Windows 11 New Update Aims at Taking Down iPad. Microsoft has launched a software preview for windows 11 that would make using the operating system on tablet devices, and 2-in-1 laptops a lot better.
As Digitaltrends reports, windows 11 insider preview build 22563, which has just been released to people that have signed up to receive windows 11 early versions of Windows 11 to test, optimizes the taskbar and 2-in-1 devices.
Windows 11 New Update Aims at Taking down iPad
In this new update, the taskbar now has about two states: a collapsed and expanded mode. When the taskbar is collapsed, it appears much thinner, giving you more screen real estate and helping you prevent accidental presses taskbar.
Meanwhile, the expanded mode is expected to make the task wider, allowing you to choose items more easily, such as apps, making use of the touch screen.
Switching between the two modes looks kind of easy as well, and is done by simply swiping your finger up or down at the button of the tablet’s screen where the taskbar resides.
It looks that this version of the taskbar will only be made available on Windows 11 tablets and 2-in-1 laptops, which have touchscreens that either detach from the keyboard, or can be folded back, and used as a tablet. Desktop PCs and other traditional laptops would not receive this new taskbar.
Just as it’s currently in the preview build, this means that regular windows 11 users would not see it at the moment. But however, if testing goes as planned and there’s a positive reaction from windows insiders, we could see the feature appear in a windows 11 update sometime in the future.
Microsoft Maintains its Tablet Ambitions
This interesting new update shows that Microsoft’s tablet ambitions remain undeterred. While its rivals Apple and Google have discovered immense success with tablet devices, Microsoft is yet to do the same. Its attempts to take on a mighty iPad and gain tablet market share have become quite a mixed bag.
There was this deeply unpopular window 8, that dropped much of the classic interface of windows, and it includes the taskbar and start menu for an interface with large icons that was mainly tablet use. The issue here was, windows 8 tablets were largely ignored, and desktop and users of laptops hated having to put up with an interface that was designed for a touchscreen that they are not in possession of.
Microsoft has gotten more success with its Surface Pro line of 2-in-1 devices, alongside windows 10, which struck a more even balance with an interface that was better suited to traditional PCs, while also possessing a tablet mode.
Verdict
However, the surface Pro sales still happen to lag behind iPad and Android tablet sales, but It looks like Microsoft would not be giving up yet. If Windows 11 continues to evolve to work even better on tablet devices, then this could be Microsoft’s best bet at the moment to take on Apple and Google.
