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238 TopicsNext-generation Windows development plan
Dear Windows Team: Here's a supplementary systematic summary and analysis of the main features of Windows 12: Start Menu/Screen: Fresh layout: Clearly divided into different zones — account area (user account at the top left), shortcut area (on the far right for easy access to common folders), list area (where you can pin apps, including most used and suggested ones), and pinned tiles area (four-column layout). It's cleaner and you can even resize it by dragging the edges. Full-screen start screen is back: Combines the classic Windows 7 list (easy to browse) with Windows 8.1 style live tiles (for info and quick launch). Tiles can be arranged both horizontally and vertically. More flexible tiles: Tiles now come in five sizes — small, medium, long, wide, large, and tall — way more options than before, plus there's a new animation when you resize them. Structural Innovation: Clearly divided into the Account Area (user account located in the upper left corner), Shortcut Area (located on the far right for easy access to commonly used folders), List Area (applications can be attached to the list, including most frequently used and recommended apps), and Pinned Tiles Area (four-column layout). The structure is more organized, and the size can also be adjusted by dragging its edges. Full-screen Start screen return: It combines the traditional Windows 7 list (for easy navigation) with Windows 8.1-style live tiles (for information display and quick launch), with tiles supporting both horizontal and vertical arrangements. Enhanced Tile Flexibility: Provides five sizes—small, medium, long, wide, large, and tall—far exceeding previous options, while also introducing tile resizing animations. Custom tile options: including colorful, gradient, light, dark, transparent (default), and semi-transparent tones, offering a high degree of personalization. Migration Friendly: When upgrading from Windows 7, 8.1, 10, or 11, pinned apps and websites are automatically migrated, reducing the user's reconfiguration workload. Copilot Tile: The AI assistant Copilot has received a dedicated tile, highlighting its significance. A new rainbow effect has been added. Taskbar & Search: The taskbar consists of the Cortana icon (on the left), mobile devices (on the left), Start, Search, Task View, Chat, applications, the system tray (on the right), and notification icons (on the right), among others. Search box enlargement & shape change: The search box is more prominent, changing from a circular shape (Win11) to a rectangular one, and supports wider options, thereby enhancing the search entry point. Search menu flexibility: Highly adjustable, consistent with the style of the Start menu. Personalized lock screen interface: Date and time alignment: supports left alignment (default) and center alignment. Brand new photo effects: Highlight the main subject of the photo, allowing it to be placed before or after the background time. Windows Hello: Facial recognition supports logging in while wearing a mask. Widgets: Pinned to the desktop: No longer limited to the small panel above the taskbar, they can be pinned anywhere on the desktop like traditional widgets. Fullscreen mode: The left side is the widget panel, and the right side displays information sources (such as news), supporting up to six columns for greater information capacity. New widgets: Specifically mentions the 'Calendar' widget, 'People' widget, 'Microsoft Edge' widget, and 'Cortana Suggestions' widget coming soon (although Cortana itself also seems to have updates).Microsoft Store widget: A dedicated widget for accessing the app store. Productivity and Multitasking Enhancements: Task View returns to the Windows 10 experience: Dragging to multiple desktops: More mature virtual desktop management allows you to drag windows to the "Task View" icon and then move them to multiple desktops. Timeline feature returns, supporting cross-device history. Window switching returns to the Windows 10 experience: Alt+Tab experience restored to classic style. Snap Assist returns to Windows 10 experience with significant enhancements: Supports up to eight snap layouts (especially for large horizontal screens), a productivity tool. Supports ultrawide screens (21:9, 32:9) with a variety of snap layouts. App Updates: New Mail, Calendar, and People: Highlights mentioned, possibly accompanied by UI and feature updates. New Outlook App: Supports email address removed for privacy reasons, email address removed for privacy reasons and email address removed for privacy reasons. New Cortana: Multilingual Support: Expands usage scope. Consumer Skills Return: Music control, smart home control, and third-party skills return, aiming to restore its practicality as a voice assistant. Provided in two forms: rings and dough. Supports the 'Cortana Suggestions' widget. Screenshot