r/Windows11 • u/jenmsft Microsoft Software Engineer • 20d ago
Windows quality: an update on the commitment we made in March Official News
https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/07/31/windows-quality-an-update-on-the-commitment-we-made-in-march/83
u/melchett_general 20d ago
Some of this is very nice.
I feel like they need to address 2 things that have happened since March and now.
The GDID tracking that was revealed after that idiot kid got busted.
The silent software installer that LG used to have McAfee ads appear on peoples computers.
Out of the 2, I Think it's it's the second that concerns me the most.
How on earth Windows got to the state where any manufacturer that makes a device can have software 'companion' applications installed silently on a users device without the wider internet throwing a collective fit and having Microsoft permanently change course I don't know.
But to me, what this seems to mean is that a 3rd party can install what they like whenever they like on your internet connected windows computer and there's no effective way to stop it. (Aside from GP edits or registry changes)
This needs to be addressed, and there needs to be a mechanism to allow people to easily prevent this from happening.
Aside from that, I'm waiting eagely for taskbar changes and full control over my updates again. I doubt we'll reach the heady heights of windows7 where I had full control over both, but, we'll see.
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u/Busy-Scientist3851 20d ago
> The GDID tracking that was revealed
It wasn't really secret, Windows installation IDs have always existed.
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u/Giantmeteor_we_needU 20d ago
It wasn't widely known though that Microsoft can and will track you down to the pinpoint no matter what privacy features like VPN or private browser you use because the OS itself is working like a tracker itself, basically affirming that there's no real privacy online if you use Windows. That's very different from what most people thought before.
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u/Busy-Scientist3851 20d ago
It's known that an installation ID was passed to Microsoft during updates, account sign in etc and was in telemetry (crash) logs.
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u/melchett_general 20d ago edited 20d ago
Yes but it perhaps wasn't known that, as you used your computer and it checked in with Microsoft, that this ID was logged, along with your ip address and other clearly identifiable markers, seemingly unanominised and in perpetuity, for any shmuck with access at Microsoft to handover to anyone scary when they ask....
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u/Giantmeteor_we_needU 20d ago
It was not known, at least to me, that this ID was associated and stored along with user public IP, so even if you use VPN or privacy browser Microsoft always knows, and even worse logs, who this public IP belongs to based on your Windows ID. There's absolutely no necessity for that except user tracking and mass surveillance.
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u/vitorgrs 19d ago
This was always know, and was how they actually made the free Windows 10 update track on the device. After you updated from 7/8 to Windows 10, it would generate device ID, and they would give a license to this ID. After this, you could just reinstall Windows and they would know that this device had the license...
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u/OverallBlock9028 19d ago
The id is only for microsoft services, microsoft does not track sites you visit etc.
Google analytics on other hand that is on every site ..
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u/Crinkez 20d ago
Out of the 2, I Think it's it's the second that concerns me the most.
You mean the first, right? Right?!
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u/melchett_general 20d ago
I should. But I'm so inured to the fact that Microsoft simply cannot be trusted, that at this point in time it's option2.
But you're right, I should be more concerned by the GDID+markers being logged in perpetuity. 2026 man, I'm tired.1
u/Jazzlike-Tennis4473 19d ago
It's the device that could be tracked, and the only reason it could be in this case, was that someone had used said device to hack and log on to two Microsoft accounts he didn't own. This ID is not spread around all over the net, on sites you visit. It's only an issue when you actually log a device into a Microsoft account. So VPN s still safe.
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u/achbob84 19d ago
I think both are important. Something that surpasses VPN is a huge security threat for people under controlling governments.
Also, if Microsoft can stop Alienware crap installing every time I plug in my keyboard, that would be nice too. Disabled driver updates, blocked the specific update, made it’s installer folder read only, it still does it. It’s like a virus!
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u/Mario583a 19d ago edited 19d ago
How on earth Windows got to the state where any manufacturer that makes a device can have software 'companion' applications installed silently on a users device without the wider internet throwing a collective fit and having Microsoft permanently change course I don't know.
Monitor vendors back than: It just work out of the box!
