Windows 11 Release Preview Brings Start Menu Redesign and On Device AI

Microsoft has pushed the redesigned Start menu and a cluster of interface and reliability fixes into the Release Preview channel — a final testing phase that almost always precedes a wider rollout — meaning the new Start experience, improved Voice Access dictation, File Explorer recommendations and several Windows Update fixes could reach typical Windows 11 PCs within weeks.

Background / Overview​

Microsoft’s latest Release Preview update packages builds 26100.7015 (for 24H2) and 26200.7015 (for 25H2) under KB5067036. This is not a one-off experiment: it represents a staged feature drop that bundles a visible Start-menu redesign with on-device AI enhancements, File Explorer home improvements, taskbar refinements and a number of reliability fixes — notably two long-standing Windows Update issues. The change set is being distributed as a gradual rollout, so not every Release Preview device will see every feature immediately.
That gradual activation model — where Microsoft ships binaries and then flips features on server-side or via enablement packages — explains why some devices can show the new Start before others even on the same servicing branch. It also underpins the expectation that these features will be included in the next public cumulative update cycle (commonly delivered on Patch Tuesday); coverage from independent outlets and the Insider blog places the preview in late October and positions a broader rollout around the November monthly update window.

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What’s changed: the redesigned Start menu​

A single, scrollable “All” surface and multiple viewing modes​

The Start redesign consolidates Pinned apps, Recommended items and the All apps list into a single, vertically scrollable surface. The idea is to reduce clicks and context switching: instead of opening a separate All apps pane you simply scroll the unified canvas. That surface supports three distinct view modes:

• Category view (default): apps are automatically grouped into topical buckets such as Productivity, Creativity, Games and Others; frequently used apps surface within each bucket.
• Grid view: a denser, alphabetic tile grid that favors horizontal scanning.
• List view: the classic alphabetical list retained for users who prefer determinism.

The Start menu also remembers your last-selected view and adapts layout density to larger displays (more columns and visible entries) or to smaller screens. A small Phone Link button beside the Search field expands a collapsible phone panel inside Start.

Hide recommendations and more personalization choices​

Responding to long-time user feedback, Microsoft added explicit toggles under Settings > Personalization > Start to hide the Recommended area entirely as well as controls for recently added apps, most used apps, and website recommendations. That makes the Start page cleaner and gives users direct control over in-Start suggestions and promotional nudges.

Why this matters​

For users managing dozens or hundreds of installed apps — power users, developers, and creative professionals — the unified start surface reduces friction when searching or launching software. Category view helps discovery by purpose (e.g., open a productivity bucket), while Grid view reduces vertical scrolling. On large, high-DPI displays the responsiveness is a practical benefit.
The trade-offs are predictable: automatic categories remove a degree of manual control (you can’t create or rename categories right now), and the single-surface approach can feel visually denser on very large monitors or on setups that previously relied on separate panes to create cognitive separation.

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On-device AI and accessibility: Voice Access / Fluid Dictation​

Fluid Dictation: smarter local dictation​

One of the headline accessibility improvements is Voice Access — Fluid Dictation, which runs on-device small language models (SLMs) to improve live dictation. The feature applies grammar and punctuation corrections in real time and strips filler words (ums/ahs) from dictated text. Microsoft is gating some of these experiences to Copilot+ hardware tiers for optimal performance and offline processing; English locales on supported Copilot+ PCs see Fluid Dictation enabled by default in the preview.

Practical impact​

• Faster, cleaner voice-to-text output reduces manual correction time.
• On-device processing favors privacy and lowers latency versus cloud-only dictation.
• Limitations: region and hardware gating (Copilot+ requirements), and secure fields (passwords, PINs) remain excluded.

This is an example of Microsoft pushing useful accessibility work that also demonstrates the company’s hardware-tier differentiation: when a feature uses on-device models for speed and privacy, it often appears first on machines with local NPU support.

