Microsoft is bringing its Weather widget back to the Windows 11 system tray.
It’s a feature that debuted in Microsoft Windows 10 and offers real-time weather conditions and quick access to the widest widget and news feed. However, Windows 11 has removed the integration of this taskbar in favor of a separate widget panel.
“We’re trying to display the widget entry point on the left side of the taskbar with real-time weather content,” said Amanda Langowski, CEO of Microsoft Insider at Microsoft. “You can also open the Widgets tab by simply hovering your mouse over the entry point.”
The weather widget appears by default to the left of the taskbar or as an additional icon if the Windows 11 taskbar is left-aligned. This latest taskbar switch, available on the Windows 11 development channel, tracks the testers’ ability to display the time and date on multiple monitors. Both changes are expected to be implemented in the Windows 11 update in 2022.
In addition to the changes to the taskbar, the company has announced a new Voice Access function for Windows 11, “says Langowski.
Voice Access supports opening applications, transferring, reading, and composing activities such as web browsing or e-mail. Once activated, you can use commands like “Open Word” to open the Microsoft word processing application, or even say “Click” to select items.
Voice Access appears to be a combination of different Microsoft speech recognition tools in Windows over the years. It’s not yet clear when Voice Access will be available to all Windows 11 users, and Microsoft says the new features will appear in future annual releases of Windows or as part of the monthly releases.