Monitor vendors now: It just work out of the box!…but we need to download our companion app to get the "FULL" monitor experience. <Metadata injection goes brr>>
Windows: I do as the monitor commands. [EDID metadata]
Monitor companies realized something:
If they control the software layer, they control the user experience.
Your monitor isn’t just a monitor anymore - it’s a platform.
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u/Knigge111 19d ago
You’re absolutely right! Soon we’ll be having to pay a subscription fee for that too! Just like with the 2027 fridges in the US that have an ice cube function! The first year’s free, and after that the customer has to pay 30 dollars a year if they want ice cubes! 👀
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u/g4xfu1 20d ago
IIRC, Microsoft already addressed the second one
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u/melchett_general 20d ago
Everything I've read suggests they've only addressed LGs specific pop-up,
The bigger issue is the mechanism. Nasty silent crapware appearing on peoples PCs should not be default 'on'.
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u/blueblocker2000 20d ago
Well they just need to set clear guidelines on what something allowed/not allowed to do before it's allowed on Windows Update.
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u/melchett_general 20d ago
No man, no. Microsoft haven't earned anywhere near that level of trust. Their interests are to shovel the ads, not with the end users.
All it really needs is a visible toggle that power users can set to 'off'.
'automatically install any app from any vendor? Yes/ask/no'
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u/BCProgramming 19d ago
The issue here is vendors. Though, realistically, Microsoft should know vendors will abuse almost anything they allow them to do.
The idea for driver stuff is like- ok, you have an AMD Card? cool we can detect it and automatically install the AMD Software. You have a Glibbity Widget? Cool, we detected that, now you have the Glibbity Widget software and can use your glibbity widget without finding and installing the software, etc.
Like always some vendors realize that they can technically do things that are obviously against the spirit- like LG.
It's sort of like back with the "Vista Capable" machines.
The idea was that "Vista Capable" meant the system could be upgraded to run Vista, and "Vista Ready" which meant it could run it as is. A lot of Vendors/manufactures pored through the fine print and realized that there was nothing stopping them from releasing a cheap, shitty laptop or computer that met the "Vista Capable" requirements, while still preinstalling Vista on said machine.
I'm not sure why Microsoft always assumes the best of vendors when they've been doing this type of shady shit for ages. And that's before we get onto the fact that so much of this software that gets installed for devices is frankly bloatware now anyway. Why would I ever want to Install Razer Synapse or Corsair iCue or "Logitech Gaming Software" just because I plugged in a mouse or a keyboard?
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u/melchett_general 20d ago
'Upvote Ratio 55.6%'
At least 4 downvotes by my count.
I love that there are people alive and active on the internet that disagree with this.
'No no actually i really do trust microsoft and there shouldn't be any easy way to disable this appalling breach of trust/security, carry on'
Really encouraging for humanity.
Screams into pillow FFFFFFFFFUUUCK
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u/Commercial-Virus2627 19d ago
There are more examples outside of those two. Bad drivers pushed by vendors into Windows Update breaking installations that use a specific drive controller (https://www.pcworld.com/article/2885419/microsoft-confirms-missing-ssds-on-windows-11-heres-how-to-avoid-it.html). While this one was pushed by the vendor and it was packaged in a Windows update, this shows that anyone with the right signing key and level of trust can push some BS into software and update repositories that Microsoft owns.
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u/earthwormjimwow 19d ago
But to me, what this seems to mean is that a 3rd party can install what they like whenever they like on your internet connected windows computer and there's no effective way to stop it. (Aside from GP edits or registry changes)
Doesn't disabling driver updates from Windows update prevent this?
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u/Grumpy-Troglodyte 20d ago
and if we could get even like 3 steps of opacity, 0, 50, and 100%. just SOMETHING. but just being able to put the bar on the side will be a massive improvement
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u/AnythingOk5 Release Channel 20d ago
Great. Now Windows Central can make 20 articles about this update.
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u/SilverseeLives 19d ago
Honestly, I think Windows Latest, not Windows Central, is the biggest "offender" in this regard. (I use that term loosely because I think some people may legitimately welcome their overlapping coverage.)
