too costly.

The second form is the "iterative" approach, where they work on a small number of features and release them over time. This results in a smaller, less featureful product at first that grows and matures. Not all features will be available at first. This still takes years, but because you get early feedback, changes can be made when they are less expensive and you ultimately end up with a better product after it has matured.

Microsoft used to take the first approach, but switched to the second. Think about Windows 8 vs Windows 10. Windows 8 evolved over time but started as very immature, with full screen start menus and apps. Eventually they brought back popular features like the start button, windowed apps, etc..

Windows 11 is the same. They're re-developing major parts of the UI and it will grow and mature over time as features are re-developed or new featur3es added. It will just take some time.

My point is, this is not a case of Microsoft "removing features". They just haven't had the time to fully re-write many parts that people are complaining about. I'm sure they will eventually be added, but it will just take some time. The first versions are basic, and will mature.

It's good to make MS aware of how important these features are to you, but don't assume that what is currently released is what MS intends for it to be when mature. It's just a long process to get back to feature parity, and then to grow into newer functionality.

So don't think of it as "MS removed this feature". Think of it as "Windows 11 is not yet mature enough to include this feature". And because of this, stop thinking Microsoft is deliberately trying to piddle you off, impose their will, etc.. It's just a matter of priorities.

johnlgalt · Aug 4, 2021

I'll never see it happening but here it is.

Give the end user the full choice on how to make the start menu look and feel. Pure desktop, hearkening back to the days of 7 and XP, or pure portable, or any measure in between. Just give us the choice. Leave the under-pinnings as they want to be but let us do what we want with it without having to resort to 3rd party apps and workarounds and hacks.

What would you like see or changed in Windows 11

/\8

Guest

My Computer

Syzygy

My Computers

Syzygy

My Computers

/\8

Guest

My Computer

Active member

My Computer

Custom title

My Computer

/\8

Guest

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Member

My Computer

Member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Digital Marketing Guy

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Antidisestablishmentarianist

My Computers

Similar threads