Windows 11 set for long awaited improvements, but is it too late?

As a PC user in 2026, if you've left the unsupported Windows 10 behind and have embraced Windows 11, you may well have found an operating system with a few more bells and whistles underneath the modest visual redesign.

But one thing that might be a little overwhelming is Windows' famous Start menu.

For years the simple concept of clicking 'Start' to find a program, file or other operation worked well, but today, the Start menu on Windows 11 is a dizzying spread of app icons, recommended apps, adverts, new feeds, stock prices and a plethora of other information and options.

This has meant Microsoft has expanded the Start menu from a thin bar to an almost screen-filling block of tiles and lists, and it is, to say the least, unwieldy.

According to a report from Windows Central, Microsoft is finally acknowledging it may have let the Start menu grow out of control, by soon giving users much more control over what appears in the menu.

While there supposedly won't be much visual change, the report claims a software update will bring "advanced customisation options", including being able to disable specific sections of the cumbersome menu or even switch to a smaller setup.

There's a whole feed in the Start menu called 'Recommended', which takes up a lot of space and is often just recently used apps or documents. I for one do not find it useful, and welcome the chance to turn it off and never think about it ever again.

At the moment, Windows picks whether you have a small or large Start menu dependent on your computer's screen size. Soon, you'll be able to pick which to use.

The report claims Microsoft is concerned the jampacked Start menu is taking too long to load on some PCs - so it appears to be a positive change driven by performance rather than the firm realising the Start menu is wildly overengineered.

I like Windows 11, but it is currently going through a bit of a rough patch.

Microsoft's CoPilot AI is everywhere, with pop ups telling me about new features or stuffed inside apps where I don't want it. I've found the last year of bloat offputting in Windows 11 to the point I am choosing not to use it anymore for work. I have resigned myself to (and old and less performant) MacBook Pro simply because Windows 11 has got so annoying to use day to day.

Even if you don't like macOS, there's something to be said of Apple sticking to the fact that if you buy a MacBook, you get all the software at no extra cost, and the system doesn't try to upsell you.

Ever since Microsoft made me pay a monthly subscription to even access Microsoft Word, I've felt less inclined to use Windows as my main system - and so updates to be able to customise the Start menu are welcome, but they might not be enough to fully win me back.