Windows 11 November Update: A Revamped Start Menu, Numerous Enhancements, and Bug Fixes Unleashed
Microsoft has commenced the rollout of its highly anticipated November Patch Tuesday update for Windows 11, bearing the identifier KB5068861. This significant update is designed for builds 26200.7171 (version 25H2) and 26100.7171 (version 24H2), bringing not just crucial security patches but also a cascade of noticeable improvements to the system's aesthetics, performance, and the resolution of long-standing issues.
Among the most welcome fixes is the elimination of a particularly vexing bug that prevented the Task Manager from fully closing after hitting the 'X' button. This persistent glitch often led to lingering processes and a gradual degradation of system performance, making its resolution a priority for users.
The Reimagined Start Menu: A New Era of Navigation
The centerpiece of this update is a profoundly redesigned Start Menu. Gone is the need to delve into a separate "All Programs" folder; instead, users are greeted with a unified, scrollable page displaying all installed applications upfront. This streamlined approach significantly enhances discoverability and convenience.
Microsoft has introduced two innovative viewing modes to further personalize the Start Menu experience: 'Categories,' which intelligently groups applications by theme such as 'Entertainment,' 'Tools,' or 'Office,' and 'Grid View,' a more compact layout prioritizing icons for a space-saving presentation. This organizational magic is powered by a local 15MB JSON file, ensuring that app categorization works offline, free from reliance on Microsoft's servers. A category will only appear if it contains at least three applications, maintaining a clean and focused interface.
Furthermore, a new toggle within the settings (Personalization → Start) allows users to banish the "Recommended files" section. Disabling this feature will also, quite logically, hide "Recent files" from File Explorer and context menus, giving users greater control over what they see.
Color-Coded Battery Icons: Visual Clarity at a Glance
A long-overdue visual upgrade has arrived for the Windows 11 taskbar in the form of color-coded battery icons. This intuitive change provides at-a-glance information about the battery's status:
- Green: Indicates charging or a full charge.
- Orange: Signals that power-saving mode has been activated.
- Red: Alerts users to a critically low battery level (below 6%).
Adding to this convenience, users can now opt to display the exact battery percentage directly on the taskbar. This feature, accessible via Settings → System → Power & battery, is the result of over a year of development, driven by extensive user feedback requesting more informative battery indicators than the previous monochromatic icon.
Task Manager: Truly Closing the Lid
The aforementioned KB5068861 update effectively resolves the frustrating issue where the Task Manager would continue to run in the background even after being closed. This persistent background activity was a silent system performance drain, often creating duplicate processes. With this fix, clicking the 'X' button now ensures the Task Manager process terminates completely.
A Symphony of Other Improvements and Fixes
Beyond the headline features, the November update brings a host of other valuable enhancements:
- Performance Boost: The loading time of the taskbar has been noticeably accelerated after waking the PC from sleep or unlocking it.
- Lock Screen Polish: A bug that prevented the password input field from appearing upon startup has been rectified.
- Gaming Devices: A critical issue causing rapid battery drain on portable gaming PCs that failed to enter power-saving mode has been addressed.
- Network Stability: The stability of HTTP.sys, the core system module for handling HTTP requests, has been significantly improved.
- Voice Access Refinement: A crash during the initial setup of Voice Access without a connected microphone has been resolved.
The Windows 11 KB5068861 update is being deployed incrementally through Windows Update. However, for those eager to experience these changes sooner, manual download is available from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The download size varies: approximately 1GB via Windows Update and up to 4GB for manual installation.
This update follows Microsoft's recent efforts to address 172 bugs in Windows 10, demonstrating a continued commitment to refining the user experience across its operating systems, even as it meticulously irons out the kinks in Windows 11. Sources: windowscentral, windowsreport, windowslatest, neowin
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