Tool: Supports full-screen recording. Media Player: Appearance selector returns, supporting live tiles. Microsoft Store Revamp: UWP Apps Return: Some high-quality UWP apps and Metro apps are back on the store, and the progressive web apps (PWAs) from the original Microsoft Store are transitioning to UWP apps. Gaming Ecosystem Expansion: New PlayStation app, Nintendo Switch app, and a dedicated Nintendo game section have been added, significantly expanding gaming-related content. Enhancing Visual Experience: The window transparency effect has been improved, and a new glass effect has been added. System avatars are now rounded rectangles, and the search box is rectangular (more in line with current design trends).A new top bar has been added (weather, system tray, date and time).Dynamic wallpaper effects have been introduced. The Windows 11 startup sound has been retained. Large-scale return of classic applications and features: This is the most striking (and also most questionable) part, including: Applications: MSN series apps, Tips, Print 3D app, Maps, Windows 7 desktop gadgets, Windows Media Center, Groove Music, Desktop Messaging apps, Windows 8.1 apps. System Features: HomeGroup, Timeline (cross-device history), Tablet Mode (significantly enhanced tablet experience), Windows Ink Workspace. Evaluation: This is a very bold strategy aimed at satisfying the nostalgia and specific needs of different user groups. Others: Controllers: Compatible with DualShock 4, DualShock 5, Joy-Con, and Joy-Con 2, among others. Android Subsystem Return: WSA is back, with special emphasis on supporting full-screen operation for apps in landscape mode (addressing one of the previous main pain points). Notification Center separated from Calendar: The quick action panels for the Notification Center and Calendar are separated, which may make the interface cleaner and operations more focused. Windows 12 Next-Generation PC: Offers larger storage capacity, longer battery life, more powerful performance, and enhanced security and stability. Windows Backup: Expanded to more countries and regions, with the addition of backing up personal files and applications to external storage devices. Data Transfer: Allows transferring personal files and applications from an old computer to a new one, or migrating partitions to a new hard drive. Core and Versions: Version Number: Initial Release 26H1, with the OS internal version reset to 12.0.0.0, marking a significant new beginning. System Naming: References to Windows 12 and Windows 12e, as well as Windows 12 Ultra. Extensive Free Upgrade Path: Covers Windows 11 (including SE), Windows 10 (including S), Windows 8/8.1 (including Windows RT), and Windows 7. This is a key strategy to attract user migration. Hardware Requirements by Tier: Windows 12e: Ultra-low system requirements (2GB RAM, 32GB storage), aimed at education or basic devices, possibly similar to Cloud/SE versions. Windows 12 (Home/Pro/etc.): Mainstream system requirements (4GB RAM, 64GB storage, DirectX 11), removal of strict restrictions like TPM (the biggest change!). Windows 12 Ultra: High-performance requirements (8GB RAM, 128GB storage, TPM 2.0, DirectX 12), unlocking all advanced features (such as advanced AI functions, ultimate performance optimizations?). Significant Extension of the Lifecycle: Home & Pro: 2 years (24 months) -> 4 years (48 months). Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise: 3 years (36 months) -> 6 years (72 months). This presents a considerable advantage for corporate and institutional users, reducing migration frequency and overall costs. I hope this leaked information can be reported to Pavan Davuluri.Solved121Views0likes2CommentsW11 Lock Screen
I stumbled across a bug, when disabling TextInputManagementService On reboot, Windows will not prompt for password, instead is stuck on Blue Lock Screen. No info anywhere other than "Dude you're screwed reinstall the OS" Solution: Reboot Laptop into Recovery Environment. For my Lenovo Laptop it was F8 Troubleshoot>Advance>Comand Prompt C: cd windows cd system32 regedit Note the registry shown is for the Recovery OS not the actual OS that I was using. In order to edit the actual registry from within Recovery Mode, one has to load it. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE File menu> Load Hive open the registry file called SOFTWARE for the OS in C:\Windows\System32\Config Name it Temp or whatever Then navigate to the tree under Temp to edit the actual registry file Temp\Policies\Microsoft\Windows (The actual registry location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization) If not there, create a key under Windows called Personalization within Personalization create DWORD32 called NoLockScreen and assign value=1 THEN File menu>Unload Hive On Reboot Windows should bypass the Lock Screen. I actually just went into the services and re-enabled TexInputManagementService which is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TextInputManagementService and change start=2 But I had to use the same Regedit procedure within recovery environment since I was unable to config the service from CMD27Views0likes1CommentSave the date: Windows Office Hours - November 20, 2025
