Hate Windows 11’s Start menu? Rumors suggest Microsoft is fixing pretty much everything that’s wrong with it — and speeding up File Explorer too
- Windows 11 Start Menu Rumored to Receive a Number of Big Fixes
- This includes full control over which items appear in the menu and the ability to manually switch between small and large layouts.
- Microsoft is also testing changes to improve File Explorer performance, and this should arrive with the next Windows 11 update in May.
The Windows 11 Start menu is set to benefit from changes many have been calling for, and Microsoft is also fixing File Explorer performance as the company works to consolidate key elements of the operating system’s interface.
Windows Central reported the Start Menu working, although it should be noted that this is just a rumor. That said, we know that Microsoft intends to revamp the menu as part of the big campaign to fix Windows 11, so something will definitely be done with this part of the UI.
According to sources who spoke to Windows Central, the main change will be a much greater level of control over Start menu customization. Windows 11 users will be able to disable any section of the menu that they don’t want to see.
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Not only does this mean the ability to abandon the recommended panel – which you can do now (this was part of the last major Start menu overhaul – but you can also get rid of pinned apps, or even the list of all installed apps on the PC.
Apparently, you’ll also be able to choose to have a small (6 columns) or larger (8 columns) Start menu layout, which is a decision Windows 11 is currently making. For example, if you have a small screen, the operating system will automatically choose the most compact view, which is quite wise. However, not everyone is happy with how this works in certain scenarios, which is why Microsoft is willing to allow users to override this decision if they wish.
Windows Central says that Microsoft is trying to make the Start menu “much faster and more responsive,” and we’ve heard about it before (and that the user interface should work quickly even when the system is under a heavy workload). The search function in the Start menu will also be made faster.
As for File Explorer – the application that powers the very folders that contain the files on your desktop – Microsoft just released a new test build of Windows 11 in the Release Preview channel that improves its performance.
The build notes state that this “improves File Explorer launch speed and performance” and fixes remaining bugs where opening a folder in dark mode causes a nasty white flash to light up the screen (a fix that has been making progress in test builds of late).
Windows Latest tried the preview and found that File Explorer does indeed seem faster, and it especially seems faster when first launched, so that seems promising.
Analysis: a mountain to climb
The first time File Explorer is run can often be very slow with some PCs – I’ve witnessed this myself, on my Windows 11 Surface device – so this is an important area to fix. These are welcome improvements to File Explorer, and all being well, they should roll out in the May Update for Windows 11. (Don’t count on it, as whether this continues could depend on what happens in testing and if any last-minute bugs are found).
The proposed work with the Start menu is hugeand pretty much a wishlist of everything you might want to fix with this part of the interface (the only thing missing is any mention of ditching ad-style promotions, although you can already disable the recommended panel, of course). However, before we get carried away with the idea of these changes, we must remember that these are just rumors about Microsoft. Even if all this is true as it stands, the company could still change its mind on some of these points.
I’m really surprised that the idea of disabling the Start Menu’s list of all apps seems to be on the table. If so, the goal of this redesign is to give the user complete control over the appearance of the Start menu, to the point of making it extremely streamlined. The ability to manually switch to the small Start menu layout (previously a selection made by the operating system, as noted) also plays into this notion.
This seems to be a desire to please those who complain about the overly large and cumbersome Start menu, which essentially spans the entire desktop and looks more like the old “Start screen” in some cases.
As I’ve observed in the past, the menu has become so boring for some people in its newer, larger form that they’ve been forced to resort to hacks or third-party tools to get a more compact Start menu. Now Microsoft is going to offer that choice, as well as the ability to make the menu really sleek by disabling various items – which is great, but at the same time, it should have been the case in the first place.
Indeed, not everyone is impressed with Microsoft here. As one Reddit user observed: “Too little, too late. My next version will be… another operating system.” Others have expressed similar sentiments in this thread, although sometimes more pointed in nature, such as: “Too little, too late. We’ll believe it when we see it, and even then we’ll be careful because it can turn to shit again faster than we can say pumpernickel.”
It’s probably the software understatement of the year to say that there’s a lot going on to tweak and change Windows 11 right now, on many fronts. Windows Central points out that the project aimed at fixing major operating system issues is called “Windows K2” and I think it’s a more than appropriate name.
It seems Microsoft realizes it has a mountain to climb here; I just worry that the climb ahead will be a little too steep, and there are good reasons why Microsoft can’t trip or fall here, as I’ve discussed at length recently. Linux is becoming an increasingly imposing threat, and the MacBook Neo poses a challenge for Windows 11 laptops to boot.
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