It’s been just a couple of months since Microsoft released Windows 11, but the company announced today that it’s planning to bring a couple of new experiences to Windows 11 users starting next month. Following some testing with Windows Insiders, the company is planning to make Android apps finally available in public preview.
Microsoft has teamed up with Intel and Amazon to bring Android apps to Windows 11, which will require the installation of the Windows Subsystem for Android and the Amazon Android App Store. Close to 50 Android apps are currently available for Windows Insiders, including mobile games and reading apps such as Amazon Kindle.
Starting next month, Windows 11 users will also see taskbar improvements with call mute and unmute shortcuts and the addition of weather information. The other new features coming to the OS include easier window sharing, as well as a redesigned NotePad app and a new Media Player app that will replace Groove Music.
Microsoft announced yesterday a new Windows milestone with 1.4 billion monthly active devices, and Chief Product Officer Panos Panay is following up today with new data showing that Windows is back. With Windows 11, Microsoft has worked closely with its PC partners launching new PCs on the market, but the Redmond giant also saw that Windows 10 users have been adopting Windows 11 faster than expected.
“Since the launch of Windows 11 in October, we have seen strong demand and preference for Windows 11 with people accepting the upgrade offer to Windows 11 at twice the rate we saw for Windows 10,” Panay said today. The exec also announced that the company’s free upgrade offer to Windows 11 is “beginning to enter its final phase of availability putting us ahead of our initial plan of mid-2022.”
If your Windows 10 PC meets the minimum system requirements for Windows 11, the new OS may already be available as an optional update in Windows Update, and Microsoft would really like to convince more users to upgrade. According to Panay, the new OS “has the highest quality scores and product satisfaction of any version of Windows we’ve ever shipped.” If the company won’t reveal the exact number of Windows 11 users, Panay also highlighted that Windows 11 users are “spending 40% more time on their Windows 11 PC vs Windows 10,” which is quite an interesting fact.
