Microsoft confirms tabs in Windows 11’s File Explorer, but there’s better

Microsoft took advantage of the virtual event on April 5 to present new features of Windows 11 aimed at professional users. Unsurprisingly, these are security and management capabilities, like the new Remote Health module for Intune. Other features already in the hands of members of the Windows Insider program have also been brought to the fore.

Of 1.4 billion Windows 10 and 11 users, Microsoft wouldn’t reveal how many were using Windows 11. operating system essentials – or simply not equipped with hardware that meets the minimum CPU/TPU requirements.

New “experiences”

Panos Panay, Executive Vice President of Microsoft, outlined a number of upcoming “experiences” for Windows 11 users. Microsoft uses the term “experiences” to refer to features that will come before the annual update – Windows 11 22H2 – expected around October. In February 2022, Microsoft rolled out the first cumulative update featuring a number of new Windows 11 experiences. But the company doesn’t specify when the next batch of new stuff will roll out.

Windows 11 experiences touted as likely to be of interest to business users include:

• tabs in File Explorer (a favorite of Windows enthusiasts);
• customizable (and nameable) application folders in the Start menu;
• the refreshed File Explorer app, with new contextual suggestions;
• the new File Explorer home page;
• Smart App Control to block untrusted or potentially harmful apps;
• driver block list for Windows Defender;
• more AI features designed to improve virtual and in-OS meetings, including voice clarity, consistency of eye contact, auto-framing, and background blur in portrait mode;
• more touch-centric features.

Remote Help

Microsoft also highlighted a number of existing and upcoming features in the area of ​​Endpoint Manager / Intune system management. These include Remote Help – an Intune feature similar to the “Quick Assist” remote help technology already built into Endpoint Manager. Remote Assistance is intended to allow help desk professionals to view and/or take control of users’ PCs in order to provide assistance.

Remote Help is not free. This is the first of a number of upcoming paid “add-ons” for Endpoint Manager. Microsoft will introduce them individually as optional add-ons to Microsoft 365 enterprise subscriptions that include licenses for Microsoft Intune. As soon as there are enough of them, Microsoft plans to bundle them together and make them available as a suite.

IT departments can send targeted messages to employees on their Windows 11 desktops or just above the taskbar with an organizational messages feature — another potential boon for help desk administrators. And Application Management for Edge will both enable access to corporate resources from unmanaged devices and give IT control over the conditions of permitted access.

Autopatch

Last year, Microsoft announced that Endpoint Manager would add management and compliance controls for Linux desktops, in addition to the other endpoints it already protects, with a preview slated for early 2022.

Microsoft has also hinted at a new Windows Autopatch service that will be able to automate updates to Windows, Microsoft Edge, and Office, ensuring they’re always up to date. The company says it will make Windows Autopatch available to Windows Enterprise E3 subscribers at no additional cost. But no additional details on what Autopatch will do, how it will work, or when it will be available.

Last week, Microsoft announced the general availability of System Center 2022 and several of its components: System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), System Center Orchestrator (SCORCH), Service Manager (SM). Data Protection Manager (DPM) is coming next month.

Source: ZDNet.com