Windows 11 has been on the market for just over two months, and everything we've done so far is modify the operating system to restore lost features. The differences between Redmond's vision and users' needs are truly enormous, but there are some bridges that remain standing, one of which is the Feedback Hub, or Centro de Opiniones. Hundreds of thousands of users have shared their comments and concerns about Windows 11, and today we're going to take a look at the ten most requested features.
The Problematic Start of the New Windows
The folks at AdDuplex shared in its latest November report that Windows 11 already holds 8.6 percent of the market. Personally, I have doubts about that percentage because it's based on only 60 thousand computers, and because the folks at Lansweeper reported that Windows 11 was installed on only 0.21 percent of computers, measuring ten million PCs. Beyond the differences between both records, one thing is certain: It has a lot to improve.
The most conclusive proof of this is in the Feedback Hub, also known as the Centro de Opiniones. Microsoft encourages the community to share comments and concerns about its products, but if we look closely at the ten most requested features by Windows 11 users, everything seems to suggest that Redmond is very selective when it comes to reading and responding to complaints.
The 10 Most Requested Features by Windows 11 Users
- “Restore the ability to move the taskbar to the top and sides of the screen in Windows 11”. With nearly 26 thousand upvotes, it's the most requested in the Feedback Hub. Microsoft's canned response is five months old, confirming that insiders reported this limitation during previews and the company did nothing.
- “Restore the option to access Task Manager by right-clicking on the taskbar in Windows 11”. Almost 17 thousand votes. Microsoft merely reminded users that opening the Start menu context menu and using Ctrl+Shift+Esc work the same way. Fortunately, restoring the Windows 10 taskbar in Windows 11 is not complicated.
- “Support in the Windows 11 Start menu for placing pinned apps in groups and folders”. A clear example of regression: Windows 10 allows this, but Windows 11 does not. Microsoft has not responded.
- “Update the Windows 11 taskbar to include drag & drop support for files onto pinned icons, allowing their opening and/or transfer”. Microsoft's official response acknowledges there's no support for this, and recommends as an alternative combining drag with Alt+Tab to choose the window where we want to drop files... which requires the folder or program to already be open.
- “Update the Windows 11 taskbar to prevent the combining of app icons and show labels”. About 16 thousand votes at the time of writing. The feature exists in Windows 10 and went under the guillotine in the new Windows. No official response... but StartAllBack can definitely help.
- “Update the Windows 11 taskbar to support the use of small icons”. 15 thousand votes and counting. It's incredible that Microsoft removed this feature. Not everyone has a 4K screen, and in many environments the icons look huge. The response is conspicuously absent.
- “Make the taskbar clock in Windows 11 available on all monitors and not just the primary one”. A real 'Picard facepalm' moment for Microsoft. I have two monitors on my Windows 10 machine, and the clock appears on both without issues. Microsoft confirmed that build 22059 in the Dev Channel has already restored the clock, and it will soon reach the stable version.
- “Remove the TPM requirement”. It's worth remembering that it can be easily bypassed on fresh installs, and Microsoft basically won't give ground for reasons it has already explained.
- “Enable the ability to disable the Recommendations section and make the entire area disappear in Windows 11”. The brilliant minds at Redmond are convinced that they need to recommend things to you on your own computer. The next update will allow reducing the size of the section... but that's not what users want.
- “Option to disable news in Widgets and prevent them from appearing there”. Simple: Many users want more useful widgets, but don't want the flood of news based on celebrities and media scandals. Microsoft didn't respond.
In Summary: Windows 11 Needs to Improve
While Panos Panay (current CPO of Microsoft and one of those directly responsible for Windows) goes from one retweet to another as if everything were perfect, users are asking, demanding, and begging for improvements in Windows 11. The most worrying thing is that these are not impossible things. The key word here is “regression”: Many features available in Windows 10 disappeared in the new operating system without a convincing explanation, and users want them back.
Everyone can understand the existence of a bug or a technical failure that causes compatibility and performance issues, but the vast majority of the changes we've seen smell like internal politics and serious communication problems. We hope that next year someone wakes up in Redmond and turns Windows 11 into the operating system we want: Fast, lightweight, stable, flexible, secure, and above all... that stays out of the way.
Source: Neowin
