Microsoft Begins Testing Web Search Box on Windows 11 Desktop
The new search box appears in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 and it allows you to search the web directly from the desktop. Microsoft doesn’t specify which search engine it uses, but we all know the answer to that question; it’s own. It also doesn’t say where the results will appear, but like searching via the Start menu we can assume it’s in the Edge browser. This would likely occur even if Edge isn’t your default browser. After all, late last year Microsoft updated Windows 11 to prevent certain links from opening in non-Edge browsers. Microsoft says if you’re using this preview build and don’t like the search box, you can easily remove it. Just right-click the desktop to click “show more options,” then toggle “show search.” Also, not all Insiders will see this feature in the build as it’s only being pushed to some users according to Microsoft.
Microsoft says the search box is the company experimenting with “lightweight interactive content on the Windows desktop.” This could be a harbinger of more add-ons for the desktop, which would please quite a few people we would wager. Widgets were a popular feature of Windows 10, but in Windows 11 they’re anchored to the left-side of the screen. They also are all contained within a block that pops out when you click a taskbar icon, and it disappears when you click anything else. There’s customization options (above), but they’re quite limited. Suffice to say, it’s a downgrade over the Windows 10 version.
Though we were never fans of having a ton of widgets on our desktop, displays have gotten a lot bigger in the past few years. We now have room for a little calendar, a clock, and maybe even a little weather box. Heck, we might even be tempted to put a calculator on our desktop. Or at the very least, we’d like to have the option to pin some things to our desktop, off to the side. Sticky notes are nice, but there’s room for a few more. All this raises the question: how many widgets does it take to kick a person out of the “power user” club?
Continue reading
Razer’s Tomahawk Ultra-Compact Desktop PC Goes on Sale This Month
The ultra-compact PC will be available for pre-order this very month with specs including a Core i7 CPU and up to an Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card. Razer's new PC won't come cheap, though.
Intel Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs Will Launch in March, Gigabyte Confirms
Gigabyte has announced full PCIe 4.0 support for its Z490 motherboards when paired with 11th Gen Intel CPUs, and confirmed that Rocket Lake will debut at the end of March.
Intel’s Desktop TDPs No Longer Useful to Predict CPU Power Consumption
Intel's higher-end desktop CPU TDPs no longer communicate anything useful about the CPUs power consumption under load.
Intel Launches Iris Xe, Its First Desktop GPUs in More Than 20 Years
Intel has quietly re-entered the desktop graphics market, setting up the first genuine three-way fight in GPUs since the 3dfx days.