- Windows 11’s July Update is now out
- It offers a lot of new features and adjustments
- There are also some important corrections, especially for players
Windows 11 24H2 has a new update and it is a heavy -weight affair that packs a lot of function extensions and some important fixes.
What treats can you expect with the cumulative update for July? I will briefly summarize some of the changes that have been deployed here – and these corrections – first and foremost before choosing a few personal highlights here with regard to the larger movements that introduce new features.
It is also worth remembering that the update, which is formally known as the KB5062553, has some features on a gradual rollout, so you may not see everything that lands on your PC immediately after applying patch – but you are sure it is all in pipeline.
On the changes, one of which is faster built -in unpacking of files under File Explorer (the folders on your desk).
There are also a few adjustments to the Windows Share interface, which allows you to easily share files via a variety of apps. First, this now provides a visual preview of any web content shared. Secondly, for images, file compression is also available on the tap, so you can quickly shrink the size of a picture to a predefined level (low, medium or high compression), making it faster and easier to share with another.
As for the corrections, there is a lot of work that PC players will appreciate, including the solution of a problem where all-tabbing away from a game could be rooted with the mouse pointer (if the game’s resolution was different from desktop). There is also a solution for all-tabbing away from a full-screen game that causes some apps to freeze up.
In addition, Microsoft has healed cases where ‘Display Reset’ – which means the screen goes black for a few seconds – has bothered people, including when playing.
Other corrections include squeezing an error where Windows could change their size and position after a device woke up from sleep, and a problem where when pulling a window around the desktop could file explorer go down.
Next, here are my highlights for the new features delivered – or by being delivered – with the July update for Windows 11.
1. Honey, I shrunk the task beam icons
Microsoft has made a small but influential fine -tuning with the taskbar. The idea is that when you open more apps and the taskbar becomes a more crowded place, the icons at the bar automatically shrugs down. This means you can see more apps and icons in these scenarios (rather than getting them flooded on a separate panel), which is pretty neat.
That said, when you look at feedback to this change, not everyone will have shrinked icons. The good thing is, if you fall into this category, you can simply disable this behavior and make the icons function as they do now.
2. Accessibility goodies
Voice Access is a feature I still use from time to time (though I used to apply it much more when I suffered from RSI for a few years in the past), and July -Patch brings the opportunity to add custom words to the dictionary. This is a nice feature present in Nuance’s Dragon Speech Recognition Software (which voice access is built on) and it is good to see that it appears in Windows 11.
Microsoft has also added a privacy feature to Windows 11’s screen reading tool, says, called ‘Screen Curtain’. This means that although the narrator reads the contents of the screen, the screen is black, so in public, no one can look over your shoulder by potentially sensitive or confidential material. Of course, you will need to use headphones to listen to the content that is told privately.
3. Begone, Edge
This update makes a change in browsers, which unfortunately will only be for people in Europe like myself. It’s a simple fine tuning, which means Windows 11 now ties your selected default browser to all file types opened in a web browser. Isn’t that the case already? Well, no, not for some more unclear formats and what it means sometimes you get the edge appear when these files are available.
So this means less edge in your face in these scenarios, which must be a good thing. For those in Europe it is – and why is this change limited to that region? Because it is bound by European data rules, which unfortunately means that in the US or elsewhere they do not get the benefit of this fine tuning. It’s something Microsoft should change in my opinion, but I don’t think it will probably happen.
4. PC-to-PC migration
This is a feature that is part of the Windows Backup app that I am very happy to see as it will make it easy for people to switch from an old PC to a new one. It does all the grinning work for you, transfer your files and installation across (with both machines connected to the same network).
However, there is a big warning – at this point we just get a ‘first look’ on the feature. Right now it is actually not functional, but the shell of the PC migration ability is now in place. What this means is that it will soon be on the way (in a ‘future update’ we are told) and you can bet that Microsoft wants this in place probably long before the end of Windows 10 (in October 2025, when support runs out).
So what I’m happy about here is that this signalizes the impending arrival of a (hopefully) powerful new piece of functionality that should really help the beginners especially to make the transition to a new PC.
