Microsoft has announced a new Insider Preview Build of Windows 11, which features a modernized details pane in File Explorer, an improved Windows Spotlight lock screen feature, and an expansion of the “notification badging” rollout in the Start menu. The new details pane will replace the legacy File Explorer details pane and enable users to access related content, view file activity, and collaborate without opening the file.
The pane will display contextual information about the file, including file thumbnail, share status and button, related files and emails, and other details. Users can enable the new details pane by clicking on “Details pane” in the View menu and toggling it on using the button on the right-hand side of the command bar.
The Windows Spotlight feature on Windows 11 will feature a more detailed and richer user interface with 4K portrait images and provide the option to learn additional details about each desktop image. The two different treatments for Windows Spotlight are now being tested and will vary across different PCs in the Dev Channel for Insiders and will only be available in English.
Additionally, Microsoft announced that it would start expanding the rollout of “notification badging” for Microsoft accounts on the Windows 11 Start menu. Users can manage these notifications by going to Personalization > Start in the Windows 11 Settings app.
It’s important to note that features tested in the Dev Channel may be heavily tweaked before being made available to general customers, or they may never get released. The new treatments in the Windows Start menu include prompts such as “Sign in to your Microsoft account,” “Use Microsoft 365 for free,” “Keep your account safer,” and “Access your files from anywhere.”
These prompts are being tested for users logged into local accounts. A Microsoft account is what connects Windows to a user’s Microsoft apps, backs up their data, helps manage subscriptions, and adds extra security steps so that they’re never locked out of their account.
