Windows 11 Start menu could get better if Microsoft pushes forward with this nifty change that’s currently in testing
Microsoft’s latest brainwave for Windows 11’s Start menu is one you might like (without an advert in sight)
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Windows 11could be getting a significant alteration to the Start menu - and for a change, it’s a useful one, rather than some of theless welcome ad-related tweakswe’ve seen inrecent timesfor the menu.
This was uncovered by leaker PhantomOfEarth on X, and it’s a new category view for the ‘All apps’ panel. However, this change is hidden in the new preview build 22635 in the Beta channel (released late last week), so it’s not officially underway just yet.
It looks like another Start menu > All apps view option is coming soon: Category view. Present in build 22635.3930, with some not yet functional categories.Also, you’ll be able to switch between the existing alphabetical and new grid/category views using a dropdown menu. https://t.co/qFtcTm4BnB pic.twitter.com/ABtXZJ2IrlJuly 12, 2024
As you can see in the above post, this is another option for how to view your apps in the Start menu, as an alternative to the traditional alphabetical listing of applications – there’s also an incoming grid view (present only in testing), and now, the freshly discovered category choice.
This is essentially a grid of categorized apps, so you can have your apps sorted by category – such as entertainment, navigation and maps, news, productivity – and dive into those specific areas. As opposed to having to scroll down the long list of apps which is howWindows 11 organizes your installed softwarecurrently in the Start menu (a pretty clunky setup).
Analysis: Early work
This looks like very early work as when enabled (by using a Windows configuration tool with the mentioned preview build), the feature only shows colored blocks as the graphics for each category. We assume the four colored squares shown will host the icons of four apps from each category (maybe your most-used apps in every category, or that’s the first thought that occurs).
Of course, we don’t know how the interface will be realized, and this is just guesswork. We also need to firmly remember that as this is so early in the work towards this feature – it’s not properly implemented at all, and hidden in testing – it may not ever see the light of day in Windows 11.
After all, the grid view for apps in the Start menu is in testing as well, as mentioned, and soMicrosoftmight just decide a category view isn’t necessary – and that switching to a grid layout might be convenient enough for this part of the Windows 11 interface. Then again, more options don’t hurt, and the idea of organizing apps into categories might be an appealing way of rifling through installed software in the Start menu – we rather like this potential move.
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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