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File Explorer: recommended files and Copilot hover actions​

Recommended files in File Explorer Home​

File Explorer Home now shows a Recommended files section for personal Microsoft accounts and local accounts, surfacing frequently used, recent, and recently downloaded files. Microsoft offers a toggle to replace Recommended with pinned Quick Access folders if users prefer not to see suggestions. There are regional exceptions: the Recommended files feature is not yet rolling out to devices in the European Economic Area (EEA), a likely consequence of differing regulatory requirements.

Hover commands and Copilot integration​

When you hover over items in File Explorer Home you may see quick actions such as Open file location and Ask Copilot, and StorageProvider APIs let cloud vendors surface suggested files in File Explorer Home. Expect these Copilot-sided affordances to appear gradually and to be dependent on sign-in type (personal Microsoft accounts first; work/school Entra IDs to follow).

Why it matters​

Recommended files and direct Copilot actions speed retrieval and simple workflows (e.g., “open the recent spreadsheet” or “ask Copilot about this document”). The flip side is privacy and governance: IT teams will want controls to limit what’s surfaced or scanned by Copilot, especially in regulated workplaces.

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Taskbar, battery, and minor UI polish​

• Colored battery icons and permanent percentage: The battery icon on the taskbar is now color-coded (green while charging/healthy, yellow at ≤20%, red for critical) and a toggle exposes a permanent battery percentage in the tray rather than relying on a hover. The same color indicators appear on the lock screen.
• Share with Copilot: Hovering over a taskbar thumbnail may show a Share with Copilot button that lets Copilot Vision scan a window for context-aware actions; this is controllable in Taskbar settings to address privacy concerns.

These are small but practical improvements that reduce friction (battery glanceability) and add new content-action paths (Copilot sharing). They are also emblematic of Microsoft’s broader approach: incremental, interface-level AI integration that shows up as contextual options.

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Reliability and Windows Update fixes​

Two longstanding Windows Update pain points are explicitly addressed in the Release Preview notes:

• Update and shutdown not completing: A fix has been implemented so that choosing “Update and shut down” actually completes the update/shutdown sequence rather than bouncing into a reboot.
• Error 0x800f0983: Microsoft has fixed an underlying issue that could cause Windows Update to fail with error 0x800f0983 — a frustrating installation error that has affected some cumulative updates and recovery scenarios.

Independent coverage and update notes confirm these entries; if the fixes hold up in Release Preview, the public cumulative will likely reduce the number of Windows Update installation failures many users have suffered. That said, administrators should still test comprehensively: update sequences and third-party drivers are a frequent source of trouble even after Microsoft-side fixes.

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Rollout timing: when will you actually see the new Start menu?​

The Release Preview placement indicates the feature is in final-stage testing, but Microsoft is explicit that the rollout is gradual and gated by hardware, region, licensing and server-side toggles. Independent reporting and the Release Preview announcement put the builds into the Release Preview channel in late October and flag the November cumulative update (Patch Tuesday) as the natural public-release window for broader availability. That Patch Tuesday falls on the second Tuesday of November — Microsoft's usual cumulative cadence — meaning the November 11 monthly update is the most likely candidate for a wider push. However, the company can delay or throttle the rollout if telemetry reveals issues.
Important practical points:

• Even if the update ships on Patch Tuesday (November 11), availability will be staggered; expect a rolling, server-gated deployment rather than immediate universal availability.
• Some Copilot and AI features will remain Copilot+ hardware- or Microsoft 365–gated, so having up-to-date hardware and relevant subscriptions will determine access for certain scenarios.
• Insider channel members already report seeing the Start redesign in various builds or via feature flags, but such reports are anecdotal and vary by configuration. Treat early “I have it” claims as useful signals, not guarantees.

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Risks, caveats and what to watch for​

1. Phased rollout creates inconsistent experiences​

Expect device-to-device differences across an individual’s fleet: laptops may show the new Start while desktops on the same build do not. This inconsistency complicates helpdesk triage and user documentation during the rollout period. IT should pilot changes and document differences.

