Windows 11’s next big feature is rumored to be AI Explorer – indeed, it’s strongly rumored – and there’s been some controversy stirred up over how this might be implemented in the OS recently.

This was caused by a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) from well-known Microsoft leaker Albacore, who dug up clues in Windows 11 code that suggest AI Explorer checks the PC’s system components and warns if they don’t meet the requirements for the AI feature.

Some folks took this as a hint that maybe Microsoft could put a watermark in Windows 11 somewhere to enact this warning, but Albacore just tweeted again to clarify that this definitely won’t be the case.

As you can see, the leaker clearly states that any warning about the system not hitting the necessary requirements would be purely placed within the AI Explorer interface itself. This means you’d open the AI Explorer app (it will be a standalone app, not to be confused with File Explorer), and it’d just present you with that info (“you can’t run this” essentially).

As Albacore says, there’d be no OS-wide nag flagging this up, such as a watermark or other banner elsewhere in the broader Windows 11 interface. This would just be confined to the AI Explorer app, so it wouldn’t bother you if you never went near it.

Analysis: Exploring an ARM-first strategy?

A further reminder Albacore provides here is that the requirements themselves for AI Explorer – which are, according to the info the leaker previously dug up, an insistence on 16GB of system RAM and, more controversially, an ARM CPU – could change.

That is, of course, something we pointed out back at the time when we reported on this. Not only are these requirements just in preview builds of Windows 11, but they’re tucked away in testing to boot. They could easily be altered later in the year when Windows 11 24H2 finally arrives with AI Explorer on board. (If the rumors are right – indeed, we don’t know for sure that will happen even. Microsoft could delay the implementation, after all, if AI Explorer isn’t working well enough by the time 24H2 rolls around).

Mind you, we can see why AI Explorer might have to be ARM-only to begin with – mainly because it leverages a powerful NPU (to presumably be responsive and nippy enough), and only Snapdragon X chips will have that to begin with. Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Strix Point mobile CPUs with equally beefy NPUs won’t be too far behind, mind you, and at that point, Microsoft will presumably open up AI Explorer more – if this is the path it takes in the first place.

It's not unthinkable that Microsoft might want to use AI Explorer to help shift units of its incoming Surface devices for consumers – running ARM (Snapdragon X) chips – either, at least to begin with. After all, Surface sales have been lackluster of late, and this could be a good way of firing up some enthusiasm for the range again, at least for a short time.

Yes, there are a lot of ifs and buts here, which is why we always advise a good dollop of caution with any leak. It’s good to hear the clarification that any AI Explorer warning won’t be a system-wide nag, though, even if we didn’t believe Microsoft would go that far in the first place – though some folks did, or at least theorized about that possibility.

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Windows 10 has received a new optional update and it comes with some much-needed fixing to cure problems some users have been experiencing with the search function in the OS.

Windows Latest noticed that in the latest preview update just released for Windows 10 (KB5036979), there’s been some work to improve the search functionality.

Microsoft tells us that: “This update makes some changes to Windows Search. It is now more reliable, and it is easier to find an app after you install it. This update also gives you a personalized app search experience.”

As Windows Latest describes, for some Windows 10 users, search has become a somewhat hit or miss affair particularly around trying to quickly fire up an app. Such as, for example, searching for the ‘Recycle Bin’ and not getting the icon for that returned, but other functions instead.

On social media, there have been a number of reports about wonky search experiences, too, such as this one on Reddit where Windows 10 refused to find a commonly-used app.

In more extreme cases, search is locking up and crashing, which is the pinnacle of irritation for this part of the UI.

Analysis: Wait a little longer

Hopefully, this kind of behavior should be a thing of the past when this update is applied. However, note that this is just an optional update at this point, so it’s officially still in testing – meaning there’s a slight chance the fix may not be fully working. Or that the KB5036979 update might cause unwelcome side-effects elsewhere in Windows 10 (it wouldn’t be the first time, certainly).

The safest bet is to wait it out, let early adopters test this preview update, and install the finished cumulative update when it arrives in May (on Patch Tuesday, which will be May 14).

