Over the next month, Microsoft is rolling out a revamp of the Windows 11 Start menu alongside a number of new AI features. It's a wider with an all apps view that is roomier and easier to scroll.
As reported by The Verge, the updated menu will also be getting a new phone companion panel, meaning that you can access your contacts, messages, calls and more on a synced Android or iPhone device.
Alongside that, a number of AI features are coming that can be accessed via the Start menu or the Windows setting menu. Non-menu AI features include AI editing tools in Paint, Photos and the Snipping tool, additional Click to Do text and images actions, Copilot Vision visual search, improved Windows Search, writing functions in Notepad, and AI actions in File Explorer.
Microsoft has a blog post breaking down the features and says the new features "make our experiences more intuitive, more accessible and ultimately more useful."
With the on-device AI, you can use it to adjust Windows Settings or troubleshoot problems.
Microsoft says that Windows will provide a warning that says, "Recommendations are AI-generated and may be incorrect." A concerning warning to get before making changes to settings on your computer.
If you use Microsoft's built-in apps for image editing, there are new features in three main apps. The Paint app is getting a content-aware selection tool that can add generative fill, and move or erase portions of the image. It can also be used to generate stickers via text prompts.
One now feature is called "Relight" in the Photos app that can add up to three positional light sources to an image. Lastly, the Snipping Tool is getting a tool dubbed "Perfect Screenshot" that will auto crop to what it considers the prominent content. The tool is also getting the ability to copy text from other images or screenshots, and an eyedropper tool.
The new features will be coming to Windows PCs featuring Snapdragon X chips first. Those of you who own Copilot Plus PCs with AMD or Intel chips will receive the updates later.
