Windows 11 is getting Android apps, taskbar enhancements, and extra subsequent month

Microsoft is planning to launch a public preview of its Android apps for Windows 11 subsequent month, alongside some taskbar enhancements and redesigned Notepad and Media Player apps. Windows chief Panos Panay outlined the upcoming modifications to Windows 11 in a blog post today, and they look like a part of Windows 11’s first large replace.

The taskbar enhancements embody a mute and unmute characteristic and certain the flexibility to indicate a clock on secondary screens. Both had been lacking on the launch of Windows 11, however Microsoft remains to be engaged on bettering the taskbar additional to deliver again lacking performance like drag and drop.

The upcoming Windows 11 subsequent month may also embody the climate widget returning to the taskbar, one thing Microsoft began testing final month. Microsoft can be redesigning its Notepad and Media Player apps, and each embody darkish modes and design tweaks that extra carefully match Windows 11.

The large new addition will probably be Android apps on Windows 11, although. Panay says this will probably be a “public preview,” indicating that the characteristic will nonetheless be in beta when it’s broadly out there subsequent month. Microsoft first began testing Android apps on Windows 11 with testers in October, and the characteristic lets you set up a restricted variety of apps from Amazon’s Appstore. There are a wide range of workarounds to get Google Play Store operating on Windows 11, however Microsoft isn’t formally supporting this.

Panay additionally shared a wide range of stats about how essential Windows has turn into over the previous couple of years. Windows 10 and Windows 11 now run on 1.4 billion units every month, and the PC market has skilled robust progress all through the pandemic.

“As we reflect on what’s driving this structural shift in PC demand and usage, we see three enduring trends: the rise in hybrid work and learning, shifts in entertainment habits and distribution models, and changing consumer habits for everyday tasks,” says Panay.

Microsoft has seen a 6x improve in folks utilizing apps like Cisco WebEx, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. “Since the start of the pandemic, 70 percent more people streamed content across Hulu, Netflix and YouTube on Windows and monthly gaming minutes grew over 35 percent,” reveals Panay. “As a team, we feel an immense amount of gratitude and pride delivering a product that has increasingly become a part of people’s daily lives, and we know we are not done.”