At least we know this piece of smoothing over is now incoming, so those who’ve been frustrated with iffy search results now know that – with any luck – their woes should soon be over. Or at least, they’ll face spanners in the search works with less regularity.

Elsewhere with this update, Microsoft has also improved the reliability of widgets on the lock screen, with a more “customized experience” and more visuals available, so these should be better all-round, too.

The downside with KB5036979? That’s a new initiative to introduce notifications about your Microsoft Account in the Start menu and Settings app, which will doubtless consist of various prompts to sign up for an account, or to finish that process.

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Windows 10’s monthly updates will get a lot smaller, and therefore quicker to download and install, thanks to a feature that first debuted in Windows 11. Users with eligible devices can expect a decrease in update since the April 9, 2024 update which was 830 MB to around 630 MB with the latest update, released on April 23, 2024. 

The change was announced by Microsoft in a Windows blog post, writing that Windows 10 users will be getting a significant efficiency boost. Monthly Windows updates are typical for Windows 10 and Windows 11, and having to download bulky updates can be annoying and time consuming, especially for people with slower (or metered) internet connections. 

You can read more about what the shrunk-down update, KB5036979, will bring on Microsoft’s Support blog. Some of the developments that this update brings include account-related notifications (such as account activities, data backups, subscription management, and security settings) across the Start menu and Settings, an updated Widgets lock screen, a fix for a Bluetooth-related issue affecting certain wireless earbuds, an improved and more reliable Windows Search, as well as other quality-of-life updates. 

Improved Windows 10 updates ahead

Microsoft explains that until now, Windows 11 cumulative updates were more efficiently packaged than those for Windows 10. This has now changed, with a reduction in the size of the monthly latest cumulative update (LCU) package.

If your device is running Windows 10, make sure you have done the following to make sure you’re ready for these new updates:

1. Check if you’ve updated your system since the Windows 10 July 23, 2023 update (KB5028244).
2. If you haven’t, download and install Servicing Stack Update (SSU) KB5031539. 
3. Once the above step is finished, download and install a quality update from April 2023 or later. 

It’s good to see that Windows 10 users are still getting quality updates and that Microsoft is making adjustments to make them easier to install, especially as we approach Windows 10’s End-of-Life date on October 14, 2025. While I’m sure Windows 10 users appreciate that they’re still getting improved functionality, it remains sensible to prepare to update to Windows 11 (or whatever the next iteration of Windows is called which we expect to learn about soon). 

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Microsoft seems intent on pushing its luck with its users, as it’s just released an optional Windows 11 update (KB5036980) which adds yet more adverts to the Start Menu - a move that hasn’t gone down at all well with many people.

The update is available for users running Windows 11 version 23H2 and 22H2 in Windows Update, and it’s also available to download directly from its Update Catalog.

If you’d like to install the update using Windows Update, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Windows Update.

2. Click ‘Check for updates.’

3. After your system detects the availability of the update, click ‘Download & Install.’

The patch should appear with the full name “2024-04 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5036980).”

For the moment, this is an optional update that will advance Windows 11 23H2 to Build 22631.3527 and Windows 11 22H2 to Build 22621.3527. This release is the last patch in Microsoft’s April 2024 update cycle, and if you forgo the optional update, you will get what’s included in a mandatory update on May 2024’ ‘Patch Tuesday’ - a monthly event where Microsoft releases a variety of software updates for its products.

The most talked about part of the update

This optional update has already proved controversial because it brings ads to the Start Menu – seemingly for all users. Windows Latest writes that Windows 11 users can expect adverts to begin appearing  at the tail end of May. 

A screenshot of the optional update shared by Windows Latest shows the Start Menu featuring a new ad for a third-party app, the Opera browser, neatly tucked in the Recommended section. There’s a little disclaimer underneath that says “Promoted” and an Opera tagline, “Browse safely.” Apparently, a similar ad for another service, Password1 Manager, was also spotted.