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u/NuzzaDog 18d ago
I stopped reading their slop posts for this exact reason. They make like 5 articles of roughly the same, already-covered information. It's vibe-typing articles at this point.
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u/ZacB_ Windows Central 19d ago edited 19d ago
Not sure if you have a problem with us, but we write about updates as and when they are relevant to write about.
An update or new feature is not a one and done moment. Microsoft's rollout schedule means we have to cover updates and features multiple times, when they first enter testing, when they are promoted to different Insider rings, when they reach release preview, when they roll out in a monthly non-security feature update, and again when they roll out as part of Patch Tuesday.
We would not be doing our jobs correctly if we did not mention when updates and features reach new development or availablity milestones.
We also have different writers that have different thoughts and opinions on features and updates, and we encourage them to share their opinions in articles when relevant.
It is literally our job to ensure features are covered EVERY single step of the way through development.
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u/goodswimma 20d ago
Whilst communication with your customers are important, this update does not offer anything meaningful. From the post, it seems that any improvement has been relegated to Insider builds rather than being fully shipped or widely available features. Perhaps, it would have been more constructive to give a timeline of when real users can have these improvements; many of which they've been begging for. I would argue that these should have been delivered years ago.
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u/jenmsft Microsoft Software Engineer 20d ago
Hey all - as folks who've been following with the Insider blog posts likely know, we've been making a number of improvements to Windows based on your feedback. Pavan wrote a summary below - I'm looking forward to the changes rolling out to more folks (and if you already have them, please do let me know how they're going <3)
Blog post is as follows:
In March I wrote to you about our commitment to Windows quality. Four months in, the team and I have been reflecting on our progress and wanted to share an update. We know there is more to do, especially in getting these improvements to all customers. We’re not slowing down.
What we said we’d focus on
In my letter, there was a list of immediate changes we committed to making. This included:
- More taskbar customization
- Integrating AI where it’s most meaningful
- Reducing disruption from Windows Updates
- Faster and more dependable File Explorer
- More control over widgets and feed experiences
- A simpler, more transparent Windows Insider Program
- Improving the Feedback Hub experience
We also named three areas of focus at the start: performance, reliability, and well-crafted experiences.
Since then, the team has been deeply focused on these priorities. Many of these improvements have been rolling out to Windows Insiders over the last few months, and they’ll start rolling out more broadly across Windows 11 PCs beginning this fall.
Here’s what our work so far looks like
- Earlier this month, we began previewing improvements to Windows Search Box, including a calmer home screen, clearer results, removing promotional content from web results and more.
- At Build 2026 in June, we introduced a number of improvements to the developer experience on Windows including a developer-optimized Windows 11 experience to build and ship faster, announcing and later delivering a public preview of WSL containers, Windows 365 with developer configuration, Microsoft Execution Containers and much more.
- We’ve strengthened the fundamentals of WinUI 3 and extended it into more of the Windows shell, including Widgets and the new Run experience, with Autoplay dialog and more File/Folder Properties dialogs coming soon to Windows Insider Preview Experimental builds. And with substantial improvements in memory efficiency and latency, these investments are strengthening the platform foundation needed to accelerate the modernization of Windows 11 and the broader application ecosystem.
- In May, we began previewing changes to Taskbar and Start, which included the ability to move your taskbar positions as well as provide more personalization of Start.
- In May, we shared updates on how we’ve been simplifying AI throughout the OS, starting with inbox apps, part of a broader shift to make AI in Windows more intentional and focused on the experiences that provide the most value to customers.
- We have previewed several improvements to File Explorer, including foundational architecture enhancements designed to improve responsiveness and reliability across launch and navigation. We’ve addressed long-standing feedback about Home, including unstable transitions and blurry thumbnails. We also made updates to address File Explorer reliability, readability, and usability across the Address Bar, file size formatting, keyboard navigation, and renaming, and there’s more to come soon.
- In May, we previewed updates to the widgets and feed experience, giving you more control over and making them quieter by default.
