Ill admit, Microsofts new Windows 11 update surprised me with its usefulness, providing accessibility fixes, a gamepad keyboard layout, and PC spec cards

Date:
Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:55:24 +0000

Description:
Although the new PC spec cards are lacking a key feature the FAQ giving tailored advice but hopefully thatll be inbound soon.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Windows 11 has a new update, although its optional (in preview) for now It brings in some really handy features, including an important accessibility tweak for a core part of the Windows 11 interface New PC spec cards in the Settings app are a surprise addition, coming through testing very swiftly albeit without the key FAQ feature

Microsoft just released a new update for Windows 11, albeit an optional one (still in preview), and it delivers some useful work not to mention a surprise.

Windows Latest flagged up the changes that are part of the March preview update for Windows 11 23H2 (known as KB5053657 ). They include a smoothing over of accessibility wrinkles in File Explorer, and the addition of PC spec info cards that have previously been seen in testing.

Regarding File Explorer which is the app that powers the windows that show your folders , and files within them, on the desktop those of you who use larger text sizes for better visibility in this part of the interface have doubtless noticed that text scaling isnt uniform here.

In other words, only some parts of File Explorer have the users specified
text scaling applied, and some text, or indeed parts of the interface like buttons, remains overly small (with no scaling).

Obviously, thats awkward and unhelpful, plus it just looks messy, but thankfully, Microsoft has fixed this so the scaling is correctly applied across all elements of File Explorer, as per testing conducted by Windows Latest.

Moving onto the new spec cards, these were spotted in testing early in 2025 , but seem to have been put in place very quickly, shuttling through testing
and into this new optional update. Thats a pleasant surprise indeed, and
these cards provide at-a-glance info on your CPU, RAM, storage, and graphics card although it doesnt look like the FAQ element has been implemented yet.

Another significant change with KB5053657 is the new gamepad keyboard layout
, which allows you to type using Windows 11s virtual keyboard with an Xbox controller (including button shortcuts for spacebar, delete, and so on).

Finally, theres a new emoji button on the taskbar, which pulls up the
combined emoji, GIF, and clipboard panel. Its an optional feature, so you can turn off the icon in Settings if youll never use it. Oh, and the Voice Access functionality in Windows 11 now has support for the Chinese language (for
both Simplified and Traditional Chinese).

Remember, this is for Windows 11 23H2, and we havent yet seen the release of the new update for 24H2 (though its likely imminent, and itll probably turn
up later today). It should carry these same changes, and perhaps more
besides. (Image credit: Future / Jasmine Mannan) Analysis: Caution > Valor with preview updates, especially as the wait for full release wont be long

This is a very worthwhile update, then, given its accessibility improvements and that gamepad keyboard. The latter is going to be very handy for those running Windows 11 on a gaming handheld (and its a sign that Microsoft is still perhaps thinking about that full-on handheld mode for Windows 11 ,
which has been rumored for some time).

Its also good to have the spec cards present, and I cant believe how quickly these have transformed from a hidden feature not even visible in testing to going through into an optional update. I guess its a relatively easy piece of work to implement (it mustve been), although the FAQ section providing tailored advice, which as noted, isnt present yet is going to be the key element ( as I recently discussed ). With any luck, that extra feature will
be incorporated here before too long.

If youre keen to see this shiny new stuff, I should caution you that installing a preview update isnt without potential perils. These features remain in testing, and could still be wonky, even if it is the very last
stage of testing, and nothings too likely to be seriously awry (those could
be famous last words, of course).

Generally, unless youre super-stoked for one of the above features, Id wait until next month for the full release. Thats when this preview update will become the April cumulative update for Windows 11, and thats not far off now (itll be April 8, so its an early debut for the upgrade next month). You may also like... Shock, horror Im not going to argue with Microsofts latest bit of nagging in Windows 11, as this pop-up is justified Microsoft is supercharging Windows 11s voice commands on Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon
CPUs, and fine-tuning a few Recall features Windows 11 fully streamlined in just two clicks? Talon utility promises to rip all the bloatware out of Microsofts OS in a hassle-free way



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/ill-admit-microsofts-new-windows-1 1-update-surprised-me-with-its-usefulness-providing-accessibility-fixes-a-game pad-keyboard-layout-and-pc-spec-cards


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)