Windows 11 - Update - iPhone, Bing Chat, Record screen and more

[GoodBytes]

Microsoft direction to release updates more frequently, and less holding back completed feature for months on end until some late release date on a calendar, Microsoft is wave releasing a new update for Windows 11 owners.

 

This new update will feature a number of interesting features.

 

 

 

Screen Video Recording

Snipping Tools has been updated to not only take screenshots but can also do video recording.
Simply pick the filming camera under Snipping Tool, and hit "+ New". When you do, you can define the area of your screen to record, and it will record it,

 

 

 

 

iPhone Support

Phone Link app is an app that allows you to interact with your phone from your PC. You can send, receive SMS messages and phone calls. You can get your phone notifications, battery life, control media playback, access recent pictures taken from the device, including easy transferring them to your PC, complete with drag and drop direct from the Phone Link app to, say Word or whatever app you are using. For Samsung phone users, you can also stream phone apps on your PC as well.

 

Sadly, for iPhone users were left out due to Apple restrictions.

Today, it looks like some agreement was managed to be done and now Phone Link supports iPhone's with not only SMS support but also iMessage. 

 

 

 

Notepad Gets Tabs

 

 

Improved Tablet Support

On devices that goes in tablet mode, the taskbar can now be collapsed (a new state) and can be shown in full size by swiping upwards.

In this minimized state you still have the date and system tray icon show. 

 

 

Bing Chat Integration

Search box of Windows 11 now integrates with Bing Open AI Chat.

You can ask a question directly and hit the "b" Bing button on the bar to get a panel that will appear and chat with Bing new AI chat system.

 

 

 

Widgets Panel - Improvements 

A long time awaiting since its announcement, third party Widgets is here... kinda... not really.

Outlook, Todo, Sport, PhoneLink, Family Safety, Weather and a few more are all apps you can pin on the Widget panel. Spotify joins in with its own widget. The first third-party widget for it.

Widget panel can also be expanded full screen.

 

 

 

Other improvements 

• Braille display support
• Energy recommendations to help concern power (desktops and laptops) (Settings > System > Power & battery > Energy recommendations)
• Windows 11 Pro devices and higher that are Azure Active Directory (AAD) joined: Improved Start menu file recommendations via an AI-powered system.
• Enterprise only: Windows 365 - New app to access your Cloud PC
• Windows Studio Effects settings from the action center. This applies to devices that support this feature only.

 

Source: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2023/02/28/introducing-a-big-update-to-windows-11-making-the-everyday-easier-including-bringing-the-new-ai-powered-bing-to-the-taskbar/

 

[DrMacintosh]

8 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Notepad Gets Tabs

Biggest feature improvement hands down. The more apps that can have tabs, the better. I'm not joking its a great way to work.

[GuiltySpark_]

All good things. 

 

Interesting news about iOS working with the Phone Link app. I recently started using Intel Unison which does essentially the same thing and then they go and add this. 

[Lightwreather]

I will admit this made me chuckle more than it should've

Anyway, tabs in notepad… Finally!

[WereCat]

Notepad with tabs?

 

 

[Dominik W]

I'm really curious as to the iOS-Phone Link integration. From what I have read in a different article, it will obviously have slightly less features than Android integration, but it should have all the important basics. I hope it works well, and I'm excited to try it out.
 

I might add that this might be the biggest encroachment on the iOS-Mac ecosystem that Apple has built up. iMessage, phone calls, notifications, etc. in my opinion have been some of the more enticing features for the more "less-pro" of Apple users. Why? Because it makes basic tasks much easier, and you don't have to pick up your phone as often among other things (Might I add that often the techier people overestimate how much the average consumer cares about the more "advanced" features. The basic ones tend to appeal much more-see iMessage and the green vs blue bubble.). If Windows manages to execute this basic arrangement well, they might end up having a pretty stellar product, having both phone integration and the much wider and much more open app environment all in one product. 

 

(I still want to have an entire Apple ecosystem. Why? I'm a child. Don't worry, I'll always still have a PC .)

Edited March 1, 2023 by Dominik W
Clarified one sentence in the 2nd paragraph.

[Senzelian]

4 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Snipping Tools has been updated to not only take screenshots but can also do video recording.

Finally! This is going to be so fucking awesome for tech support.

 

 

4 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Search box of Windows 11 now integrates with Bing Open AI Chat.

Yay? Can we have a version of Windows search that doesn't fuck around in the interwebs?

 

4 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Widgets Panel

Do people use that even? The Widgets Panel really feels like the most unnecessary feature ever, even compared to Cortana. It's somehow even more useless than Windows Vista widgets. At least those were able to show system information.

