From PC World: A significant update is coming to the Windows 11 Start Menu: Microsoft is now testing a wider, scrollable design, complete with the Windows Phone sidebar. This latest change follows the introduction of a “category” view last year, showing ongoing development.
If this sounds like old news, it is, sort of. While Microsoft’s new “category” view within Start was hidden in a build last year, it resurfaced in February when Microsoft announced it would debut in a Windows Insider test channel soon. By April, the wider, scrollable Start menu was unearthed by Twitter sleuths, again as a hidden feature.
In June 2024, Microsoft also began testing a “sidebar” to the Windows 11 Start menu for Android phones, then added iPhone support to the sidebar as well. (Microsoft is also testing allowing users to mirror their Android phones’ screens from this sidebar as well.)
If you’re a member of the Windows Insider program and subscribe to the Dev Channel, this is all coming together: the category view, the wider Start, and the phone sidebar. (Though I added the screen mirroring feature, that’s the only bit left out in the latest build, Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5641 (KB5060824).
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