Microsoft’s design lead has told Windows Insiders that users can already feel Windows 11 speed improvements in early preview builds, and the company is promising more as it heads into fall 2026. Marcus Ash, who leads design and research across Windows & Devices, sent the message in an email following recent Insider meetups, according to Windows Latest.
What Windows 11 speed improvements are already here
Under the hood, Microsoft says the biggest gains are in responsiveness — the everyday feel of how quickly the OS reacts to your clicks and commands. At a recent Insider meetup, one tester described a new File Explorer that loads “instantaneously,” even when searching this PC or multiple drives.
That builds on work Microsoft quietly shipped earlier this year. According to Windows Latest, KB5079473 made File Explorer load faster during searches, and the improvement holds even without the system preloading folders in the background.
The context menu — the one that pops up when you right-click — has also been trimmed. Microsoft earlier admitted it had made Windows 11’s right-click menus slower and cluttered compared to Windows 10, and it is now cleaning that up. You can customize the menu and remove items you don’t use.
What’s starting to reach everyone
Most of these changes are still locked to Windows Insiders, but a few have begun rolling out to regular consumers. The movable taskbar and the resizable Start menu are the two clearest examples.
The movable taskbar — tracked by Windows Latest under update KB5120998 — lets you drag the taskbar back to the top or sides of your screen, something Windows 10 users took for granted. The resizable Start menu lets you shrink the oversized tile grid that drew heavy criticism when Windows 11 first launched.
But thanks to Windows 11’s gradual, staged rollout, you may not see these on your PC yet. Microsoft pushes features out in waves, and some may require you to force-enable them through the Insider settings before they appear.
More improvements coming this fall
In his email, Marcus noted that the recent Insider meetups were “smaller by design,” giving the team more time for direct conversation and feedback rather than large presentations.
“Many of you shared that you can feel the improvements in Experimental builds, especially in overall system responsiveness,” he wrote.
Microsoft deliberately won’t release benchmarks or performance numbers to prove the speed claims. Instead, the company says Start and taskbar improvements are already rolling out broadly, and users should expect more as the fall progresses.
The design lead also said Microsoft plans to share more early design concepts with testers going forward — a shift aimed at avoiding past mistakes. Years ago, Windows shipped its Start menu redesign without consumers ever getting to weigh in on the dozens of concepts Microsoft had sketched first.
Microsoft says it’s listening to feedback
For years, Windows users have complained that their feedback disappears into a black hole. You submit a suggestion, then never hear whether it was considered, let alone implemented.
Marcus acknowledged that pain point directly. “You want similar feedback grouped together and a clearer view of what we’re considering and actively working on. We’re increasing our investment in this area and will have more to share soon,” he wrote.
He pointed to a recent session where Microsoft shared the design for the File Explorer context menus that recently shipped to Experimental builds, and promised “more lightweight, early sharing sessions so we can hear your feedback before improvements make their way into Experimental builds.”
The company also plans to host more meetups and reach out to Insiders individually to shape the OS.
What this means for you
For the average Windows 11 user, the practical takeaway is simple: real improvements are happening, but they’ll reach your PC gradually over the coming months. If you care about the faster File Explorer, the decluttered context menu, the movable taskbar, or the resizable Start menu, your fastest path is to join the Windows Insider program and opt into the Experimental channel.
That trade-off is worth noting. Insiders get features weeks or months before everyone else, but they also accept the occasional bug that comes with preview software. If you value stability over being first, waiting for the stable update is the safer bet.
How to get it
To try the fastest versions of these changes now, switch to the Windows Insider Experimental channel. You can do this in Settings under the Windows Insider Program section, then restart your PC to pull the latest preview build.
For the consumer-facing features like the movable taskbar and resizable Start menu, keep Windows updated through Windows Update. Microsoft is rolling them out in stages, so patience — or a force-enable toggle — may be required before they show up on your machine.
Source: Windows Latest
Build details:
- kb5079473
Over to you: Will you join the Windows Insider Experimental channel to get these speed boosts early, or wait for the stable update?
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