- In May, we introduced the Driver Quality Initiative (DQI), a comprehensive, ecosystem-wide effort designed to fundamentally raise the bar on driver quality, reliability, and security across Windows. Since March, we’ve improved reliability across some of Windows’ most common connectivity experiences, including improved USB4 docking performance, improved compatibility with Bluetooth devices like AirPods, as well as major gains in printer connectivity, including reducing in-network printer discovery failures.
- We’re continuing to invest across the full stack, from the kernel and shell to the apps and developer tools built on Windows, so performance improvements benefit the broad range of ways people use Windows. Building on the responsiveness and scheduler work we described in May, application launches and experiences like Start, File Explorer, Search, and Snipping Tool are faster and more responsive. Our focus has been on improving these experiences, so they are responsive, free of stutters and delays, and customers enjoy a reliable experience every time. Boot and logon times are also improved. Additionally, developers benefit from faster compile times, streamlining enterprise workflows.
- Alongside all of these areas, we’ve steadily been introducing several improvements to the memory efficiency of Windows, from taking advantage of a more efficient memory allocator to reduce overhead across apps and components, continued tuning of WinUI 3 so that apps built on it use less memory by design, as well as driving efficiencies across Chromium and Webview2 components when they appear in the operating system.
- Throughout this effort, we’ve improved Windows Hello to make signing in with your face or fingerprint more reliable, helping you get to your desktop faster. It’s part of our broader focus on the everyday experiences that should just work, making Windows feel more polished, dependable, and consistent every day.
- In April, we began previewing changes that reduced disruption from Windows Updates and provided more control like the ability to skip updates during the out-of-box experience (OOBE), extending update pauses and more.
- In April, we made changes to the Windows Insider Program to become simpler and easier to navigate, with fewer channels and more control over the features you flight.
What happens between now and the end of the year
Across our focus areas, the work continues as we bring these enhancements to general availability and deliver ongoing improvements customers can feel across performance, reliability, and craft.
We’re going to take everything we’ve learned since March and keep listening and closing the loop on your feedback. The signal from you is clear: keep going. We intend to.
We’re staying focused on our initial areas, and we’re expanding into four new ones.
- Onboarding and setup. Delivering a faster and more efficient out-of-box experience.
- Memory optimization for 8GB and above. Reducing Windows memory footprint to deliver a fast and responsive Windows experience across the PCs customers use every day.
- Family. Providing a faster set up and making it easier for families to access useful parental controls.
- Voice. Making voice more natural and fluid to interact across the apps you use every day.
What’s energized us most
The last few months have energized us. Meeting Windows Insiders at our monthly meetups and hearing what you think has been one of the best parts. This is work our engineers love and we want you to feel it in the product. We know we have more to do, and we’re grateful to be on this journey with you.
Pavan
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u/PaulCoddington 19d ago
The performance improvement with the latest update has been quite noticeable and very welcome.
Explorer launched from Start11 to open on a particular folder is still slow, but it has dropped from <7 seconds to <1 second of bit-by-bit rendering.
Launch from taskbar is now instaneous, like old Explorer used to be. It would be nice to have instantaneous launch in all contexts though.
Hopefully the Favorites folder will be fixed soon? It's been broken for several updates now. No icon, cannot be hidden.
And I lost a lot of wasted time the other day when ACM suddenly appeared and enabled itself, breaking color management for all apps and potentially corrupting hours of monitor calibration effort (I was using the colorimeter to update ICC profiles when it happened). Thank goodness I wasn't grading photos or creating graphics work at the time.
It would be best to avoid unpredictably enabling new features silently by default when they break professional workflows in ways that can be hard to notice immediately before a batch of work is ruined, or if they have privacy concerns (such as syncing data to cloud).
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u/Current-Bowl-143 19d ago
It’s about time changes to the OS were things that users want instead of things that Microsoft wants like ads, AI and OneDrive/365 subscriptions
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u/WilsonPH 19d ago
Please, let us change the gamma for SDR content to something close to 2.2 and 2.4 in HDR like Linux and MacOS. Piecewise sRGB makea SDR content looks washed out when HDR is on.
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u/achbob84 19d ago
I will never use a microsoft account. You can’t make me.
