Windows 11 Build 25252 - Search Box, Taskbar Updates, Fullscreen Widgets + MORE

The Windows 11 Preview build series is back! Today we take a look at build 25252, and all its new features + some minor features we missed over the last couple of months.

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[paulomalley]

Love that you hide that icon altogether. I'm the same. Just hit the Windows Key on your keyboard and start typing. Even faster since you don't need to take your hands off the keyboard.

[lindhartsen]

They re-integrated search into Start. What an idea! Being respectful, that does look like a genuine improvement visually.

[evilmarc]

That search box on top of windows is the greatest thing since sliced bread. A lot of iOS apps have it (iirc it started with tweetbot back in the day) and it makes so much sense. Searching is such a novice and power user friendly way to go about things and literally putting it front and center is such an obvious and great usability move.

[greywulfslair]

Very glad to see the search icon option back. The search button is ridiculous. It's just the search icon, but three times the length for no reason.

[kornkernel]

Love that the finally listened and implemented this changes, which is one of the long suggested I had through Feedback Hub. Having Search UI inside the Start menu is most logical sense since there is really no point having separate flyout for it since the Cortana being killed off. And that animation do need refinement but it is on the right direction, unlike the current release of Windows 11 which feels unfinished at best.

Though interesting that Microsoft didn't just gone with re-using/integrating the current Search UI inside Start menu, instead it went for more focused and minimalist search which I do prefer. Which may improve the snappiness of the search unlike the current one with Bing.

So it seems the existing Search UI will be just a glorified Bing Search integrated to Windows now, at least this may be their approach now. Interesting since on the other hand, Microsoft have been way more aggressive lately on pushing Bing interaction on Windows.

The proper Search text-field is also another positive change, since it make sense to have that instead which introduce one less click to search than two interaction with current one (for mouse centric users). It also use rounded cornered text box which is consistent to the W11 design than the pill-shaped which is an odd addition since it is not even a real text field and also not consistent with Windows 11 standard UI elements.

Though like I said in the past, the Search bar is more suited for left-aligned Taskbar, since it is still weird on centered one. But at least user have options now whatever suited their needs. Unlike currently it is all or nothing. Bringing back the Search icon is a welcome back which is suited perfectly for centered Taskbar.

Tablet mode in Windows 11 still needs further refinement, its good for what they are doing now but the lack of window behavior to make all apps maximized (for those who can) as default while using as a tablet. Then automatically snap another app if user say open a link from another app. The auto-snap feature is missing on Windows 11 which was a thing with Windows 8.X and Windows 10 Tablet Mode, heck this is how Surface Duo and Surface Neo (W10X) came about.

Yes, it maximized apps automatically on 10 inches tablet but considering majority of Windows tablets are at least 11-12 inches. This is rather "invisible" feature, and still not as great as the previous version of Windows which still better in this tablet-behaviour UX.

Running apps on windowed mode on tablets that are generally small and more likely going to be constantly rotate its orientation, windowed app is poorly adapted to this use case and more clunky moving around windows or maximizing it manually.

[Aves_]

I miss widgets being integrated into start (live tiles) or on desktop. Having it be an entirely independent panel feels so jank

[KnightlySpartan]

The Windows button for search is default for myself too. And if they wanted to have bigger search bar/icon, IMO it would make more sense putting it on the left after the Widgets button.

[SirFaceFone]

Is it just me or has Windows become... more and more conservative since 2015? I know Windows 8 had a lot of issues but it brought a lot of innovative features/UX we've never seen before, especially for tablets (which are practically gone now). W11 doesn't feel like its pushing any boundaries other than pushing Bing/ads even more.

[A]

Why still no automatic dark mode during the night and light in the day based on sunrise/sunset data? Every OS has this feature.

[ezeguko]

if you are gonna have search as a whole separate thing from the start menu I actually prefer it to be a text box rather than a buttom so that you can somehow justify why it's taking that space from my taskbar... (yes, I know I can simply disable that from taskbar, but it´s good to see they are adding that many options)

[TemporaryCrown]

I hope one day they allow you to remove recommended section in the start menu

[odinsplaygrounds]

I used to have the search icon there, but then they made it so big for no reason! You can't type in it, just a wide button. Mind baffling they thought that was a good idea. Just turned it off. I mostly just use "PowerToys Run", which is similar to Mac's Spotlight. Just click CMD + Space to get up a search bar and find whatever I'm looking for.

[arko]

this is the real win 11 update we all needed

[rogerklk]

The tray gesture now is to hold the icon and let go on top of the arrow, you can't drag to its place which is a let down

[arjames]

I just really hope that the functionalities of Windows 10 will be brought back here in Windows 11. It just annoys me and hinders me to upgrade when the OS focuses more on nonsense aesthetics rather than functionality.

[FrancescoDiDomenico]

Why I'm not seeing the news from bing on the right side inside the start bar? When I click the windows button to open the start bar on my PC I don't get those visuals.

[nakdickson]

2:56 I used to hate how it switches between start menu and search. I'm glad they integrated it.

[whatyousee]

can we get the ability to change the taskbar location again without playing with the roots settings?? i don't know why they removed that tbh

[aetherbit]

Windows 11 is starting to seem more and more enticing to update

[FabulousFadz]

Doing the happy dance for search icon being back. Although I search from the start menu more often than not.