6 Simple Additions I Liked in Windows 11

Microsoft announced the completely new version of Windows, “Windows 11”, a month ago. We have all seen that the system has undergone strong design changes such as the new start menu and the refreshed taskbar, along with many new distinguishing features such as support for Android apps, support for widgets, integration of the Microsoft Teams calling app, and more. However, these are the main features known to most people, or at least those interested in Windows 11. But through our experience with the system’s preview versions, we discovered that there are other new additions worth paying attention to as well, aiming to simplify computer usage and help increase productivity. Here are some of the highlights.

If you delay installing the new cumulative updates for Windows 10 to a later time, you are certainly not alone! One of the main reasons for this is that the user does not know the estimated time it will take for this update to stop using the computer, as some updates are installed quickly and others take a long time. Therefore, in Windows 11, Microsoft has added the ability to know the estimated time it will take for the update before installation.

Now when an update requires a restart to complete the installation, you will find a notification on the Windows Update page indicating the estimated time it will take to install. If the duration is long, you can choose to Restart or Shut down from the Start menu when you want to turn off the computer or restart it without installing the update. In general, this is a welcome addition alongside the changes made to the update approach for Windows 11, as the system now receives one update annually while reducing the size of cumulative updates by 40%, according to Microsoft.

The default File Explorer tool for managing files in Windows 11 did not undergo radical changes as expected. It still lacks the key feature of “tabs” for navigating between multiple folders like navigating between websites in web browsers.

However, the tool has been redesigned in a way that makes file/folder management much faster. The top bar has become much simpler and only includes quick options for controlling the selected files. Additionally, the menu that appears when right-clicking on any file changes its options depending on the type of file selected. For example, when selecting an image, you will find interactive options such as setting this image as desktop wallpaper or rotating it.

But, the change that impressed me the most in the File Explorer tool in Windows 11 is moving the Copy, Paste, Cut, Rename, and Delete options to the top of the “right-click” menu, making access to them faster as they are among the most commonly used options. In Windows 10 and before, those options were scattered within the menu and it may take a few moments to find the desired option.

Read also: Can you rely on the Windows 11 Preview now?

Looking at the “Battery” page in Windows 10 now, you will find that it does not provide enough details regarding battery consumption, only displaying the current battery power percentage and the option to activate “Battery Saver” mode and knowing the battery usage percentage for each application. But in Windows 11, this page has been updated to have a design similar to what we see on Android and iPhone phones, displaying more important details such as Screen On time, Screen Off time, and the time the device spent in “Sleep” mode.

For beginners, “Screen On time” is a measure of how long the screen has been on since your device’s battery was fully charged. The “Screen Off time,” on the other hand, is the opposite, i.e., the time the device has been on and consuming power while the screen was off. These times are important to know; if the “Screen On time” reaches long hours, it means the battery is in good condition and can provide a good amount of power in a single charge.

There is also a statistical chart showing the battery level over 24 hours, allowing you to know exactly at which hour a significant percentage of the battery was consumed and when the charger was connected. Of course, these additions are very important but only for users of laptops, tablets, or laptops running Windows 11.

Windows 11 introduces a new feature called Snap Layouts, which helps users increase productivity by displaying a set of windows on the screen and arranging them in different layouts. These layouts appear when hovering the mouse pointer over the square icon in the top right corner of the window (between the close and minimize buttons).

The Snap or screen splitting feature itself is old and has been present since Windows 7, but Microsoft has made it better and more user-friendly in Windows 11. Additionally, there is a feature called Snap Groups, which is an extension of the Snap Layouts feature. Through Snap Groups, Windows can save the layout of open windows and restore it with a click of a button.

For example, suppose you are working on a task that requires running multiple programs (windows) simultaneously, and accordingly, you use the Snap Layouts feature to arrange these windows on the screen. But while working, you wanted to open another program to look at something or unintentionally closed one of the programs you were using in the layout.

Thanks to Snap Groups, you can easily restore the same window layout again instead of rearranging the windows on the screen from scratch as is currently the case in Windows 10. All you need to do is hover the mouse pointer over an icon of a program from the open programs on the taskbar and select “Group” to display all programs you were using in the same layout you were using before, making it easy to perform multiple tasks.

Important: Key features of Windows 11 and how to get them in Windows 10

In Windows 11, the user no longer needs external programs like Hard Disk Sentinel to check the status of the storage unit. This capability has already been integrated as one of the new additions related to managing storage units entirely through the Settings application to facilitate tasks such as dividing the hard drive, deleting partitions, or formatting the flash drive, etc.

Additionally, in the Drive health section, you will find information that enables you to know the general status of the connected storage unit to the computer and whether it needs to be changed to avoid losing files or not, along with displaying the hard drive temperature in real-time. However, it seems that this information does not appear if the hard drive is an HDD, but only for SSD or NVMe SSD storage units. In any case, it is a useful addition.

The Settings app in Windows 11 has undergone a massive redesign, and among the noticeable visual changes, there is one change you may not have noticed, which is the continuous recommendations for properly setting up the device settings.

For example, when you go to the Power & battery page, you may find a notification at the top of the page informing you that the specified time between the screen automatically turning off (in case of inactivity) and the computer entering Sleep mode is too long, which may lead to faster battery drain. There is an option that can be clicked to easily resolve this issue.

Likewise, in the Storage page, sometimes when opening this page, you may find a notification indicating the presence of unused programs or large files that you have not opened before and suggest deleting them to free up space. Of course, these recommendations are not available for every page but for the clear settings that require attention, and they are undoubtedly a useful addition.