Microsoft’s Build conference focused mainly on Windows and the future of computing. There, the tech giant introduced new tools and hardware to help developers native Windows programs and AI agents. Microsoft is also working on improving Windows 11 and first-party apps as part of it Windows K2. But there was one part of Windows 11 that was completely ignored during the entire Setup: the Widgets panel.
Clicking on the weather icon in the lower left corner of your screen will open the Widgets panel. You may have accidentally invoked it by pressing WIN+W or hovering your mouse around the corner of your desktop.
Unfortunately, the mild surprise of discovering that Windows 11 has a Widgets panel is probably the biggest joy this feature will bring you. The available Widget option displays the Windows Phone app store as the Google Play Store.
There are 56 widgets available through the Microsoft Store, and only a few of them are useful. Shout out to the makers of MagicPods for releasing a widget for themselves An app that makes AirPods feel at home on Windows 11. Calendar Flyout and a handful of utilities are also nice additions. But let’s be serious, the state of the Widgets panel is embarrassing.
Microsoft is building a team of software developers to fix Windows 11’s app state. The company held sessions at Build focused on two different types native programs. Microsoft even announced Surface RTX Spark Dev Box to help developers AI agents. But the tech giant’s Widgets panel is mostly radio silent.
Microsoft’s remaining software gap
Microsoft has done great things Work to fix the Microsoft Store. This store is in a much better place than it was just a few years ago and now includes a large library of must-have apps.
The ongoing push to create native apps and Arm-optimized apps keeps the flow or improvement of apps on Windows 11.
But the Widgets panel seems to be a forgotten part of Windows 11. Microsoft has made some improvements to the panel itself, such as separating the MSN feed, but these are almost meaningless if the panel doesn’t have useful widgets.
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