Save the date for our next monthly Windows Office Hours, on November 20 from 8:00-9:00a PT! We will have a broad group of product experts, servicing experts, and engineers representing Windows, Microsoft Intune, Configuration Manager, Windows 365, Windows Autopilot, security, public sector, FastTrack, and more. They will be standing by -- in chat -- to provide guidance, discuss strategies and tactics, and, of course, answer any specific questions you may have. For more details about how Windows Office Hours works, go to our Windows IT Pro Blog. If you can't make it at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, post your questions on the Windows Office Hours: November 20th event page, up to 48 hours in advance.36Views0likes1CommentHELP: Text Glitch on Start's Search Feature
Hi, I need help with this glitch on my laptop. It first appeared in Microsoft Edge, but I fixed it by disabling graphics acceleration and clearing the cache. Now it's happening with the Search feature on Start. I'm using Windows 11 and an Aspire 5 laptop. I have already updated my system, tried updating my graphics driver, and clearing the font cache, but the problem persists. I would appreciate the help!5Views0likes0Comments'Show Recently Used Files' unchecks itself after saving settings.
Hello, I am trying to view recently used files on my computer, and I have found that if I go to file explorer, click on the ellipses, select options, and check the 'Show recently used files' box inside of the general tab, the box will uncheck itself after I click 'Apply' and close the options window. Looking more into this, I have also noticed that my Activity History is completely blank, even though I have 'Store my activity history on this device' set to on. Not sure if related, but I have looked everywhere to see if there was a fix for this, and am coming up empty handed. Any Ideas?Solved457Views0likes6CommentsExplorer ribbon blocked / 90% hidden after update
I had an overnight update install itself last week. After the AM reboot, the Windows Explorer window has been altered, such that the ribbon is now hidden the the content frame (not sure about my terminology; please see attached screenshot). The tops of the buttons are barely visible, but hovering over them, some are active. Rebooted many times, no diff. Compact view on or off makes no difference. I believe I tried safe mode, no diff (I'll try again). My tech support source got on the machine and rolled back an update, but no difference. I've uninstalled some useless demo apps, etc, no difference. I don't believe there are any more updates that came that night to roll back. My skill levels are approximately "old school power user." NOT tech support level. I would be grateful for any suggestions; it's not shutting me down, but it's getting fairly tedious. And aside, kind of personal mantra now: "It was working before; why did you break it?"107Views0likes1Commentendless repair loop at boot up
Can anyone help? Out of nowhere, overnight my PC went into the endless repair loop at boot up. I did all available methods in the Troubleshoot tab and more. All failed, roll back failed, restore failed, remove last update failed, start up repair failed, command prompt... SFC Scan etc steps completed and failed to fix, restore from image failed as all images disappeared, reset failed, tried to reinstall Windows 11 failed, will not allowed me to install Windows in any one of my 5 SSD. While I was trying to restore from Restore point or images, I could access all files inside all 5 of my SSD so I think the SSD drives are still good. Initially, it will not even let me restore back to my last 11/7 restore point but after I did the unplug and hold power button for 35+ seconds, I was able to restore back to 11/7 restore point but again the same automatic repair loop at boot up still not fixed, went right back to blue screen with Troubleshoot tab. Also gone through all of the above steps with an USB Windows boot up repair drive, still problem persists! Any anyone can share some idea? Aorus motherboard bad?45Views0likes0CommentsMonitor turns off for few seconds when opening certain apps
**bleep** of now those apps include Apple Music, tidal, Amazon prime, the monitor turns off for a few seconds then turns back on, it’ll work fine and then when I close it it does it again. Turns off for a few seconds then it’s fine, this is very very annoying and definitely not normal ive tried ddu install, ive tried capping fps in the apps and still nothing, all input is welcome windows 11 144hz monitor 5080 ryzen 7 9800x3d 32gb ddr5 6000MT8Views0likes0Comments