- Windows 11 has a new preview update available
- It carries the revamped Start menu, but on a gradual rollout
- Due to that – and the fact it’s still in testing – it’s better to wait for the finished version of this update next month (arriving in two weeks)
Windows 11’s new Start menu is now officially available to everyone, although I wouldn’t leap out of your chair to get it just yet.
That’s because it’s part of a freshly deployed Windows 11 update, which is a preview release that Microsoft just kicked off – and that involves certain caveats (which I’ll return to in a moment).
Microsoft tells us that a key part of this update is: “The redesigned Start menu, built to help you access your apps more quickly and smoothly. Its redesigned layout makes it easier than ever to find what you need.”
The changes include making this part of the interface a single scrollable panel (as opposed to having the full app list on a separate panel, as is currently the case), and there’s a pair of new views (category and grid) to make finding the apps you need easier.
You also get a choice to turn off Microsoft’s recommendations panel, which is a great addition here – plus the attached Phone Link panel, which will be useful for those who hook up their phone to their Windows 11 PC.
This is one of the bigger changes to arrive for the Windows 11 interface in some time, so there’ll doubtless be something of a rush to get it – but there are reasons to be somewhat cautious here.
Analysis: hold fire for now, unless you’re super-keen
There are quite a few people out there who want the redesigned Start menu, and I get that – there are some nifty changes with it, making this part of the interface more flexible (and allowing for dumping Microsoft’s recommendations, as noted).
In this case, though, I think you should hold fire for the time being, unless you are absolutely convinced that you must have the new Start menu as soon as is humanly possible.
Why wait? For starters, because this is update is still in preview – in other words, testing, albeit the final stage of trying it out – it may be somewhat wonky as a result. Granted, the Start menu itself is very unlikely to be problematic, and I’m not concerned about that – as it’s been very well tested at this point (having been first revealed the best part of half a year ago). However, it’s the other bugs that any preview update might carry which always makes me a bit nervous about these updates.
That’s particularly true here given that the November cumulative update for Windows 11, the fully finished version of the current preview update, will arrive in just under two weeks, which isn’t very far off. Furthermore, remember that the Start menu redesign is on a ‘gradual rollout’ process, so even if you do pick up this preview update now, you’re not guaranteed to get it anyway – it’s a roll of the PC configuration dice as to when it might be piped through.
When you weigh up all these factors, you’re simply better off waiting in my book. That said, if you’re dead-set on attempting to get your mitts on the new Start menu, you might just luck out and receive it straight away if you pick up this preview update.
It’s worth noting that it doesn’t matter whether you’re on Windows 11 24H2 or 25H2 in terms of when you might get the new Start menu – it’s being rolled out across both of these versions of Microsoft’s OS simultaneously. In other words, you don’t need to be on the very latest version 25H2 to get the revamped design.
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