(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Today Microsoft announced several new Windows 11 features for accessibility and general usability, and at the top of the list are improvements to voice access and control of your PC and Narrator. The features are coming to Windows 11 Enterprise first, and then as an optional preview update for all editions of Windows 11.
New Voice Interactions With Windows
Voice access is coming to more languages, with French, German, and Spanish now supported as well as English. You’ll also be able to create voice shortcuts for frequently needed commands. Voice control across multiple displays means that you can see a grid to select commands from across multiple monitors.
Narrator will let you preview the new, more-realistic neural voices before downloading them, and can better identify text in images, including handwritten text. Narrator also will announce when a Word document includes comments or bookmarks.
Sharing, Casting, and Snap Layout Improvements
I’ve long been a fan of “share sheets,” the built-in feature of an OS that lets you send the current document, link, or media to any app that can receive the content. This update, according to Microsoft documentation, “now displays different apps for ‘Share using’ based on the account you use to sign in.”
The Nearby Share feature now lets you give a memorable name to your device, and works faster when you’re sharing within the same wireless network. Note this is different from Google’s Nearby Share feature, which lets you transfer content between Android phones and Windows PCs.
Casting—which lets you display your Windows desktop on, say a smart TV screen—has been enhanced with notifications and makes finding devices to cast to simpler in the Quick settings panel on the Taskbar.
The Snap Layouts grid will now appear when you hover the mouse cursor over the minimize button as well as over the maximize button in the top right corner of a program window.
Business and Enterprise Updates for Windows 11
Microsoft cloud-hosted version of Windows, Windows 365, gets some updates, too. It will support passwordless authentication and get a fast account-switching feature. Disconnection from the cloud version of Windows will be easier, as will telling whether you’re one the cloud version or the local machine.
Enterprise installations are also getting a simplified Autopatch management interface. Microsoft highlights three improvements to Autopatch:
- The ability to import Update rings for Windows 10 and later (preview)
- Customer defined service outcomes (preview)
- Improved data refresh speed and reporting accuracy
Read more about these in Microsoft’s Windows Autopatch updates blog.