The widgets are a very important element for Microsoft, as we can see in Windows 11, but also in the predecessor versions of the operating system. We saw the first movements in this sense in Windows Vista, and since then, although with different strategies and quite uneven success (there are people who still have nightmares about Vista’s widget bar), we have seen how those in Redmond have sought the way to integrate them as well as possible in the interface of each version of the operating system.
With Windows 10, it looks like Microsoft is done fine-tuning enough as to launch and later improve the news widget, as a way of what was to come in Windows 11, first with the company’s own add-ons and, later, opening this platform to third-party developments, a somewhat risky move for the effect that they can have on system performance (remember the Internet Explorer toolbars?), but in which Microsoft must have had a hand to avoid excesses, since they already stated at the time that these would not have a negative impact on the performance of the system, which once again shows that they attach considerable importance to them and their integration into the system.
Thus, we can consider that the integration of these elements in Windows is already fully consolidated, so the time has come when Microsoft has decided to start carrying out certain tests in relation to them. Thus, as we can read in the official blog of the operating system, the insiders of the Beta channel have received a new compilation, 22624.1680, in which Windows 11 will have a larger widget dashboard, with up to three columns on those screens that are large enough, which will therefore allow you to add more plugins and have them displayed without having to do too much scroll vertical until you find them. Microsoft warns, yes, that the initial deployment will not reach all the insiders of the channel.
On the other hand, but also related to these elements, this same compilation also marks the debut of the animated icons for widgets that are displayed on the Windows taskbar (you know, in the left corner of it with the default settings). As we can read on the blog, the animation is activated when the user scrolls or clicks on the entry point of the Widgets taskbar or when a new ad related to it is displayed. At the moment, the animated icons are shown with weather and financial information, but given that it is pointed out that this is currently the case, we can imagine that the plans are to integrate more elements of this type for other types of information in the future.
There is no forecast, at the moment, about when these functions will arrive in the final versions of Windows 11, maybe with Windows 11 23H2? It is a realistic possibility, but for now it is only speculation, we will have to wait until we can confirm it.
