Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 preview build to users on its development channel, and according to the official changelog, one of the fundamental improvements is for widgets. The original version of Windows 11 came with Widgets, a new feature that has since evolved considerably, and the latest Windows 11 Preview build develops it further.
More specifically, Microsoft is implementing additional enhancements to introduce settings items specifically designed to make it easier to use the gadgets and to access settings in a more convenient way.
“In this update, we’ve separated the widget picker from the widget settings, making it easier to find and interact with each view. The widget picker is now opened by the + button and the widget settings are opened by the My button.” Microsoft explains that they’ve reused the space taken up by the selector in Widget Settings to override the taskbar settings based on the highly vocal internal feedback, giving users control over how widget items work on the taskbar.
The company has also provided new toggles to control the behavior of the Widgets taskbar, so you’ll find three different settings when expanding this screen.
Controls whether the Widgets board will open when the mouse pointer hovers over the taskbar icon.
Controls whether Widgets will display a notification badge on the taskbar.
Controls whether the live Widget content on the taskbar shows more than the weather.
In this version, the wording of the switches in the Widget settings is slightly different from the wording in the screenshot above. In a future update, the wording of the toggle in Widget settings will be updated to reflect what is in the (above) screenshot, Microsoft said in response.
The new Widgets improvements are being rolled out in stages to Insider talent, and Microsoft says it wants to gather more feedback before announcing widespread use in the program.