2. Regional and hardware gating​

Several experiences (File Explorer recommended files, Click to Do advanced actions, Copilot Vision, Fluid Dictation default enablement) are region- or hardware-gated. This means regulatory differences (EEA rules) and device capability differences (Copilot+ NPUs) will influence availability. Plan rollouts with that fragmentation in mind.

3. Privacy and data flow concerns​

Contextual features that scan on-screen content (Copilot Vision, Share with Copilot) or surface recommended personal files require attention to consent flows and enterprise governance. Admins should evaluate policy controls and disable sharing affordances where necessary.

4. Updates are not risk-free​

Even with fixes for update failure modes, cumulative updates can still be blocked by drivers, third-party security software, or unforeseen hardware combinations. Maintain standard best practices: test updates on a pilot group, have rollback procedures, and keep driver and firmware inventories current.

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Recommendations — users and IT teams​

For home users (what to do)​

• If you’re impatient: join the Release Preview channel or the Windows Insider Program to test early, but only on a non-critical device.
• Back up before applying preview builds. Even Release Preview builds are near-final but can include regressions on some configurations.
• If you rely on predictable Start behavior, wait for the public rollout so your main device sees a consistent experience.

For IT admins and helpdesks​

• Pilot broadly: select a mix of hardware (Copilot+ and non‑Copilot devices), regional profiles, and user personas (power users vs knowledge workers) for pilot testing.
• Validate update paths: deploy the Preview into a test ring and confirm rollback strategies before broad user deployment.
• Policy review: evaluate Taskbar “Share with Copilot” controls, File Explorer suggested file surfacing and Copilot data-flow policies for compliance with corporate data-handling rules.
• Communicate: tell users that the Start UI may change and offer quick guides or screenshots that illustrate the Category, Grid and List views, and the toggle to hide Recommended items.
• Inventory gating: identify which devices are Copilot+ and test Fluid Dictation or Click to Do features accordingly.

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Strengths and strategic implications​

• User-first refinements: The Start redesign addresses long-standing discoverability complaints and gives direct toggles to silence unwanted recommendations, a big UX win.
• Practical accessibility work: Fluid Dictation demonstrates meaningful accessibility advancement — local SLMs improve dictation quality and privacy.
• Small, practical polish: colored battery icons and a permanent percentage display are straightforward improvements that reduce daily friction.
• Staged AI integration: Copilot/Click to Do integrations are becoming contextual rather than siloed — that’s a strategic move toward ambient assistance across the OS.

These changes show Microsoft balancing usability improvements with AI-enabled productivity, but doing so incrementally and with a heavy emphasis on gating and policy controls.

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Where claims are still tentative​

• Reports of an immediate broad rollout on November 11 are reasonable but not guaranteed; Microsoft can delay the public push if Release Preview telemetry reveals regressions. Treat public rollout timing as probable rather than certain.
• Early user reports of seeing the Start menu outside Insider channels are anecdotal and may reflect server-side toggles, ViVeTool edits, or test builds. These should not be taken as confirmation of universal availability.

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Conclusion​

The Release Preview push for KB5067036 marks a meaningful Windows 11 polish cycle: a unified, more flexible Start menu, on-device Fluid Dictation, File Explorer recommendations, taskbar polish and crucial Windows Update reliability fixes. For everyday users the changes will feel like useful, practical improvements to daily workflows; for IT teams these updates are non-trivial operationally because of phased rollouts, hardware gating and data-governance implications.
If you want the new Start menu immediately, enroll a non-critical device in the Release Preview channel and check Windows Update — but back up first and be prepared for feature-gating. For everyone else, expect the broader rollout to begin around the November cumulative update window, with availability expanding gradually as Microsoft flips features on for more devices.

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Source: TechRadar https://www.techradar.com/computing...-here-you-could-get-it-as-soon-as-next-month/