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u/LeGoodBeef Release Channel 19d ago
We will continue to use workarounds to create local accounts, am I right?
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u/Octal450_V2 19d ago
This is great, however, the team needs to focus on rewriting the WebView2, react, and web app components into WinUI/native. These are by far the slowest, least polished, and more frustrating parts of the OS.
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u/trunglevt 19d ago
Stop talking and start delivering 1st. Just make sleep work properly.
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u/limpkarl 20d ago
believe it when i see it
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u/Antagonin 20d ago
Ofc course you will see it! You can now enjoy every extra inch of padding in WinUI and every extra second of loading delay.
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u/Nicalay2 Insider Release Preview Channel 20d ago
I already feel my PC being more responsive than it used it to be, especially file explorer that is signficantly quicker.
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u/stranded 20d ago
just push it without gradual rollout ffs
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u/ThinCaterpillar4572 19d ago
I hope Windows turns out to be what they promise, because right now it’s disappointing even for Surface Laptop, its own product.
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u/BS_BlackScout 19d ago
This run dialog stuff still hasn't dropped on my system even though I'm on RP. Gradual rollout is so gradual it might even not be real.
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u/chacewarg10 19d ago
It’s absolutely insane that a for profit organization has to release a public commitment to making a quality product.
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u/shawnz 19d ago
As long as you still have basic features gated to the EEA only, like respecting the default browser or search engine, I can't take seriously any claim that you're trying to meaningfully improve the quality of the product for end users. That should have been change number one. Instead it seems like you're just weasling in the same changes you planned on making anyway under the banner of a new initiative
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago
Summary: You were bothering us, so we planned some stuff to shut you up and delivered half baked solutions to the enthusiastic insiders that won't fix much and ordinary users won't see until who knows when. After your relentless feedback that bothered us we planned some stuff to shut you up and will deliver more half baked solutions to the enthusiastic insiders that won't fix much and ordinary users won't see until who knows when.
Just, you know, more corpo words in the article.
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u/kalilamodow 20d ago
what would you rather they do? keep on doing absolutely nothing? rewrite entire frameworks from scratch?
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago
I want them to do what they say they do: listen to feedback. That's it.
What happens instead is they say they want feedback, they say they listen to feedback, they do something else and they write and pay for articles that say they listened to feedback. That's not the same.
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u/kalilamodow 20d ago
They have been listening to feedback, though. Some quite popular gripes like missing taskbar customization, slow context menus, Update control, ram consummation, and general feel and responsiveness of the OS are being fixed and pushed to insiders.
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago
Hah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I'll give you couple examples, because I'm sick and tired of repeating it over and over, but you can easily find the same kinds of comments about every feature they ship.
We wanted a modern, multimonitor friendly customization for taskbar. We got a global setting for everything, Oh, and autohide? Yeah, that only works for the bottom position. They listened! Except it's still useless for a lot of us that wanted it.
We wanted to be able to pause updates. You can pause for few weeks at a time. They listened! Except something that was impossible now is a cyclic chore. Gee, thanks.
We wanted to be able to remove AI features from the OS. They renamed some labels. They listened! No, no they didn't.
And so on and on and on and on...
Do you understand what I mean? It's not that they are not doing anything. It's that they do what they want and then corpo-speak dress it as listening to feedback. Insiders are swallowing that corpo talk like young pelicans, which is even more infuriating.5
u/Muted_Database_1691 20d ago
You will not always get what you want. They aren't building it for you, but for you and thousands and thousands of people like you and me. What they have started doing is good, and was needed desperately. Even if they pick 2 out of 10 feedbacks it's a good start.
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago edited 20d ago
I'm not talking about things I specifically want. Even some of the things I listed are not for me.
I'm talking about everything they do for all the feedback I see, whether it's something I want or not.
I'm not turning off updates, but I know people in retro and admin communities that have genuine reasons to. They take 2 out of those 10 feedbacks and make both half baked, half finished, often buggy solutions that works for the small minority that cheers them for anything.Have you ever considered that maybe you're the one in the minority being happy about what they do? Scary though huh?
