Credit: Microsoft
- Microsoft is testing Start Menu Companions on the latest Windows 11 beta build.
- These are apps that provide Adaptive Cards that will be displayed on the left or right of the Start Menu.
- These cards are web-centric, much like desktop widgets.
Everyone seems to have a love-hate relationship with Windows. The newer versions of Windows are quite nice, but Microsoft has the habit of overdoing things often and spoiling a good thing, like the forced Copilot integration. Microsoft seems to be testing some new changes for the Windows 11 Start Menu, mainly by adding in floating widgets, in case you didn’t already have some elsewhere on your desktop.
X user Albacore spotted support for “Start Menu Companions” on Windows 11 beta, build 26212 (h/t The Verge). As the leaker describes, these companions are apps that provide Adaptive Cards that display on a floating island alongside the Start Menu.