Microsoft just shared a massive blog post recapping major Windows 11 changes, including new Photos app features, an improved Search experience, expanded phone integration, and gaming improvements.

Many of the changes highlighted by Microsoft have already been announced, or even fully detailed elsewhere. But with Windows 11 in the middle of a significant refresh, gathering them all in one place is useful.

While much of the post focuses on previously known improvements, Microsoft also used it to introduce a few genuinely new additions, including the redesigned Photos app and an Xbox anniversary game bundle for eligible PC buyers.

Here's a quick rundown of the features Microsoft highlighted:

• New Photos app
• Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD)
• Windows 11 performance improvements
  • Faster Start menu
  • Faster File Explorer
  • Faster Search
  • Faster Snipping Tool
  • Faster Settings
  • Memory optimizations
  • Reduced Widgets memory usage
  • Reduced update times
• Bluetooth and AirPods improvements
• Windows Hello improvements
• A push to improve driver quality
• Expanded Phone Link features
• Microsoft Ink Canvas
• Advanced Haptics
• Improved accessibility

One of the biggest changes is the new Search experience that allows you to perform actions from the taskbar. The new Search is faster, supports inline actions, and lets you perform tasks without opening related apps or settings menus. The new Search is already in testing among Windows Insiders.

Microsoft explains that improvements to Windows 11 results in an experience that feels up to 20 percent more responsive. That improvement comes as the result of several efforts from Microsoft, such as optimizing memory management and streamlining in-box apps.

The company also highlights that Windows 11 is more reliable and customizable than before. Over the past year the Widgets Panel has been cleaned, the taskbar has gained the option to be placed on other parts of your screen, and Windows Update has been improved.

Microsoft specifically highlighted Bluetooth improvements, including AirPods pairing that it says is up to 15 seconds faster.

On the gaming side of things, Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) reduces the initial load time of games by delivering precompiled shaders. Forza Horizon 6 and Gears of War: E-Day are supported now and more titles should gain support in the future.

The improvements to Windows 11 will help anyone with an up-to-date PC, but it's clear Microsoft is taking the opportunity to suggest people buy a new PC. As part of that effort, the company has an Xbox 25th Anniversary bundle that includes over $500 worth of games. The collection includes several major titles, including Skyrim Special Edition, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Age of Empires II Definitive Edition, Minecraft Dungeons, and Gears of War: Reloaded.

"A new PC is a meaningful purchase, and the value should show up in more than a spec sheet," says Microsoft. "The reason to upgrade is not just one feature; it is how [experiences] work together to make more of your day feel effortless."

Another Microsoft blog post highlights deals as we head into the holidays.

Microsoft shared a commitment to listen to feedback earlier this year. The company followed up with several improvements as part of its Windows K2 initiative. It's taken time for those promises to move from feedback and Insider testing to broader availability, but Windows 11 is now seeing some of its most significant changes in years.

The real question is whether these improvements change buying behavior. Microsoft clearly believes a faster, more reliable Windows experience can help convince people to upgrade.

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Microsoft Edge may not have a Favorites bar after a future update. The browser may instead feature a collection of bookmarks instead. The change would bring Edge more in line with Chrome, which could help people transitioning from Google's browser to Microsoft's.

The change appears now in the Canary version of Microsoft Edge, which suggests it will make its way to the stable version of the browser at some point in the future. Leo Varela, who tracks changes to Edge and Chrome, spotted the change and highlighted it on X.

Varela also noted that the switch could be made to make Edge appear more like Chrome.

I'm curious if people are even aware that Edge has Favorites rather than bookmarks. Even if you click the star icon in Edge to add a site as a favorite and then place that site in the Favorites bar, the user interface looks almost identical to bookmarks in Chrome or other Chromium browsers.

Edge still has a poor reputation

This week I was speaking with a friend about Microsoft Edge and was somewhat surprised to hear them say it was a bad browser. I was actually more surprised that they had an opinion of the browser at all.

If you hop into our comment section or into subreddits full of tech enthusiasts, you'll often see people say something to the effect of "Edge is a fine browser; it's basically Chrome with a Microsoft paintjob."

But in my experience, that opinion is not held by non-techy users. In the rare instances that browser preferences come up in my everyday conversations, most people I speak with still connect Edge to Internet Explorer or just assume Edge is worse than Chrome.

I know Chrome gets a lot of hate around these parts, but the reality is that it's the world's most-used browser. Statcounter shows Chrome at a 66.36% market share right now. That tramples second-place Safari, which sits at 18.27%. Edge is in third place with a 6.04% market share.