You might already be feeling uneasy about this, but there is some reassuring news. If you dislike seeing the ads, you can turn them off by doing the following: 

1. Go to Settings > Personalization > Start.

2. Turn off “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more” by switching the toggle off. "

Questioning Microsoft's strategy

This optional update also adds app recommendations to the Start menu, and this section will include ‘promoted’ apps that are essentially more adverts. This ‘Recommended’ section is supposed to show the best apps from the Microsoft Store that might enhance users’ experience. 

The optional update will also include a new taskbar widget icon that will no longer appear pixelated and more options for lock screen management, giving users greater control over lock screen widgets in particular.

I’m not too fond of this move from Microsoft, but I guess it’s not as egregious as it could be. That’s not me trying to encourage Microsoft to push its luck further, and I think this move could already cause a lot of bad will with users, but at least you can turn it off.

Microsoft is also testing putting Xbox Game Pass ads in the Settings app, and some observers have called the approach billboard-like. Features like the Start menu and the Settings app are key parts of Windows 11, and having to see ads in important places like that can feel intrusive and disruptive. I personally hope Microsoft considers reversing its decision on this, as I don’t like that Windows 11 is becoming just one more aspect of my life where I can’t escape advertisements – and I’m sure I’m not alone. 

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The sun continues to set on the iconic Windows Control Panel, as another key part, the Fonts page, makes its way to the Settings app instead. The Control Panel isn’t on the way out just yet, but it's directing users to the Settings app for an increasing number of functions. And now, reports suggest that later this year, if you try to open the Fonts page from the Control Panel you’ll be automatically redirected to the Settings app. 

The Fonts page can currently be found in the following location:

Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization  > Fonts

This is the latest development in an ongoing migration process that Windows Latest has been documenting for several years, which has seen features transition from the Control Panel to the Settings app. Windows Latest reports that Microsoft doesn’t currently seem to have plans to completely remove Control Panel from regular Windows 11 versions. 

The next version of font management in Windows 11

Over in the Settings app, there will be a modern font management interface and it will work similarly to its Control Panel predecessor. At the moment, the legacy version of the Fonts page still exits and can be found in Control Panel, and it can be located using Windows Search. 

Here, you can browse the fonts available on your system and use the legacy font management page. 

That said, Microsoft wants to guide users to the Settings app for font management and Windows Latest writes that Fonts will be completely removed from the Control Panel in a future Windows update. Instead, users will be redirected to Settings > Personalization > Fonts, which is where the new Fonts page resides.

This will be a noticeable change, but it shouldn’t be too disruptive as it apparently has all of the functionality and features of the legacy page. Also, the future update probably won’t remove the legacy Control Panel Fonts page right away, and users will still be able to find it in C:\Windows\Fonts within File Explorer. 

If you’re particularly annoyed by the change and want to stick to the classic interface, you can create a shortcut link in your Settings page which will open the above location in File Explorer as well. 

Again, Microsoft is pretty insistent that it would like users to get used to performing font management through Settings, and when Windows Latest opened the Fonts page in File Explorer, it got this message: 

“This page is being decoupled from Fonts Control Panel. For more font settings, go to the Fonts page in the Settings app.”

A lot of users are used to Control Panel, which has been a part of Windows since the very first version in 1985, so Windows Latest thinks it’s here to stay. What will change is that with every new feature that’s migrated to the Settings app from Control Panel, users will be redirected to the new analogous page in Settings. 

I think this is a wise decision from Microsoft as it makes sense to have a single place where you can manage all of your computer’s settings, especially as new generations of people are introduced to the operating system. It’s preserving the interface and (it seems like) full functionality of Control Panel, while attaching it to the new architecture that’s being built in a way that isn’t especially disruptive or difficult for existing users.

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Microsoft could test its customers' tolerance for ads in Windows 11 once again, as Windows Insiders have spotted yet another advert in an early version of the operating system that's currently being tested. This means the feature is still technically in progress with Microsoft monitoring its reception, and it could decide to roll the new ads out to all users in a future Windows update.

