What is old is new again! A long-lost feature is making a return to the Windows platform. Widgets are back in Windows 11, and they are better than ever.
A leaked build of the OS gave us a first look at the upcoming OS, as well as the visual and usability improvements that will be part of the operating platform. And tucked between the File Explorer and Task View, sits the Widgets option.
Unfortunately, this feature is just the News & Interests feature that Microsoft launched for Windows 10 earlier this year.
The naming, however, gave users hope that perhaps this went deeper than this.
Windows Widgets will be 1st-party only initially, with 3rd-party support comes later. https://t.co/2qPeJq6Ydm
— WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) June 20, 2021
Luckily, as reveled by reliable Microsoft insider, WalkingCat, the company is planning to add full support for widgets in Windows 11. Users will be allowed to customize the widgets menu per their liking, and add or remove these little applets as they wish.
Furthermore, the OS will only offer first-party widgets initially, but support for third-party widgets will come later down the road.
Not seeing any indication that Widgets in Windows 11 will have an API or support third party extensions. It appears to just be a vehicle for serving MSN feeds and forcing users into Edge (ignoring your default browser). i.e. another form of News and Interests from Windows 10. pic.twitter.com/v2GuR6mBGp
— Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael) June 16, 2021
This is also confirmed by Rafael Rivera, who found that the APIs required for third-party widgets were missing in the leaked build. This is an indication that Windows 11 will not initially ship with support for developers to code their own widgets for the OS.
But it’s coming, alright.
