The most anticipated features of Windows 11 23H2
Although the evolution of the legendary operating system has come through the different designs and functionality, there’s still a lot Microsoft has to offer. Since October 2021, when the tech giant first launched its feature-packed Windows 11, the OS users have witnessed massive improvements in graphics, security, AI capabilities, as well as overall performance. Last week was another sensational one for Microsoft: the new features expected to arrive with the new 23H2 version were unveiled. So what to expect and what is already available in the upcoming Windows 11 update? Let’s take a closer look and delve into what it implies for Windows users.
Officially announced features of the upcoming version:
Windows Copilot
The most anticipated feature the company is currently working on. As a centralized built-in AI assistant, the innovative ‘Copilot’ application represents a deeper integration of Bing Chat and ChatGPT plugins, capable of analyzing texts and images without opening the browser, answering specific contextual questions, and even controlling the system settings.
Dynamic Lighting
In the new version, the user experience will be even more encompassing with the ‘Dynamic Lighting’ tool. The feature allows controlling RGB lighting on peripheral devices and accessories, including a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor, directly from Windows Settings, eliminating the need to download third-party software.
The Taskbar Updates
The 23H2 improvements will bring back the classic app ungrouping and ‘show labels’ feature, enabling users to initiate the action with a single click within the Taskbar. In addition, Microsoft is planning to re-introduce the ability to hide the date and time from the System tray.
‘Dev Home,’ a new app for developers
The new app will facilitate the process of building, testing, as well as setting up applications, which should significantly streamline the workflow for developers. Thus, the most efficient features of ‘Dev Home’ include the Windows Package Manager command tool to faster and easier create a development environment, ‘Dev Drive’ for enhanced file system performance, and a new customizable dashboard to track all tasks in one place.
Wider support for archive formats
Among the confirmed upcoming functionality, the integration of the libarchive open-source project, ensuring wider native support of archive formats, including 7-zip, RAR, gz, and others. This will allow users to get improved performance of archive functionality and process these file types without any third-party tools.
Updated Microsoft Store
Along with the virtual assistant ‘Copilot’, the new Windows 11 update will introduce AI capabilities to the Microsoft Store app. As the company states, AI implementation in the store will significantly optimize app discovery by suggesting and generating relevant search tags and keywords, while AI summarized reviews based on real users’ feedback will provide an unbiased overview of the quality of an app. Moreover, Microsoft will include a dedicated ‘AI Hub’ section to showcase Windows apps created with AI capabilities.
App backup and restore
Already available to Windows insiders, the feature will allow users to reinstall apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store when they switch devices. This has been created to enhance the process of restoring a backup.
The Microsoft Store (Credit: Microsoft)
Although the major Windows 11 23H2 update is yet to come and eagerly anticipated, some of its features have already been unveiled and aroused considerable interest among Windows aficionados.
What do you like the most about the upcoming functionality of the OS? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