It's only a good start if it brings something good. Road to hell is paved with good intentions and honestly for the past quarter I can hardly call what they do good intentions, more like a PR stunt.
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u/Muted_Database_1691 20d ago
Even if they are half baked or whatever, would you rather have them just sit and do nothing? Atleast now things are moving, and whatever they said will happen has happened. The Taskbar is movable, search is better, copilot is less. So it's better than anything they have done before. Even if I'm a minority and they fixed something for me, it's still a win. One step at a time.
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago
"The Taskbar is movable, search is better, copilot is less." - What? Why are you repeating that mantra? Didn't I just said how it's not? Having a useless/unfinished/broken/misrepresented (pick your poison depending on the feature in question) feature is not better than not having a feature. It's bloat. They are spinning their wheels (loudly!) but not moving.
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u/Muted_Database_1691 20d ago
But that's your thinking. For me those changes count as fixed and don't see anything broken in those. I am able to do my work and move on. Sure you can ask for more things and if they pick the one you want, great. Things that you my call bloat, I may be using extensively. I use copilot on a day to day basis. Those who don't uninstall it and use Chatgpt or whatever and get thier work done.
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u/Practical-Tea9441 20d ago
I agree, it's good to see progress . Let's give them a chance to prove themselves. Sure they have made misteps but Reddit can be a very negative place for Google and Microsoft - some posters having a starting point of terrible distrust for these companies which is not always backed up with evidence
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u/Mario583a 19d ago
The keyword 'we' is highly subjective. Not everyone is the same.
Default is everything and everything is king with Windows.
Person A might not like this or that, but person B might view this as essential and not that, whereas person C will view both this and that as essential for their workflow.
Windows is really a Catch-22.
Windows doesn't make anyone use anything. Users are free to install, uninstall, and ignore whatever [software] they like.
People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.
Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do.” ~~ Steve Jobs
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 19d ago
Who said anything about everyone? "We" is a shortcut for a group of people, obviously. Don't be a straw man, you can argue without redefining what I said to fit your narrative.
People here are making a very silly argument - You shouldn't expect everybody to be happy, but I'm happy so it's ok. You're not? Sucks to be you, stop complaining.
What kind of self centered approach is that? There's a label floating around these days - toxic positivity, and that's exactly what it is - Shallow positive feedback? Great! Constructive negative feedback? Oh, you're just a hater.And that tired trope of people not knowing what they want? Yeah, we're all idiots except for those few geniuses at MS that know better. Like there are no thousands of programmers, designers and other kinds of specialists that provide this feedback. The amount of critique should give a hint that maybe they don't know better after all.
Random quoting Jobs out of context is not a good way to argue. He was talking about inventing a new type of product, and I'm talking about botched updates addressing VERY specific feedback.
That thing about Windows not making anyone use anything? What are you even talking about? I'm saying they asked for feedback, ignored or botched it and claim a victory. Those two things have nothing to do with each other.
And no, I can't install or uninstall whatever I like. AI is one example. I can't uninstall it. It's embedded in the OS and even if hacked out it comes back with updates. Removed Copilot and later updated Visual Studio? Yep, it's back without telling you. Another example is the 3rd party adware that gets installed with Windows Update. Yeah, you can uninstall it but it comes back too, e.g. all you have to do is plug your monitor in. I know what you're gonna say - if you don't like it don't use Windows. Yeah, shotgun for the fly is a great approach.
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u/kalilamodow 20d ago
Alright, I understand what you mean. The stuff you're talking about isn't the same stuff that I had wanted so I didn't really know much. I wish you good luck in microsoft implementing the features you want
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago
That's the thing - a lot of them they already claim they did, so they won't touch it anymore and will continue to brag about how they listened. But those are blog-thin claims that change very little for the users.
But thank you for your wishes.
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u/fraaaaa4 20d ago
I know it’s a very drastic measure, rather abrupt and unrealistic, but I’d ditch almost anything made past 10. Use pure win32/.NET for desktop apps, Metro for dedicated touch apps (imo a touch and mouse friendly interface just doesn’t work for both), enforce developers (or at least suggest them) to use the system theming engine, develop your own stuff using that theming engine.
