Microsoft is testing new Windows 11 beta features
About Windows 11 features, Microsoft detailed its plans to test its latest operating system Windows 11 throughout 2022. This comes after revealing last week that Windows 11 gets a bigger-than-usual update in February with Android apps, taskbar improvements, and more.
The software maker says it plans to experiment with more windows 11 features for testers to evaluate features that might never happen.
Amanda Langofsky, Director of Windows Insider, states in a blog postas part of this continued evolution, program subscribers see us increasingly relying on the Dev Channel as a place to incubate new ideas, work on key pieces, and control individual trait states.
She added, “These concepts will never be released in some cases. But we can improve experiences and provide solutions in Windows that enable customers to do more by doing more experiences.
And there have been such tests before, with a subset of Windows Insider subscribers gaining access to a feature before Microsoft rolled it out more widely to testers.
However, there may be differences in functionality that will not be fully documented by Microsoft in the future.
Windows enthusiasts search for new features every time Microsoft releases a new version by using beacons in the operating system to enable hidden features and see what the company is experimenting with.
Microsoft clarifies future Windows 11 features
“We understand that some of our technical testers have discovered that certain windows 11 features are intentionally disabled in the builds we’ve released,” says Langofsky. In these cases, we communicate about the features we intentionally enable for testers to try to provide feedback.
And the developer channel for Windows 11 gets closer to being named as experimental features come out. This leaves the beta channel with functionality as close to everyone else as possible. This could mean that new features appear first in the beta channel, if they are closer to shipping.
The company now plans to give testers Windows 11 a way to switch from developer channel to beta channel. This is to prevent other experimental features from arriving.
This will likely coincide with the feature release in February. Including support for Android apps, taskbar changes, notepad apps, and a redesigned media player.