Microsoft hasn’t talked about it, but “Windows 11 Canary 26212” brings a big change, and we’re not so sure anyone has requested it.
Because widgets are smart on the desktop as well as on mobiles and tablets, but what about being able to place them where you want on the desktop in addition to being able to retrieve them from a “sliding menu?” Apple has gone for such a solution, but Microsoft goes a different way: to the start menu and a sidebar. “Start Menu Companions” is the name of the new widget feature that places them on the right side of the the start menuin a new area.
The fact that Microsoft has not talked about this is strange, but fortunately we found out relatively early thanks to “Albacore” who snuck into the code. The same person pours cold water on the hope of widgets/gadgets that can be moved freely on the desktop, and doesn’t think it will happen anytime soon. At least there are settings:
“You can configure them through Settings > Personalization > Start. It has a list of installed widgets with on/off switches as well as a link to the vendor’s website for customization (like Widgets, it’s very web-centric).”
Why not just list programs and offer indexed search?
The start menu has gone through some strange changes in recent years, and one wonders if they are for the better. In many contexts, searching for local files is slow – even a Microsoft veteran described the start menu performance as “comically bad” in April:
“The Start menu in Windows 11 is comically bad. The machine has a $1,600 Core i9 CPU and 128GB of RAM, and this is the performance I often experience. What’s going on in Redmond?.” The question is whether widgets will improve performance.
