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The latest Start Menu coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
Google's Alt+Space Overlay Brings Lens, AI Search to Windows. Here's How It Works and What to Watch For.
What’s New Google has released an experimental Windows app that places a compact, floating search bar at your fingertips. The tool, hosted in Google’s Search Labs, can be summoned anytime by...
Microsoft’s Copilot App Will Auto-Install on Windows PCs Starting October — No Easy Way to Opt Out
Microsoft confirmed this week that Windows machines running desktop versions of Word, Excel, or other Microsoft 365 apps will soon see a new addition to their Start menu — automatically. Beginning...
Microsoft to Automatically Install Copilot App on All Windows 365 PCs in October, EEA Excluded
Microsoft will begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows devices running the M365 desktop apps starting early October 2025, a move that thrusts the company’s AI...
Silent Copilot Push: Microsoft’s 365 AI App Auto-Installs on Windows, But You Can Block It
Microsoft plans to quietly push the Microsoft 365 Copilot app onto Windows devices starting in the fall of 2025—a move that will affect millions of business and consumer machines, but one that...
Microsoft Silently Added a Phone Panel to Windows 11 Start Menu: What You Need to Know
Microsoft has pushed a quiet, unannounced update that fundamentally changes how Windows 11 users interact with their phones. A new Phone Link panel now lives inside the Start menu, surfacing...
Windows 11 Insider Builds Surface Long-Awaited Keyboard Repeat Controls and Haptic Touchpad Overhaul
Microsoft’s methodical chipping away at the legacy Control Panel has unearthed two fresh treasures for input customization: a live keyboard repeat tester and a revamped haptic touchpad tuning page,...
Windows 11 Insider Update Delivers Smoother Auto-Hide Taskbar, Tests Copilot Suggestions in Start
Microsoft is using its latest Windows 11 Insider preview builds to simultaneously fix a years-old taskbar annoyance and experiment with turning the Start menu into a promotional surface for its...
Microsoft Tackles Windows 11 Taskbar Auto-Hide Flaws, Introduces Copilot to Start Menu Recommended Section
Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 Insider preview builds are rolling out with two significant changes: long-overdue reliability improvements for the taskbar’s auto-hide feature and the appearance of...
Windows 11 Insider Builds Add Full-Screen Subscription Reminder, Sparking Adware Concerns
Microsoft is testing a full-screen renewal prompt in Windows 11 that appears when a Microsoft 365 subscription lapses, and early reactions from Insiders are far from welcoming. The new...
Windows 11's Ad Overload Slows Even High-End PCs: Here's How to Disable It and Reclaim Speed
Windows 11’s polished interface hides a persistent drag on system responsiveness, and even hardware brimming with power—like a Core i9 with 128GB RAM—can stutter when opening File Explorer or...
Windows 11 Build 26120.6682 Stuffs Copilot Into Click-to-Do, Start Menu, and Local AI
A fresh Windows 11 Insider Preview build (26120.6682 for Beta, 26220.6682 for Dev) has landed, and it’s less about polishing edge cases and more about threading Microsoft’s Copilot AI through...
Windows 11 Dev Build 26220.6682 Packs Emoji 16.0 and Copilot Click to Do Refinements
Microsoft pushed an Insider Preview build to the Dev Channel on September 12, 2025, that quietly introduces Emoji 16.0 glyphs, a Copilot prompt box in Click to Do, and a sweep of Narrator...