Microsoft is redesigning the Start menu in Home windows 11 this month with a brand new, wider design that lastly permits you to disable the beneficial feed of recordsdata and apps. Whereas the brand new Begin menu seems totally different to what exists in Home windows 11 as we speak, this design refresh may have regarded lots totally different as Microsoft has now revealed in idea photographs.
In a blog post detailing the method of redesigning the Begin menu, Microsoft has revealed 5 idea designs that would have radically overhauled how the menu works in Home windows. One consists of an much more rounded menu with widget-like performance, and a separate For You part that lists Groups conferences, YouTube movies, and just lately used recordsdata.
One other idea has the For You part separated on the aspect, with the primary menu centered on classes of apps, and one other prototype imagines a touchdown web page because the Begin menu, full with shortcuts, apps, recordsdata, and separate sections to entry your Android telephone, customized app lists, and creation instruments. There’s even a begin menu idea that seems to take up your complete vertical house of a display screen, full with separated sections that you just appear to scroll vertically to entry.
“Whiteboards, Figma frames, floor-to-ceiling paper prototypes—nothing was too scrappy,” says the Home windows design workforce. “We sketched out a plethora of layouts, letting ourselves go wild and uncover new issues earlier than making use of the editorial pen.”
Microsoft examined its numerous Begin menu designs with greater than 300 Home windows 11 followers and even co-creation calls with choose followers. “We watched eye-tracking warmth maps swirl, counted scroll wheels, and listened for ’oh!‘s of enjoyment to know the place we had been hitting the mark,” says the design workforce.
The main focus of the brand new Begin menu has been on with the ability to simply see your apps, customizability, pace, and never overhauling it an excessive amount of to “respect three a long time of muscle reminiscence.” The result’s a brand new Begin menu that’s greater and extra customizable than what exists as we speak. Having the ability to take away the beneficial feed shall be a welcome addition for a lot of, and the telephone companion panel seems prefer it’s totally constructed into the Begin menu to offer fast entry to current calls, messages, and telephone recordsdata.
Microsoft is testing this new Begin menu with Home windows Insiders over the approaching month, so count on to see it present up for all Home windows 11 customers within the coming months.