The latest Windows 11 Canary build 26212 has quietly introduced support for what is being called “Start Menu Companions.” These are small widget-like apps designed to appear alongside your pinned apps or the “All apps” list in the Start Menu. By the looks of it, these companions would offer at-a-glance information such as weather updates, stock prices, and more. And yes, they share a lot in common with the now-defunct Live Tiles feature from previous versions of Windows. They lack the bright colors and blocky shapes, but they would function in a very similar way. Interestingly, Microsoft has not officially mentioned the introduction of Start Menu Companions in the release notes for build 26212. The discovery of this feature was made by Albacore on X (formerly known as Twitter), providing a peek into what could soon be available for testing within the Windows Insider Program.
It appears that developers will have the capability to create applications that offer widget-like content using adaptive cards — an approach that enables the display of UI blocks of information in a platform-independent manner. Users will have the flexibility to configure these companions from the Windows 11 Settings, where they can install multiple companions and use toggles to enable or disable them as desired. According to Albacore, these companions appear to be heavily focused on web content, resembling the sidebar widgets already found within Windows 11.
Start Menu Companions seem to be reminiscent of the now discontinued Live Tiles, the animated icons initially introduced with Windows 8. Back then, Live Tiles was launched by Microsoft as an effort to unify its platform with Windows Phone OS. They were designed for quick and easy access to essential information with just a glance at your phone or desktop. In Windows 10, they were relegated to the Start Menu, and then eventually discontinued entirely in 2021 with the release of Windows 11. The design of the Start Menu has been one of the biggest sticking points of those updating to Windows 11 from Windows 10. The feature has been criticized not only for its limited usefulness, but even its functionality, with it recently being called “comically bad” by a former Microsoft developer. Start Menu Companions wouldn’t fix those issues, but it would certainly bring back some of the familiarity of the Windows 10 Start Menu.
To align with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Microsoft is updating Windows 11’s Start Menu Search, but only for users in the European Economic Area, as Tech Radar reports. The software giant is introducing more transparent labels to distinguish between web search results and local ones. This move is part of broader changes that let users uninstall Edge and turn off Bing integration, reinforcing transparency and user choice. The changes are in a new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build, build 27764. Notably, X user @alex290292 shared a screenshot that shows the new Start menu user interface with the “Windows” and “Web search from Bing” sections. These changes are great news since they give users more control over Windows 11. Specifically, the modifications include adding custom web search providers to Windows Search, letting users remove the Edge browser, and turning off Bing web search.
A support document showing users how to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs was deleted sometime in the past two months. Its disappearance, noticed by Neowin, echoes Microsoft’s recent “year of the Windows 11 PC refresh” rhetoric, encouraging (or forcing) users to buy new PCs that meet Windows 11 hardware requirements. When Windows 11 launched in 2021, Microsoft announced that it was adding TPM 2.0 as a hardware requirement — a move that was met with plenty of resistance. To soften the blow, Microsoft also published a support document detailing how users could edit their registry key values to bypass the TPM 2.0 check.
In a recent Windows Insider Blog post, Microsoft announced it’s adding the option for iPhone users to access their phones from the Start menu. Thanks to a special widget next to the Start menu, when you connect your phone, you can see data such as notifications, battery indicators, recent contacts, connection status, and more. To enjoy this feature, you must use the recent Windows 11 preview build from the Dev and Beta channels, and you must be a Windows Insider. You must also update the Phone Link app to version 1.24121.30.0 or higher, have a Microsoft account, and have a PC that supports Bluetooth LE. Microsoft said it does not support PCs running Pro Education or Education SKUs. Even if this doesn’t affect you, the update is rolling out in phases, so reaching your PC might take some time if you don’t already have it.
