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From virtual seed to real tree: discover this Windows 11 secret

Little by little, users are encouraged to make the leap to Windows 11. However, there are still many who are reluctant to do so given its uneventful launch and the gossip that circulates around it. Those who finally dare to take the leap find themselves with a fast, robust, and beautiful operating system. And, in addition, with a series of secrets, or “easter eggs”, with which Microsoft wants to gain the trust of users and, incidentally, try to get them to start using its services more, such as Bing.

One of the novelties that Windows 11 has brought us can be found in the lower left part of the screen. This widget panel, an evolution of the Windows 10 “news and interests” panel, helps us to have all the relevant information at hand, such as the weather, tasks, calendar, and all kinds of news based on our interests. And it is here, in this widget panel, where we are going to find one of the most curious Windows Easter eggs.

This is how Microsoft will plant a tree thanks to you

By clicking on the weather icon that appears at the bottom left of the screen we can open the Windows widget panel. And yes, we have the weather gadget, we can see an icon next to it, with an animation, which tells us that we can turn a virtual seed into a real tree.

Virtual Seed Windows 11 - 1

We simply have to click on this icon and we can see how Edge, the Windows browser, opens and takes us to the weather forecast, provided by MSN. But, on the left side of the web page we can find a drop-down panel with our electronic tree.

Virtual seed Windows 11 - 2

As we can see, it is a kind of “virtual pet”, which we have to level up until it becomes a real tree. And, for this, all we have to do is complete the tasks that appear to us, which are usually reading some news from the Microsoft aggregator, or selecting certain places on the map, such as a very cold place, or a place where it’s raining

We can only complete 3 tasks a day. When we complete them we will be able to see the status of our virtual seed and the points we will get tomorrow if we go back to interact with it.

Virtual seed Windows 11 - 3

With how many points does the seed germinate?

In the same section where we find the tasks we can find a tab called “Certificates”. In it we can see the evolution of our real tree, how many points it needs to germinate and where it is going to be planted. So, for example, if we we reached 10,000 points the tree of truth will be planted in Kenya. And when we get to the end, and our virtual seed becomes a real seed, we can start nurturing another seed into a real tree somewhere else in the world.

A curious “Easter egg” of Windows 11 that, in reality, has only one objective: to make us use Bing and other Microsoft online services. But that, at least, is done with a good cause.

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