Widgets are a very important element for Microsoft, as we can see in Windows 11, but also in the predecessors of the operating system. We saw the first moves in this direction in Windows Vista and since then, albeit with different strategies and quite uneven success (there are people who still have nightmares about the Vista widget bar), we have seen those in Redmond looking for a way to integrate them as best as possible into the interface of each version of the operating system.

With Windows 10, it looks like Microsoft is fine-tuned enough as for the launch and later improvements of the news widget, as a way of what was supposed to come in Windows 11, first with the company’s own add-ons and later with the opening of this platform to third-party development, a rather risky step for the effect they may have on system performance ( remember the toolbars of Internet Explorer?), but in which Microsoft had to have their fingers to avoid excesses, because even then they claimed that it would not have a negative impact on the performance of the system, which again shows that they attach considerable importance to them and their integration into the system importance.

So we can assume that the integration of these elements in Windows is already fully consolidated, so the time has come when Microsoft decided to start doing some tests in relation to them. So, as we can read on the official blog of the operating system, the insiders of the Beta channel received a new compilation 22624.1680, in which Windows 11 will have a larger widget control panel with up to three columns on those screens that are large enough, allowing you to add more plugins and have them displayed without having to do too much scroll vertical until you find them. Microsoft warns, yes, that the initial deployment will not reach all channel insiders.

On the other hand, but also related to these elements, this same compilation also marks the debut of animated icons for widgets that appear on the Windows taskbar (you know in its left corner with default settings). As we can read in the blog, the animation is activated when the user scrolls or clicks on the entry point of the main Widget panel or when a new ad related to it is displayed. At the moment, animated icons are shown with weather and financial information, but given that it is pointed out that this is currently the case, we can imagine that more elements of this type are planned to be integrated for other types of information in the future .

At this time there is no prediction when these features will arrive in the final versions of Windows 11, maybe with Windows 11 23H2? It’s a real possibility, but for now it’s just speculation, we’ll have to wait for confirmation.