Windows 11: NEW AND IMPROVED

[Guy Rowland]

I say this is valid in "The Gear" section. An OS is as much a part of our working lives as a DAW.

This has shocked a few people - Windows 11 seems to be about to radically change direction. The rumours only two weeks ago were that Windows 12 was coming, it was all about AI and it would be subscription. They were only rumours mind, but it juuust about felt plausible.

But yesterday Microsoft said "okay guys, we get it, you hate the way things have gone and we're gonna make changes". So:

Fewer forced update interruptions
More control over when updates install
Faster File Explorer
Lower baseline memory usage
Better search responsiveness
Fewer notifications
More reliable drivers and wake behaviour
An option to reposition the taskbar to the top or sides of the screen
Reducing “unnecessary Copilot entry points,” starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad.

Did you read that list, blink, rub your eyes and read it again? Is this all a fever dream?

I don't know what lies behind this but thank God.

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/03/2 ... -and-more/

[RobS]

Don’t know why I thought you were a mac guy… thanks for the info

[Guy Rowland]

Don’t know why I thought you were a mac guy… thanks for the info

I'm ambidextrous - Windows for main rig. Macbook for mobile.

[Linos]

That sounds like useful updates. Especially a faster and more stable File Explorer would be welcome. Searching in the file explorer can take very long.

[Guy Rowland]

That sounds like useful updates. Especially a faster and more stable File Explorer would be welcome. Searching in the file explorer can take very long.

There's one folder I have that takes 10-15 seconds to populate in order. It's not even that big. This stuff should be so basic.

So if they make good on all that in pretty short order (the article says some changes will be almost immediate, others throughout the year) they will be my new best friends.

[Thomas Mavian]

That sounds like useful updates. Especially a faster and more stable File Explorer would be welcome. Searching in the file explorer can take very long.

I can't recommend the app "Everything" enough. Searches even faster than what my Mac used to do. Slow search in Windows was the biggest pain point for me. It's borderline useless.

https://www.voidtools.com/support/everything/

[Guy Rowland]

For me it's not search per se that is the most annoying thing, it's file dialogs. "Where do you want to save this?" "Oh, here please". "Okay, just give me 15 seconds to think about that". x100 per day

[Thomas Mavian]

Ouch! Never had the slightest delay when saving. Don't have any drive bigger than 2TB though if that makes a difference?

[Guy Rowland]

Ouch! Never had the slightest delay when saving. Don't have any drive bigger than 2TB though if that makes a difference?

Dunno - all my main working drives are NVMes, some are 4TB.

[My name is Nobody]

Since it is about improved Windows:
No matter how ‘clean’ I keep my main Flashdrive with W11 OS on it, it was about 2 years ago or so about 65GB free storage….and without installing new stuff that much, or big files ( I use it mainly for Blender, and store document files on a separate SSD) it is now down to about 36 GB.
I use tools like CC Cleaner, and off course an up to date virus scanner and firewall, and regularly also do a manual (temp) mem wipe via the various routes from windors R.
Still I see it eventually going down….and I am fairly sure I don’t have malware on it, due to only going to a few and regular safe websites….

What are you guys doing to reduce this?
And is this what is referred to by “ reducing base line memory usage”?

[Guy Rowland]

What are you guys doing to reduce this?

In my case, nothing - I guess my C drive hasn't got close to any limits yet so I'm just letting it do its ever-expanding thing. But yes, I would hope this is precisely the sort of thing that will get some time and attention from MS.

[Linos]

Nothing. In my case, the C-drive expands mainly because certain programs, like Cubase and VST3, can only be installed on the root drive. I had to expand the disk sspace on the c-partition once. I hope that it will last for a while now.