Windows 11 Insider Build 22635.3500, which features the advert, was released in the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program, and comes shortly after Microsoft started testing ads in the Start Menu of Windows 11 as well. The new ad appears in the Settings app and suggests users sign up for Xbox Game Pass. 

The update also includes other new features that will probably be more popular with users such as a new account manager in the Start menu and introducing support for Gmail in Windows Share (which lets Windows devices easily share files and folders with other devices over a network that they’re a part of). However, these new features were overshadowed by the deployment of the ad in Settings. 

Microsoft has put out a Windows Insider Blog post detailing the changes and features that make up the new build, and it mentions the ad’s inclusion, which it calls a ‘recommendation,’ on the Settings home page. It suggests that the Game Pass recommendation card will only be shown to users who actively play games on their PCs. It also adds that this advert will only show in the Settings homepage if you’re running the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and you’re signed into your Microsoft account on your device. 

Microsoft's continuing dedication to 'recommendations'

This development isn’t completely out of the blue as Microsoft has been experimenting with where it can get away with sticking ads for a while now. Alongside testing ads on the Settings page, it’s also trying out placing adverts in the Start menu’s ‘Recommended’ section. Microsoft is really trying to blur the line between what’s an ad and what it claims are just friendly ‘recommendations’, with pinned apps that look like ads for its other products appearing in a clean install of Windows 11. 

Some people say that even if these sorts of ads appear, they might be acceptable as it’s often advertising products and services, like OneDrive, that could enhance the Windows 11 user experience. Some users are okay with this as long as the adverts show Microsoft’s products that could improve using their Windows 11 device. 

However, many other people aren’t so hot on the idea, even if the products are Microsoft’s own, and are especially opposed to adverts for third-party apps. It can feel like the space that’s supposed to be your own personal or work digital space is turned into something resembling a billboard, as Windows Central describes it. To some, it’s particularly egregious when showing third-party app ads that may not add to the core Windows 11 experience, which feels like a cash grab by Microsoft. 

Those who are annoyed by these ads are probably feeling even more antagonistic because the ads are integrated into key parts of the operating system (OS) that you have to navigate to operate your device, so if you want to use the OS, you don’t have a choice but to see the adverts that appear in these key locations. Also, the Settings home page is kind of a strange place for an advert for Game Pass - generally, the two aren’t directly tied together.

Unfortunately, Microsoft seems set on this strategy, and according to Windows Central’s Senior Editor Zac Bowden, if you’re a Windows 11 user who’s not keen on the persistent flow of new AI features or more ads, you’re “in for a terrible next four months.” Many people are calling the approach straight-up aggressive, and I can’t disagree. We’re already bombarded by advertisements almost everywhere we turn, and it’s frustrating that our devices, which are necessary for many people for work and leisure, are increasingly becoming one more ad-saturated place we can’t entirely escape. 

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Vivaldi has produced a native version of its popular browser for Arm-based PCs, those who run Windows 11 on Arm will doubtless be pleased to hear.

As is usual for a first step, the initial incarnation of Vivaldi for Arm silicon is in preview, and there are some caveats attached.

More so than usual, because while we can expect a fair bit of flakiness with any pre-release software, in this case, Vivaldi for Arm is an early test version. As Windows Central reports, the developer tells us: “These builds are not yet part of our automated test system and have only been lightly tested on one piece of hardware. Serious issues may exist and should be expected.”

In short, anyone running the Chromium-based browser on an Arm PC at this point is likely to have a wonky experience. But the point is Vivaldi is incoming for Windows on Arm, and shouldn’t be too far off.

That’s good news for its wider availability, bearing in mind that Vivaldi is ranked as one of our best web browsers. It was chosen due to its excellent customization options, being ideal for those who love tinkering with and personalizing their browser.

Analysis: Preparing the ground

It seems that Microsoft is very much preparing the ground for Windows on Arm, to become a real force in the near future. We’ve seen a great deal of hype being built around the incoming Snapdragon X Elite chip (and rumored Plus variants), and for good reason – it’s a CPU that can seemingly make Windows running on Arm a truly viable proposition.

