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A feature in the Windows 11 preview makes life on the desktop simpler

The latest preview release of Windows 11 has a clever hidden modification that makes the new tabs with File Explorer an even more flexible utility, and it also introduces some fascinating new widgets.

Now that we’ve covered the necessary groundwork, let’s get to the meat of the matter: that secret, delicious feature. You may remember that with Windows11, tabs were added to the File Explorer, allowing you to use tabbed windows for managing your files (in just the same way as you have tabbed web pages in a browser window).

The ability to pull tabs out of a window in File Explorer was first concealed, but was discovered by Twitter user PhantomOcean3. In case you were wondering, you can make this feature visible to testers by installing a Windows configuration programme called ViVeTool.

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The functionality is identical to that of a browser tab. When you release the tab from the window, it will launch in a new window. This is a fantastic improvement to File Explorer’s tab functionality, and it gives users a lot more freedom.

New Spotify and Phone Link widgets are the most exciting additions to preview build 25290, which Microsoft revealed publicly in the regular blog post.

Widgets may be found on a separate panel, allowing the user to quickly assimilate vital information without having to launch and explore the app. The Spotify widget allows you to do things like see the most recently played songs.

Microsoft seems to be making a concerted effort to promote widgets; the company is actively urging developers to make widgets for their applications (naturally), and it has included a “how to” guide for making widgets in the preview build blog post.

A lot of people aren’t too like of widgets because of its association with the less-than-stellar implementation in Windows Vista (when they existed, but were named gadgets), but the new version in Windows 11 is a huge improvement. In our opinion, widgets are useful because of the information they present at a glance, but if you don’t want to utilise them, you can always turn off the widget panel in Windows 11.

Even if we’re excited for the File Explorer tabs feature to be included in the final version of Windows 11, we must keep in mind that it hasn’t even been included in the testing phase yet. We can’t think of a reason why Microsoft wouldn’t want to get this feature through, and the capability is already there behind the scenes, so a preview build should arrive soon. However, surprises are always possible in the software industry, so you never know.

You may now drag a tab out of a File Explorer window, but you can’t put it back in until the capability is fully implemented (as is possible with a web browser). This is likely because development of the feature is only getting started and will be refined in the future (assuming Microsoft moves forward with this, of course).