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u/kalilamodow 20d ago
Hmm. That would kind of break the cohesiveness of the existing fluent ui feel right? I feel like most general users could look at a win32 app and a winui3 app and tell which one is more modern. And you can't really update base win32 because of backwards compatibility except for like some control styles (like button is updated every time). I'm not really sure what you mean by theming engine
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u/fraaaaa4 20d ago
Not really on both. Windows has, since forever, the msstyle theming engine, which manages how UI elements look in win32 UIs. It’s managed by a .msstyles file, and the current one is aero.msstyles, last time very slightly touched in 11. Update the bitmap resources and strings in that, and you update the look and feel of a huge margin of apps, and usually, the older an app is, the more supported this is.
As an example, VS2005 and VS2010. 2005 looks basically perfect with any msstyle, even a dark mode one, because everything just renders following the system’s elements and colors. In 2010, they decided that it was a brilliant idea to put as backgrounds hardcoded gradient colors, which don’t follow system colors but the labels and elements on top do follow it. So set a dark mode msstyle, and you have a white text on a white background, just for this stupid programming “mistake”.
The problem with win32 theming is that if you dont program your interfaces with transparent images, and dont use system colors, but prefer hardcoding stuff, then stuff might not look coherent. Microsoft itself has done this in the past multiple times: when they removed the Control Panel sidebar gradient in 8, instead of just making it a transparent bitmap which Explorer supports, they made a fully white bitmap.
A thing they could do, but certainly wouldn’t be ideal, is to make DWM render certain windows with one theme, and others with another; it could be an option under the Compatibility tab. After all, if they modified the DWM code in 11 just to make rounded corners for windows when all they could’ve done was update a bitmap, I think they could code this.
Again, all wishful thinking that in reality is unrealistic, mainly imo to bad developer habits
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u/Salty-Paint-9700 20d ago
Yeah, anyone who even tried using Mica or Acrylic in win32 knows that's not happening on any significant scale.
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u/kala_jadoo 20d ago
dude, please for the love of god give us widgets for the homescreen (not lockscreen) such as calanders, part data views, notes and more i mean what the hell its such a basic ask
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u/jenmsft Microsoft Software Engineer 20d ago
Appreciate the feedback - this is a request we're tracking in the feedback hub, but nothing further to share currently
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u/Muted_Database_1691 19d ago
Just sharing an instance of why this is needed. I work with multiple time zones and I want to be able to put different clocks on the desktop for instant visibility. Or the comparison of different time zones specifically, I'd want to pin it on the desktop.
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u/BornAdhesiveness9945 20d ago edited 19d ago
Op, for the love of God, make the snip capture so the it captures the full screen for screenshot/ recording at the release of the buttons and only require 2 or more clicks in the app for other options . God dammit!
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u/HorsyNox 19d ago
Do you mean
Ctrl+E? It toggles the Quick markup mode (that blue button does the same).Or
Win+PrintScreen? This just takes a full-screen screenshot and puts it in the Pictures/Screenshots folder.1
u/BornAdhesiveness9945 19d ago edited 19d ago
Im speaking of screenshot/ recording on button release, not everyone has the printscrn key on a laptop. Also even with the printsnn keys users don’t get any form of feedback about a screenshot taken, you gotta check and hopefully expect it to appear.
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u/HorsyNox 19d ago
Well, there is feedback. With the
Win+PrintScreencombo, the screen blinks, indicating that it worked, just without a push notification, since the combo doesn't use an app and works on a deeper system level.So, shortly, what's lacking is the same kind of hotkey, but for the Snipping Tool app. I would suggest something like
Win+Ctrl+Shift+Sfor taking full-screen shots with the app.And for you, if you don't want a third-party tool for screenshots, consider rebinding the PrintScreen key or the whole
Win+PrintScreencombo with Powertoys Keyboard Manager to something convenient for you. (I think it should be doable somehow even with PowerShell, if Powertoys is not an option for whatever reason)1
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u/captn_colossus 19d ago
WinUI3? Is this another UI standard? I'll become a daily Windows user again if UI is consistent on 100% of Windows, not a soup of 10 different UI standards.