To the point where we’ve already experienced Qualcomm’s reference laptops running Baldur’s Gate 3 at a stable 30 fps with reasonable graphics settings – and remember, this is a game running under emulation (it’s not coded for Arm CPUs).

Neither is the Vivaldi browser currently coded for Arm chips, but this is what the incoming new version of the browser is all about. It’s another hint that Microsoft is getting behind developers to nudge them (and maybe incentivize them somehow) to make native Arm clients, which will run faster than emulation (of course, as they remove the processing overhead involved in emulating an app).

With Vivaldi having deployed an early preview now, we can guess that the final version might be ready for the release of Snapdragon X Elite laptops in June – or certainly a working beta will be. This is when Microsoft’s Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 will be emerging – the consumer versions, that is, which may be ARM-only devices from what we’re hearing on the rumor mill (there may not be any alternatives with Intel CPUs, in other words).

Moreover, other leaks suggest that Windows 11’s big incoming feature, AI Explorer – which is going to be key for AI PCs – might be for Windows on Arm only, at least to begin with. All of this just shows how much Microsoft is getting behind the Arm spin on its desktop OS, so we may see more high-profile pieces of software getting ports going forward, too. Perhaps it's finally time for Windows on Arm to shine?

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Microsoft has deployed a new preview build of Windows 11 to the Canary channel (which is the earliest testing outlet) and it does some work on the widgets panel that could be divisive.

This is build 26200 and there’s only a handful of changes applied here, two of which pertain to widgets.

The main thrust of innovation here is Microsoft’s new idea to allow developers to send notifications from their widgets to the taskbar button. In other words, when something happens with a widget that you might want to see, it’ll be waving at you from the taskbar to let you know.

Of course, not everyone will want their widget button in the taskbar to act in this way, and fortunately, Microsoft has included an option to turn off this behavior.

It’s also worth noting that this is a limited rollout to begin with, and indeed, most people won’t see these widget notifications yet – only those in the European Economic Area (EEA) are getting this feature in testing. Of course, that rollout could be made broader down the line, depending on feedback.

Another tweak related to this in build 26200 is that Microsoft is changing said widgets button to make the icons on the taskbar clearer.

Elsewhere on the taskbar, another icon is changing, this time the energy saver icon which resides in the system tray (on the far right). A few months back this was changed in testing to look different for desktop PCs plugged into a power socket, but now Microsoft has decided to revert it to the old look (a leaf icon).

Finally, Microsoft notes that there is an odd known issue with this preview build – and others, in the Dev and Beta channels, too – whereby Copilot is auto-launching itself after the PC is rebooted.

The software giant explains this is not related to the automatic launch on boot behavior that has been tested in preview builds before, the rollout of which has now stopped, apparently, since March (though we heard it has been restarted elsewhere).

This is a separate glitch, then, and Microsoft says it hopes to have a fix implemented soon. Meanwhile, greater visibility for Copilot is something the company is certainly driving forward with, to no one’s surprise.

Analysis: A livelier taskbar won’t be everyone’s preferred beverage

Are notifications for widgets intrusive? Well, yes they could certainly be regarded in that way, but as noted, as long as the option is provided to turn them off, it’s not too big a deal. If you want them, you can have them – if not, hit that off switch. Fair enough.

Many people likely won’t want their widgets effectively waving their hands at them from the taskbar, whenever something new pops up with a widget in the panel. This taskbar-based hand-waving appears to be a direction Microsoft is exploring in more depth, though. We’ve also recently seen an idea where the Copilot button runs an animation with its icon to draw your attention to the fact that the AI can help with something you’re doing on the desktop.

This only relates to copying text or image files currently – again, in testing – but in this case, there’s no way to turn it off.

All this could possibly point to a taskbar which is considerably livelier and more animated in the future, perhaps – and again, that’s not something everyone will appreciate.

If this is the path we’re going down for the taskbar as we head towards next-gen Windows (which might be Windows 12), hopefully Microsoft will also give Windows users enough granular control over the bar’s highlighting features and animations so they can be dialed back suitably.