That picture changes when exclusively looking at mobile devices. Chrome is even more dominant and Edge has essentially no mobile market share.

With Chrome being the de-facto standard for browsing, it's wise to make Edge look similar to Chrome. Microsoft needs to differentiate Edge in some ways, but Favorites versus Bookmarks is not one of them.

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XREAL just announced a refresh to the best AR glasses on the market. The newly announced XREAL 1 Pro+ is brighter than last year's model and features enhancements to improve image quality.

XREAL carved a niche in the wearable space with its glasses that let you enjoy content on a massive digital screen that you can take anywhere. We've covered XREAL products for years, including the XREAL Air 2 Pro, XREAL One Pro, and XREAL Beam Pro, which enhances XREAL AR glasses by adding support for Android apps.

The XREAL 1 Pro+ builds on the XREAL One Pro, retaining a 57-degree field of view and support for 3DoF (three degrees of freedom) spatial viewing. The new AR glasses are much brighter than their predecessor.

The biggest upgrade on paper is the jump from 700 nits to 1,200 nits of brightness. We've found display quality to be one of the most important factors when evaluating AR glasses.

In our XREAL One Pro review, we said you should buy a pair if you want a "bright, beautiful, and private display for all your devices." We'll have to test the XREAL 1 Pro+ but the official specifications suggest it's brighter and more beautiful than its predecessor.

XREAL added support for AI HDR to improve perceived image quality, though that feature is limited to certain types of content.

The 2D-to-3D conversion of the glasses, which adds depth to normal 2D content, has had its refresh rate improved from 30Hz to 60Hz.

The XREAL 1 Pro+ also has a new ergonomic nose pad that is supposed to make the glasses more comfortable during extended sessions.

You can order the XREAL 1 Pro+ starting today for $599. The launch is through XREAL's website, but XREAL glasses have become available through Amazon and Best Buy in the past, so it's reasonable to expect the XREAL 1 Pro+ to appear at other retailers.

At the time of publication, the XREAL 1 Pro+ glasses had not appeared on the XREAL website. I will update this piece once they are available for purchase.

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Microsoft held a Windows and Surface event last week that focused heavily on the Surface Laptop Ultra. Coincidentally, Panos Panay announced a new device on the same day. Panay, who led Microsoft's hardware division for years, now works for Amazon and unveiled a new range of Amazon Alexa tablets.

Those tablets aren't really direct competition to the Surface Pro, but they do have a feature I'm envious of. The nanomatte screen on one of those Amazon Alexa tablets would be perfect on a Surface Pro.

Matte displays reduce glare by diffusing light. Because the screens bounce light in different directions, the image can appear grainy. An extreme example of this is if you get a cheap matte screen protector for your phone, but even a premium PC with a matte finish can look a bit grainy.

The nanomatte display Amazon uses in its new tablets etches the screen in a way that aligns with the pixels of the display. Amazon praises the displays for providing "a first-of-its-kind cinematic viewing experience, with incredible contrast retention in bright conditions and text that feels like it’s sitting on top of the glass."

I'm not sure I agree with the claim that it's a world first. Apple's nano-texture technology is similar to what Amazon unveiled. But even if Amazon is not a pioneer in the space, it has a device with a screen I'm envious of.

Microsoft has been oddly resistant to anti-glare displays. Surface was late to the party on adding them to any device and has been selective with where it offers the screens.

Even as recently as this year, Surface Laptop 8 shoppers needed to choose between an anti-glare display or 5G connectivity.

Our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino argued back in 2020 that Microsoft needed to use anti-reflective displays in Surface PCs. Anti-reflective screens are different from anti-glare displays, but both aim to improve visibility in bright environments.

Microsoft has yet to fully embrace anti-glare screens and it holds back Surface hardware.

The anti-glare display of the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro also has a texture that makes pen usage feel more natural. The screen is meant to make it feel like you're writing on paper, not a perfectly smooth piece of glass.

It's not surprising that a device made by Panay has features that would fit perfectly on a Surface. He shaped the Surface brand as much as anyone, and he took his expertise over to Amazon.

But as I mentioned earlier, the Alexa tablets are not competitors to the Surface Pro, so they can't serve as replacements either. The Alexa tablets run on Android and have access to the Google Play Store. That's a welcome change to the locked-down Fire Tablets of the past, but it's a far cry from a Windows-powered 2-in-1.

I'd love to see Microsoft replicate the nanomatte finish of the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro on a Surface Pro in the future. The finish would help those using the Surface Pro in bright settings and also improve the feel of using a stylus.

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