- Windows 11 gets changes to the right-click menu
- A Microsoft executive says the default context menu will be more streamlined
- It’ll also load faster and be “configurable to what you use the most,” we’re told
Windows 11 is getting another major change to the interface – and apparently we’ll be able to customize the right-click menu to our liking.
Windows Latest noted that Microsoft’s Marcus Ash, who is the VP of design and research for Windows + Devices, responded to a complaint about X pointing out that the right-click menu — which offers context-sensitive options relevant to the file you’re clicking — is overly long and unwieldy in general.
Ash said Microsoft is “working to make context menus faster, simpler by default, configurable to what you use most. More about our approach will be shared soon.”
These would be very welcome changes, streamlining and cutting down the number of entries on the menu by default and making it appear faster, but it is the comment about the configuration that has attracted the most attention.
The reference to ‘configurable’ is presumably to give the user control over what is present in the context menu, although Ash doesn’t go into any explanation of how this might work.
In fact, my small concern here is that Ash doesn’t explicitly say that the user will have actual control, which leaves little room for doubt that the menu might somehow configure itself to the apps or features you use the most. I honestly don’t think that’s the case, but it’s a small gray area that I’d like to clarify.
Also, how much control will the user have, exactly? Presumably there will still be default choices that will remain firmly planted in the context menu regardless of any customization.
Anyway, as the Microsoft executive indicates, more clarification will come “soon”, and I look forward to that.
Microsoft continues to surprise me – no, ‘shock’ might be a better word – with how far it goes with the changes to improve Windows 11 this year. Effectively coming out of the blue, this latest move has been a request high on the wish list of many Windows 11 users when it comes to the core parts of the operating system’s interface.
In particular, the campaign to fix Windows 11 also involves revamping the Start menu to allow for a much higher level of customization – far beyond what I expected – and removing some of the rusty old elements of the operating system.
Yes, admittedly, all of this should have been in the works a long time ago in my opinion (and in the opinion of others), but I’m still glad that Microsoft seems to be serious about making Windows 11 better. All of this even gives me hope that the company could even address some of the biggest lingering complaints I have with the OS.
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