Latest Windows 11 update adds redesigned Start Menu, colored battery icons, and more

[DragonSlayer101]

In a nutshell: Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows 11 update, featuring the redesigned Start Menu first showcased earlier this year. Other notable additions include a color-coded battery icon in the taskbar to indicate laptop battery status, AI-powered image editing tools in the revamped Photos app, and several other enhancements.

The KB5067036 update for Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 (preview builds 26200.7019 and 26100.7019, respectively) introduces a redesigned Start Menu with a scrollable "All" section that lists all installed apps. The updated Start Menu also adds two new views: Category and Grid. Category groups apps by type and highlights frequently used ones, while Grid displays apps alphabetically.

The Start Menu features a responsive layout that adapts to the user's screen resolution. On larger, high-resolution displays, more pinned apps, recommendations, and categories are shown by default. Users can customize the layout and disable certain sections by going to Settings - Personalization.

The update also adds Phone Link integration to the Start Menu via a new button next to the Search bar, allowing users to expand or collapse content from connected devices. This feature supports both iPhones and Android smartphones in most regions and is scheduled to roll out to European users later this year.

For laptop users, the update introduces new battery icons with three distinct colors to indicate battery status at a glance: green for charging, yellow for battery saver mode, and red for critically low battery. The icons remain in the bottom-right corner, as before.

The update also enhances Voice Access on Copilot+ PCs with a new AI feature called Fluid Dictation, which removes filler words and corrects grammar in real time. Powered by on-device small language models, Fluid Dictation processes data locally for fast performance without sending information to Microsoft servers. The feature is enabled by default but can be turned off in Settings.

The rollout is occurring in two phases: new features are being gradually deployed to minimize the risk of critical bugs, while bug fixes are being delivered immediately to all eligible devices.

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Latest Windows 11 update adds redesigned Start Menu, colored battery icons, and more

 

[antiproduct]

If only they would redesign it to have the capability of being its predecessor.

 

[JMGuy]

…which removes filler words and corrects grammar in real time.

Rant:

Awesome. Just what we needed—another step toward a future where people can’t speak naturally without being “corrected” by a corporate grammar-algorithm built to sanitize expression and erase anything “undesirable.” Do not pass GO, and under no circumstances will you collect $200.

People, stop using this tech. Boycott it. It serves no purpose beyond training you to obey linguistic and ideological boundaries drawn by power brokers. Picture our billionaire man-children deciding not only what you say, but how you say it—because that’s exactly where this circus train is headed.

Your brain is still the superior intelligence—if you bother to use it. Otherwise, you’ll be reduced to a compliant zombie, happily edited for convenience. We’re heading straight for a world where individuality is deleted in the name of consistency so the few who didn’t swallow this garbage get to own the rest.

You don’t want autocracy? This is what you should be concerned about. Trump is on his last gasp of life. Stop swallowing the troll-bait like dumb fish and wake up to the real threat.

We’re handing big-tech the keys to the only true autonomy here—what you say and what you think.

Zuckerberg said it years ago: “dumb ****s.” Perhaps he wasn’t wrong; just arrogant enough to say the quiet part out loud.

 

[passwordistaco]

Microsoft, once again, delivering the features that nobody asked for.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Wow! How did MS know that I wanted a start menu that sits in the middle of the screen and takes up over 1/4 of the screen space! Wow!

It looks like A S S.

Speaking of A S S looking things, I noticed that the crappy Office 365 that I'm forced to use at work, someone at MS wanted to look productive so they changed how all the icon images look. They look like something that a person with no design experience plugged the previous images into an "AI" program and said make them look more cartoon-like.

 

[Jack77]

Also incredibly annoying: when your laptop comes out of sleep, the start menu is displayed. You need to hide it to be able to continue working. But no-one at MS seems to notice, or seems to care.

 

[airbornex]

Fluid Dictation sounds amazing until it starts auto correcting your dramatic pauses into coherent sentences. Sometimes I want my rants to stay unfiltered chaos, Microsoft.

 

[OortCloud]

More of the constant fiddling and pointless updates. They also just updated the game bar stuff on my PC now to a beta version that takes screenshots while you play games and sends them off to copilot to give you 'assistance' - basically the dreaded recall again - (this all done without any prior request for consent from me and no I've switched off insider builds and preview builds etc). Apparently some people are getting it, some not - lucky me. You can partly turn it off but no doubt it will re-enable in an update. Windows is such hard work these days.

 

[Liranan]

Rant:

Awesome. Just what we needed—another step toward a future where people can’t speak naturally without being “corrected” by a corporate grammar-algorithm built to sanitize expression and erase anything “undesirable.” Do not pass GO, and under no circumstances will you collect $200.

People, stop using this tech. Boycott it. It serves no purpose beyond training you to obey linguistic and ideological boundaries drawn by power brokers. Picture our billionaire man-children deciding not only what you say, but how you say it—because that’s exactly where this circus train is headed.

Your brain is still the superior intelligence—if you bother to use it. Otherwise, you’ll be reduced to a compliant zombie, happily edited for convenience. We’re heading straight for a world where individuality is deleted in the name of consistency so the few who didn’t swallow this garbage get to own the rest.

You don’t want autocracy? This is what you should be concerned about. Trump is on his last gasp of life. Stop swallowing the troll-bait like dumb fish and wake up to the real threat.

We’re handing big-tech the keys to the only true autonomy here—what you say and what you think.

Zuckerberg said it years ago: “dumb ****s.” Perhaps he wasn’t wrong; just arrogant enough to say the quiet part out loud.

The theory is that language dictates thought, which is why Orwell detailed that the goal of the Marxist state is to create a language that removes the possibility of rebellion and change.

 

[OortCloud]

The theory is that language dictates thought, which is why Orwell detailed that the goal of the Marxist state is to create a language that removes the possibility of rebellion and change.

Double plus un-good.

 

[kaosken]

I'll stick with Open Shell. It is a computer not a cell phone.

 

[bexwhitt]

I will continue to use StartAllBack as I did with its predecessor startisback

 

[DdubbleR]

I just do not understand why microsoft insists on using only icons which no one except the *****s at microsoft know what they are!

 

[mgilbert]

I'm running 25H2 and have this update installed, and my Start menu has NOT changed. My version number is 26200.7019, and update KB5067036 in installed. Apparently, this update does not include the new Start menu.

 

[techstrike]