Windows quality: an update on the commitment we made in March | Windows Insider Blog
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Windows quality: an update on the commitment we made in March
Written By
Pavan Davuluri
published
July 31, 2026
In March I wrote to you about our commitment to Windows quality. Four months in, the team and I have been reflecting on our progress and wanted to share an update. We know there is more to do, especially in getting these improvements to all customers. We’re not slowing down.
What we said we’d focus on
In my letter, there was a list of immediate changes we committed to making. This included:
More taskbar customization
Integrating AI where it’s most meaningful
Reducing disruption from Windows Updates
Faster and more dependable File Explorer
More control over widgets and feed experiences
A simpler, more transparent Windows Insider Program
Improving the Feedback Hub experience
We also named three areas of focus at the start: performance, reliability, and well-crafted experiences.
Since then, the team has been deeply focused on these priorities. Many of these improvements have been rolling out to Windows Insiders over the last few months, and they’ll start rolling out more broadly across Windows 11 PCs beginning this fall.
Here’s what our work so far looks like
Earlier this month, we began previewing improvements to Windows Search Box, including a calmer home screen, clearer results, removing promotional content from web results and more.
At Build 2026 in June, we introduced a number of improvements to the developer experience on Windows including a developer-optimized Windows 11 experience to build and ship faster, announcing and later delivering a public preview of WSL containers, Windows 365 with developer configuration, Microsoft Execution Containers and much more.
We’ve strengthened the fundamentals of WinUI 3 and extended it into more of the Windows shell, including Widgets and the new Run experience, with Autoplay dialog and more File/Folder Properties dialogs coming soon to Windows Insider Preview Experimental builds. And with substantial improvements in memory efficiency and latency, these investments are strengthening the platform foundation needed to accelerate the modernization of Windows 11 and the broader application ecosystem.
In May, we began previewing changes to Taskbar and Start, which included the ability to move your taskbar positions as well as provide more personalization of Start.
In May, we shared updates on how we’ve been simplifying AI throughout the OS, starting with inbox apps, part of a broader shift to make AI in Windows more intentional and focused on the experiences that provide the most value to customers.
We have previewed several improvements to File Explorer, including foundational architecture enhancements designed to improve responsiveness and reliability across launch and navigation. We’ve addressed long-standing feedback about Home, including unstable transitions and blurry thumbnails. We also made updates to address File Explorer reliability, readability, and usability across the Address Bar, file size formatting, keyboard navigation, and renaming, and there’s more to come soon.
In May, we previewed updates to the widgets and feed experience, giving you more control over and making them quieter by default.
In May, we introduced the Driver Quality Initiative (DQI), a comprehensive, ecosystem-wide effort designed to fundamentally raise the bar on driver quality, reliability, and security across Windows. Since March, we’ve improved reliability across some of Windows’ most common connectivity experiences, including improved USB4 docking performance, improved compatibility with Bluetooth devices like AirPods, as well as major gains in printer connectivity, including reducing in-network printer discovery failures.
We’re continuing to invest across the full stack, from the kernel and shell to the apps and developer tools built on Windows, so performance improvements benefit the...