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As part of the ongoing story, not only are Windows 11 apps launching faster on slower PCs, but File Explorer and Windows Hello have gotten improvements, among other functions. Yesterday was Patch Tuesday, which means Microsoft has dropped another month’s worth of security fixes for its various products and services, plus a bunch of fresh functions for Windows 11.
Industry observers note that many of these improvements were already made available via July’s optional patch, but now they’re being rolled out to all Windows 11 PCs via this month’s mandatory patch. None of the fresh functions are singularly system update-changing enough to stand out on its own, but the whole package adds up to a nice boost for Windows 11 users.
In a fresh development, here’s a quick summary of small but practical changes:.
Industry observers note that previously, Microsoft used KB as the unit of measurement regardless of file size, which meant that an 8 GB file would show as 8,388,608 KB. Now, however, file sizes will show in MB or GB as it makes sense to do so; smaller files will still show in KB. You can now also use the middle mouse button to open a folder in a fresh File Explorer tab via the address bar and the Start page. File Explorer now displays file sizes in more intuitive units.
In a fresh development, windows Search, meanwhile, now delivers smarter results even when typos are present in the query. For touchpad gestures, you can now adjust scroll and zoom speeds as well as enable accelerated scrolling. Improvements have been made to the taskbar and to the power and battery settings. Windows 11’s voice control can now filter out other voices and background noise, improving intelligibility.
According to the latest update, previously, Windows Hello only accepted built-in fingerprint scanners. Anyone using Windows Hello to securely log in to a Windows PC can now also use external fingerprint readers.
The report highlights that and with regard to Secure Boot, Microsoft says the number of PCs receiving revised Secure Boot certificates has been expanded again.
According to the latest update, but even once it’s installed, you may not have all of these functions right away—Microsoft likes to roll them out gradually to an increasing number of PCs over days and weeks. After installing the August Patch Tuesday patch, Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2 will have build numbers 26200.9165 and 26100.9165, respectively.
Industry observers note that to learn more, see our comparison of Windows 11 Home and Pro. If you want to upgrade, snag it for cheap in the PCWorld Applications Store: now just $59 instead of $99. By the way: If you’re using Windows 11 Home, you’re missing out on the many benefits of Windows 11 Pro.
In a fresh development, this article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
As part of the ongoing story, he has been writing on almost all IT topics for around 25 years, covering everything from news to reviews and buying guides. Hans-Christian Dirscherl began his IT life with Autoexec.bat and config.sys, Turbo-Pascal and C, Sinix and Wordperfect.