Microsoft plans to roll out a public preview of Android Apps for Windows 11 next month, along with some taskbar improvements and a redesigned Notepad and Media Player app. Windows CEO Panos Panay outlined the upcoming changes to Windows 11 in a blog post today that appear to be part of the first big Windows 11 update.
Improvements to the taskbar include mute and unmute functionality, and possibly the ability to show the clock on a secondary display. Both of these features were temporarily unavailable when Windows 11 was released. Regarding the free drag and drop of the taskbar, Microsoft is still working on further improvements to bring these missing features back.
The upcoming Windows 11 release next month will also include the return of the weather widget to the taskbar, a feature Microsoft began testing last month. Microsoft is also redesigning its Notepad and Media Player apps, which include a dark mode and design tweaks to more closely resemble Windows 11.
The most important new addition to the next update, though, will be Android Apps support on Windows 11. Panay said this will be a “public preview,” suggesting the feature will still be in beta when it rolls out broadly next month.
Microsoft first began testing Android apps with testers on Windows 11 in October, a feature that allows a limited number of apps to be installed from Amazon’s Appstore. While there are currently a number of workarounds to get the Google Play Store working on Windows 11, Microsoft doesn’t officially support this.
Panay also shared various stats about how important Windows has become over the past few years. With Windows 10 and Windows 11 now running on 1.4 billion monthly devices, the PC market has experienced strong growth throughout the pandemic.
“As we reflect on what’s driving this structural shift in PC demand and usage, we see three enduring trends: the rise of hybrid work and study, shifts in entertainment habits and distribution models, and consumers’ everyday task habits change,” Panay said.
Microsoft saw a 6x increase in people using apps like Cisco WebEx, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. “Since the start of the pandemic, the number of people streaming Hulu, Netflix and YouTube content on Windows has increased by 70%, and monthly gaming hours have increased by more than 35%,” Panay revealed. “As a team, we couldn’t be more grateful and proud to deliver a product that is increasingly part of people’s everyday lives, and we know our mission isn’t complete.”