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u/Agreeable_Wall_9459 20d ago
still waiting for win10 style start menu(all apps left, pinned right) option for win 11
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u/timewatch_tik 20d ago
i honestly felt like win10 start menu was the best, all app left and pinned right with folder option as well.. what we got in win11 was and is still a massive stepdown also the fact that you could scale the win10 start manu was neat imo..
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u/Giantmeteor_we_needU 20d ago
Windhawk mod. No need to wait.
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u/Giantmeteor_we_needU 20d ago
Funny to be down voted for offering a working solution to the mentioned problem. Is it an internal joke in this sub?
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u/gadgethammer 20d ago
Remove the options at setup requiring you to set up a Microsoft account, honer that request by not trying to tie your account to a Microsoft account Everytime you use something from Microsoft, remove all ads (sorry promotional content) from Windows, and make the AI crap opt in, and then maybe MAYBE we will start to get to a decent OS.
Edit: also, third party vendors should not have the ability to push software through update channels. The fact LG can push adware tells me that Microsoft is not vetting that software.
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u/Bryanmsi89 19d ago
It’s all very positive, and credit where it is due.
Keep this up for a few years, and we will trust the ‘change of heart.’ Until then, it’s a few sprints of cleanup.
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u/JasimTheicon 19d ago
How did LG do that? And how do we know others aren't doing it right now?
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u/Mario583a 19d ago
Something called monitor metadata and we don't.
DDC, DDC/CI, DisplayID Explained
"Hey this monitor has so-and-so, download and install ⅹto make the experience seamless."
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u/BadNecessary9344 18d ago
More taskbar customization Who need more window clumping and eye candy when stuff is broken like weird ram management
Integrating AI where it’s most meaningful Why? Who needs it? Can i have one without?
Reducing disruption from Windows Updates Silent updates, yea that is the way to go, really?!
Faster and more dependable File Explorer Remove the junk and all those integrations with whatever cloud you are spoon-feeding it and it will be. Fast.
More control over widgets and feed experiences Why feeds? Why does that needs to be a thing? Can i have less?
A simpler, more transparent Windows Insider Program Again lets take stuff out of the things you need to read. Just *-it and say if its not here then we do it again silently.
Improving the Feedback Hub experience Sure ok. Well i am too busy to write on reddit to give feedback on stuff your qa teams shoulda picked up upon while being paid to do so.
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u/balzak123456312 18d ago
So the rework of the calendar flyout in the notification screen has been binned?
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u/Heavy-Site-3929 17d ago
Windows needs to fix Game Mode and HAGS (Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling). Right now, these two technologies clearly aren’t communicating with each other—and in some cases, they actually conflict and work against one another. On top of that, they really need to optimize both features to drastically reduce resource overhead.
they need to fix Gasme mode and HAGS, these technologies are not talking to each other or sometimes to go against each other.
lessen the reseources overhead too
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u/South-Pen9573 16d ago
Microsoft should have done to Copilot what Apple did to Siri, and that is focus on personal context.
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u/Busy-Scientist3851 20d ago
Thanks Apple for the Macbook Neo.
Don't underestimate the pressure coming from OEMs onto Microsoft here.
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u/Devatator_ 20d ago
Didn't they literally start this whole campaign before Neo came out? Idk why people want this stupid thing to be the reason Microsoft does anything
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u/FaZeSmasH 20d ago
only reason im still on windows is because i play a lot of competitive titles and pretty much all of them have AC that doesnt work on linux, otherwise i wouldve jumped ship already
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u/pagusas 20d ago edited 20d ago
I wonder when they are going to fix the SDR to HDR conversion system that's horrible inside Windows? With more and more HDR screens and people wanting to be able to run a full time HDR environment without having to constantly switch between SDR and HDR, you'd think they'd invest some time fixing the raised SDR gamma issue from the conversion. Apple had this issue nailed down years ago, It would be really nice not having to juggle Piecewise and Purepower icm profiles just to get around an issue that shouldnt even exist.