4.2.9 Use the Windows 11 Interface.txt

In this demonstration, we’ll look at the new Windows 11 user interface. In many ways, it’s similar to Windows 10 and has maintained many of the same features that customers liked and used. But Microsoft has updated some things and even eliminated a few features that customers might not have benefite...

In this demonstration, we’ll look at the new Windows 11 user interface. In many ways, it’s similar to Windows 10 and has maintained many of the same features that customers liked and used. But Microsoft has updated some things and even eliminated a few features that customers might not have benefited from. Let’s see what Windows 11 has improved on in comparison to Windows 10. We’ll start with the taskbar. As you can see, the Start menu and other icons are now located at the bottom center of the desktop. This is different from other Windows operating systems, but you can easily change it by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Taskbar settings. Then you scroll down to Taskbar behaviors. Here, under Taskbar alignment, you can change the alignment from Center to Left. You can also show the taskbar on multiple displays or even hide it completely. Note, though, that the taskbar can no longer be moved to the side or top. The only two options are Center or Left. I’m just going to keep it the same for now, so I’ll close this window. Now, let’s click on Start. Notice that the Start menu has changed significantly. Here at the top, there’s a search field that lets you easily find an app by typing its name in the field. Then, below the search field, you see the apps that’ve been pinned to the Start menu. Notice that you can scroll up and down to see additional apps if they don’t all fit on one page. You can also drag and drop an app to change its location on the menu. To see the complete list, select All apps—found here in the upper right-hand corner of this view. All the apps are shown in alphabetical order. But if you don’t want to scroll up and down to find the app that you’re looking for, you can instead just click on a letter in the menu. When you do, an alphabet box appears, and you can choose the app letter you want to search under. When you right-click on an app, you have several options. For example, you can either pin or unpin it from the Start menu or choose to uninstall it as well. When you hover over the More selection, there are some advanced options, like pinning the app to the taskbar. The options you see will depend on the app’s features. Let’s select the Back button now. Here you can see that, below the pinned apps, there’s a Recommended section that shows all the recently opened files. Below that is our profile name, where you can change your account settings, switch users, or lock the desktop. To the right, you can power down or restart your computer. By right-clicking the Start button, even more features pop up for helping you manage your operating system. One of the main differences between Windows 11 and Windows 10 is that tiles are no longer available from the Start menu. In addition, Microsoft’s personal productivity assistant named Cortana has been removed from the taskbar. Cortana still shows up in the list of available apps, but when you select it, you’ll have to activate it by signing in to your Microsoft account. Settings 3:02-3:57 Now let’s discuss the Settings app. You can still get to the Settings app from the Start menu since it’s automatically pinned there. You can also right-click on the Start menu and select Settings from there. Just like with Windows 10, Control Panel’s features are slowly being migrated over to the Settings app. This means that there might be some other changes coming soon where certain features can’t be accessed like you’re used to. The Settings menu has some aesthetic changes as well. It still has a search bar at the top if you’re not sure where to find what you’re looking for. You’ll notice, though, that the categories are now listed in the left pane. Most of these categories are the same as Windows 10, but some things have been changed, such as separating Security from Updates. This new format allows the user to move through the Settings features without ever leaving the main menu. It also gives the user an easy way to navigate back to the main category by selecting the breadcrumbs at the top of the page. Virtual Desktop 3:58-4:41 Let’s close the Settings app and go back to the taskbar. One of the most significant Windows 11 features is the complete integration of virtual desktops. This is an upgraded version of Task View from Windows 10. When you hover over this icon and select New desktop, you can create an entirely new desktop for a different work environment. This allows you to run multiple programs separately on different virtual desktops. Let’s rename this one TestOut. You can arrange them in any order you want by right-clicking on the desired desktop and selecting Move left. You can also change each desktop’s background so that it’s easier to distinguish between them. So, with this setup, we could work on totally different projects at the same time. Widgets 4:42-5:36 Next to the virtual desktop icon is the Widgets feed icon. It’s basically the Windows 11 version of the News and Interests panel that was added to Windows 10. After signing in to your Microsoft account, you’ll see several default widgets, like one for the weather and trending news. Each of these widgets is customizable. You just select the ellipses, and you can change their sizes, customize a widget, or even delete them all together. When you scroll to the bottom, you see that you can also add more widgets, such as a To Do list or an Outlook Calendar. You can also personalize your interests by the type of news you want to receive. And next to the Widget icon is a Chat icon that syncs all your contacts from Windows or from your mobile device to Microsoft Teams. This allows you to do quick video calls or chats right off the bat. Taskbar Settings 5:37-6:09 We’re getting close to the end. The last thing we want to look at is some additional taskbar settings. Some users might not want all the default features found on the taskbar. For example, some people don’t want all these widgets to be constantly running in the background. To enable or disable these features, just right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings. This takes you to the Taskbar settings found under the Settings app’s Personalization category. You can see that there are switches that let you enable or turn off each of the taskbar menu items, like the Widgets item we were just talking about. Summary 6:10-6:24 Okay, that’s it for this demo on Windows 11. In this demo, we reviewed the basic Windows 11 interface. We first looked at how the Start menu has changed, and then we explored the new virtual desktops and widgets. We ended by showing you how you can enable or disable the new features found on the Windows 11 taskbar.