Windows 11 update brings a full-screen dashboard

With the arrival of Windows 11, user interface elements have been moved from the start menu to a panel that opens on the left side of the screen. The panel includes widgets for the calendar, news, and weather, which you can turn on and off at will. It looks like Microsoft is now expanding the panel, especially when it comes to widget panel size. In the latest version of Preview Build for Windows 11, Version 25201 The software giant made the extended offer.

Expanded view of widgets

Once expanded view is enabled, the widget panel will be displayed in full screen mode. In addition, the panel appears in expanded view mode to display four widgets. It is not known if this increases if you have a wider screen, such as an ultra-wide screen with an aspect ratio of 21:9. Incidentally, the panel will not open in extended view mode by default. If you don’t enable this, the panel will continue to open in an area on the left side of the screen. According to Microsoft, Windows will remember your preferred format, and open the panel in this mode by default (normal or full).

Besides expanding the widget panel, we’re also seeing changes in the Game Pass for Xbox tool. From now on, you can log into your Xbox account directly via the tool. Access to UI elements from third-party developers is still pending. Support for third-party widgets It was announced in May, but it doesn’t seem to come off the ground. At least that’s what we see in the foreground.

Experimental search bar disappears

At the moment, it is unknown if Microsoft plans to keep the expanded width of the widget panel. Should the company roll out the feature on Windows, it may not be available until at least 2023. After all, the next stable Windows update – it is expected – will appear in one week, while this functionality is still being tested.

A feature that we will definitely not see in future versions of Windows 11 is the custom search bar. Microsoft tested three builds for this, but decided to roll them back in the new preview release. The company says that it has completed the testing phase in recent versions of the insider and received enough feedback.