Windows 11 users will no doubt be pleased to see Microsoft ditch an idea introduced in testing late last year to pop up recommended sites in the Start menu (a second unpopular change has also just been pulled).
The latest Windows 11 preview sees these changes dropped, which is build 25272, which has just been introduced to the Dev channel (early testing).
The shelved Start menu feature, which first appeared in preview build 25247 in November 2022, allows frequently used websites to be recommended at the bottom of the menu panel.
as Gok (opens in a new tab) found in blog post (opens in a new tab) Detailing the changes in the latest preview of Windows 11, Microsoft further noted that the suggested action to search for copied text in the Edge browser has also been dropped. This means that if you highlight text to copy, say in a document, an inline panel will pop up, allowing you to click and search the highlighted text in Edge.
Microsoft said: “Thank you to all Insiders who gave us feedback on these two experiences. Incubate new ideas and get feedback from Insiders.”
Analysis: Far from the fringe
Build 25272 also applies a bunch of fixes, including addressing an issue where the search box on the taskbar was broken due to a visual glitch, and addressing a number of bugs with the Task Manager.
There’s definitely something useful here, even without any new feature introductions. It’s nice to see the backside of the two features mentioned above, the first of which amounts to almost unnecessary clutter for the Start menu and sparks criticism of Microsoft’s push for third-party sites — and of course its own Edge browser — concerns in both cases.
While Microsoft did take care when it introduced the Suggested Sites feature last year that it might be turned off for those who didn’t want it, apparently user feedback has been loud and clear, even trying to bring it to the Start menu — Good news is that the company is listening to this feedback.
Still, it has to be said that the constant attempts to push the Edge browser in Windows have become rather tiresome.
