Microsoft’s relationship with widgets is somewhat patchyWhy deny it? Now, with Windows 11, it seems that things are going better, since users do seem to like its implementation and, consequently, it seems that they have found the right formula not only to recover them, but also to improve them. The main example of this is, of course, the support for third-party widgets announced at the beginning of last year, but then we also find other minor improvements, but still relevant, such as the test that they are already carrying out to increase their presence, in addition to make it more attractive with some animated icons.
Let’s remember that Microsoft’s in-depth relationship with widgets began in Windows Vista, with that side bar of infamous memory, both for its rigidity and for the excessive consumption of resources (although, well, this was attributable to the widgets themselves, not to the bar). Everyone he knew in those days removed that bar as soon as possible, and swore, like Scarlet O’Hara, never again.
Microsoft took good note of what happened and the response was much better implementation of widgets in Windows 7. Those who used this version of the operating system will remember that it had a well-remembered function even today: the ability to pin widgets to the desktop. Something that, years later, we have seen both on Android and, although with a difference of years, also on iOS. Then, however, came Windows 8, with its complete redesign, and bye-bye widgets, bye-bye desktop, bye-bye start button, and bye-bye pretty much everything.
Example of deploying widgets pinned to the Windows 11 desktop. Image: WindowsCentral
Microsoft began to recover the widgets, although in a very limited way, when Windows 10 had already been on the market for a few years, perhaps after verifying that its implementation in mobile operating systems had been a complete success. However, for years they have walked carefully, something that is easy to understand. Until Windows 11, with the current version of the operating system, its time has finally come, and to the news that we have already seen, a very relevant and long-awaited one will be added soon.
As we can read in Windows Central, Windows 11 will soon allow you to pin widgets to the desktop, thus recovering a function that, as I mentioned earlier, was already present in Windows 7 and that, according to said publication, is regularly requested by many users of the operating system through the Microsoft Feedback Hub, one of the main feedback tools. those of Redmond to collect feedback from their users. The bad news is that, at the moment, there is no scheduled date for its arrival.
Today the offer of widgets is still very limited, but it is to be expected that with this movement, with which widgets would gain a lot of presence in Windows 11, their development and validation will grow substantially. For this, it is key, of course, that more third-party developments arrive, although at this point it is also key that Microsoft maintain its commitment that these do not have a negative impact on the performance of the system. Something for which, without a doubt, you can look at the implementation of the widgets in Android and iOS.