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Windows 11 is going to see a lot more of Copilot in the future – that’s pretty obviously the line Microsoft is taking with its desktop-based assistant – and there’s fresh evidence of the AI creeping into more corners of the OS.

Firstly, we have a sighting of a new wallpaper, which came yesterday, when a couple of inbound laptops with the promising Snapdragon X Elite CPU were leaked. Both of those Lenovo notebooks had a Copilot-themed wallpaper on the desktop, so it’s a safe assumption that Microsoft has an official new background for the AI in the pipeline.

As Windows Latest observes, this is actually a traditional ‘bloom’ wallpaper, except Microsoft has redone the image in the Copilot colors (mirroring the Copilot button in the taskbar).

The tech site also points out other ways in which Copilot is creeping into Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge. For example, in the Edge browser, as highlighted by leaker Leopeva64, there’s now a bar of options pertaining to the AI when you open the Settings panel.

This bar contains suggestions for how you might use Copilot, allowing you to get advice on security settings for example, or managing your passwords in the browser. These suggestions change depending on what section of Edge’s settings you’re in, by the way, making them more relevant to what you might be looking to do.

Note that this idea is just in testing right now, and in the Canary channel to boot (the earliest test avenue).

Another ability brought in for Copilot in Edge (again, in the Canary channel) is an expanded Ask Copilot context menu. This means that when you select a section of text in a web page, there are new options for directly interacting with Copilot in this menu.

As Windows Latest explains, these choices are: Explain, Summarize, Expand, and Ask anything in Chat.

The last option acts like the current incarnation of Ask Copilot – it just fires up the AI’s panel with a query on the selected text.

With the new options, however, Explain prompts Copilot to do just that – offer an explanation of the text – and Summarize provides a summary, as you’d expect. In a similar vein, Expand goes the other way, furnishing you with extra facts or information about the selected text.

Again with Edge, Leopeva64 also spotted that AI is going to be integrated into the browser’s ‘Magnify Image’ option, with a button spotted that offers to ‘AI Enhance’ the image after it’s been blown up. This is in very early testing, though, and the button doesn’t yet do anything at all.

Another recent addition Windows Latest flagged up is ‘Circle to Copilot’ in Edge in Windows 11 (and iOS), allowing you to literally draw a circle around something to activate a Copilot query about the highlighted item.

All this comes on top of a recent move in the Beta channel of Windows 11 previews, trying out a new way of highlighting that Copilot can help with something – by animating the taskbar button for the AI when this is the case. New options have also been added to the menu that appears when you hover over the Copilot button, too, expanding that further.

Analysis: Making Copilot a more visible presence

All of this is still to come, we should note – these are changes in testing for Windows 11 or its Edge browser, and in the case of the wallpaper, a glimpse of what’s very likely to come.

Indeed, that Copilot background will likely be the default wallpaper for AI PCs starting with Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops that launch in June. (Not forgetting Microsoft’s own Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, the consumer spins on which will land then, and may have a custom version of the Elite SoC inside).

Overall, though, it’s clear that Microsoft is pushing forward with expanding Copilot’s capabilities, and sussing out ways in which the AI can be made more visible on the desktop. Whether that’s about an animation for the taskbar button (effectively declaring “It’s-a-me, Copilot, I can help with that”), or a fancy desktop wallpaper that could be a permanent reminder of the AI, if you fall for the color scheme (which does look quite funky, to be fair).

We’d be surprised if most of these tested changes didn’t come to fruition, frankly, and as noted, there’s a theme of Microsoft increasingly pushing Copilot which comes as no surprise.

The big rumored addition on the horizon is, of course, AI Explorer – but that feature (supposedly debuting in the Windows 11 24H2 update) may have an unexpected twist in its initial incarnation that’s a bit of a shocker. (Spoiler alert: If you don’t have an ARM CPU like the aforementioned Snapdragon, then you can forget it – Intel and AMD-powered PCs might be left out in the cold).

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