widgets in Windows 11

Arriving just in time for the weekend, Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 build for Insiders in the Canary Channel.

From this flight, Microsoft has changed the name of the branch shown in the desktop watermark to ZN_RELEASE. The build also comes with new widget picker experience.

Last week, Microsoft rolled out a Windows 11 test build to the new Canary Channel, which (among other things) introduced an evolved widget board that sports a larger canvas (up to three columns), with dedicated sections for widgets and feed content.

Testing for this clearly went well, as today as the software giant makes it available to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

The December 2022 Bug Bash is well underway for Windows Insiders in both the Dev and Beta Channels.

For insiders in the Dev channel, today also sees the arrival of a new Windows 11 build in time for the weekend. Build 25262 comes with a number of fixes and Microsoft has also dropped the sign-in requirement for the widgets board and made it available for all users.

When Microsoft introduced widgets to Windows 11, there was broad agreement that the company had not fully realized the potential of the feature. This is something that is somewhat addressed by a new update to the Windows Experience Pack.

The update means that widgets, including the weather widget, will now be able to get your attention by throwing up announcements and notifications. It's an update that could make widgets genuinely useful, but you may not see the new functionality immediately.

At its Build 2022 event, Microsoft confirmed what we have heard rumored for some time -- that third-party widgets will soon be making their way to Windows 11.

Although the company has not given an exact date, it says that "later this year" it will be possible for developers to start building their own widgets. It is possible -- probable, even -- that this will be linked to the release of the Sun Valley 2 feature update for Windows 11 in the coming months.