[NumLock21]

That record desktop in Snipping tool was introduced like 2 updates ago and yet it's still not even here when all available Win11 updates are installed. Does MS tend to introduce all of these new features that's only available for Insiders and have no intention of releasing them to the public. It would be nice for them to next time have the updates available and ready for public download, before they start blogging about some new features for Win11.

[GoodBytes]

2 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

That record desktop in Snipping tool was introduced like 2 updates ago and yet it's still not even here when all available Win11 updates are installed. Does MS tend to introduce all of these new features that's only available for Insiders and have no intention of releasing them to the public. It would be nice for them to next time have the updates available and ready for public download, before they start blogging about some new features for Win11.

They were problems with this features on some hardware configurations, that had to be fixed. I was one of them affected. Works now.

[NumLock21]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

They were problems with this features on some hardware configurations, that had to be fixed. I was one of them affected. Works now.

What works?

[GoodBytes]

6 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

What works?

Video recording feature of snipping tool

[Rolling2405]

12 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Today, it looks like some agreement was managed to be done and now Phone Link supports iPhone's with not only SMS support but also iMessage.

So this means you can send and receive iMessages from your PC?

[Mihle]

Phone link, I have heard about it but not tried it. I have been using PushBullet but it works way worse now than it did before, it's slow, so when I now got reminded of Phone Link then maybe I should check out how it works and and maybe switch.

[jagdtigger]

In other words they working on crap no-one asked for/needs and/or playing catching up with linux DEs.......

[hishnash]

18 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Today, it looks like some agreement was managed to be done and now Phone Link supports iPhone's with not only SMS support but also iMessage. 

 

They do not need an agreement. They should be able to use the same protocole as cars have used for years to talk to the phone. This will let them do a few things
* seng messages

* read incoming messages

* list messages

* read contact info
* make phone calls

* receive phone calls

 

However there will likly be limited due to the nature of the age of this protocol, I would be very surprised if you can have any images in those messages for example or know if someone is typing to you etc.

[mr moose]

1 hour ago, jagdtigger said:

In other words they working on crap no-one asked for/needs and/or playing catching up with linux DEs.......

less and less people need a desktop/laptop for anything, so they are trying to make it as appealing as they can to anyone still using one.

[GuiltySpark_]

The desktop recording is incredibly well done, played with it last night. Just drag a box, press record, then it goes straight to your clipboard like a screenshot would. 

[Doobeedoo]

I love Notepad tabs. The video recording is neat.

[GoodBytes]

4 hours ago, hishnash said:

They do not need an agreement. They should be able to use the same protocole as cars have used for years to talk to the phone. This will let them do a few things
* seng messages

* read incoming messages

* list messages

* read contact info
* make phone calls

* receive phone calls

 

However there will likly be limited due to the nature of the age of this protocol, I would be very surprised if you can have any images in those messages for example or know if someone is typing to you etc.

From my understanding, Microsoft has been trying to implement support for iOS devices since day 1, but they could not get approval from Apple to make it work.

Apple argument was to buy a Mac.

 

Now considering that Windows 11 is officially supported on M1 Mac, and the fact that Phone Link app has this feature, Apple apps on the MS Store sounds like some sort of agreement was done at some point in time.

[Donut417]

8 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

From my understanding, Microsoft has been trying to implement support for iOS devices since day 1, but they could not get approval from Apple to make it work.

Apple argument was to buy a Mac.

 

Now considering that Windows 11 is officially supported on M1 Mac, and the fact that Phone Link app has this feature, Apple apps on the MS Store sounds like some sort of agreement was done at some point in time.

I’m pretty sure Windows 10 had support for iPhones. I never tried it because it required installing some 3rd party app. 

[StDragon]

Bing Chat Integration was by far the biggest fart ripped around the world. It's JUST A STUPID HYPERLINK TO THE BROWSER!! 

[GoodBytes]

42 minutes ago, StDragon said:

Bing Chat Integration was by far the biggest fart ripped around the world. It's JUST A STUPID HYPERLINK TO THE BROWSER!! 

Well, at least it's not another app. Hmmm...probably will be under Win12 knowing MS.

[Isuck Assimov]

Hope they move the builtin LED-Lighting-Control from insider to public build soon

[470vinyl]

Just updated and tried Phone Link with my iPhone. Still only shows Android as an option. It also doesn't show up under "see what's new". Am I missing something?

[Holmes108]

3 minutes ago, 470vinyl said:

Just updated and tried Phone Link with my iPhone. Still only shows Android as an option. It also doesn't show up under "see what's new". Am I missing something?

 

Are you on an insider build? According to the article that feature is just for insiders at the moment, by the sound of it.

 

edit: in fact, re-reading it, looks like it's only a subset of insiders, and growing from there over time.