Demo Guide: New Design and Tools
NOTE: This content is based on current pre-release builds and demo documentation from Microsoft and is subject to change.
HERO DEMO: Start, Notifications, and Quick Settings
By reimagining the way a PC should work for you and with you, Windows 11 is redefining productivity. Imagine your life with less noise, less clutter, and less chaos. What could you accomplish? How would life change if using your PC were simpler? The new design and tools in Windows 11 help bring you closer to the power within you.
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Simplicity and ease of use top the list of our customers’ needs. It is this notion that has influenced every decision and design element of the new Windows.
Throughout the demos below, point out the new animations, icon designs, and rounded edges of elements in Windows 11.
So where to start? Start centered. Space on each side of the new Start menu gives a sense of freedom and time. Now, front and center is your ability to search for anything, anywhere. No more bouncing back and forth between browser, tabs, and folders. It’s streamlined and intuitive and revolves
around you.
Show the centered taskbar icons.
Launch the Start menu by clicking or tapping Start. Demonstrate the changes to the start menu and how users can view all apps, access recent documents, profile settings, and power settings. Right-click on an app icon to see further settings, such as pin and un-pin.
With a rejuvenated Start, Taskbar, and Notification Center you can get things done with fewer clicks and swipes. Settings such as battery life and speaker settings have been combined into what we call Quick Settings. You can easily adjust the music you’re listening to and change your song selection, too. In addition, adjust your screen brightness and check how much battery your PC has.
Show how system tray icons have been combined into Quick Settings by clicking or tapping on Wi-Fi/Volume/Battery icons.
Adjust volume and brightness levels.
Edit quick settings using the pen icon.
The notification pane on your right is now a combined experience with your date and time, allowing you to catch up with everything at a glance. You’ll see the notifications that are rolling in across applications—and a quick view of your synced calendar in real time.
Tap or click on the calendar in the taskbar to launch Notifications. View any
notifications and expand and collapse the calendar.
HERO DEMO: Snap Layouts and Snap Groups
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If you’re anything like me, when it comes time to multi-task you strategize exactly where you should place each window, on which monitor and resize it manually—so it fits the space you need it in. And that can change all day long.
For those of us who still have the luxury of more screens and for those whose entire office shrunk into a laptop—we’ve made some improvements.
Begin by opening multiple windows of different applications. If possible utilize Microsoft 365 applications—Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. Open each window so each is visible but overlapping.
New Snap enhancements make it easy to optimize your screen real-estate. With Snap layouts you can select what ways you’d like to customize your screen, just by hovering over the maximize button in any window.
With Snap you can also maximize screen real estate no matter what size the display is. Windows 11 recommends Snap Layouts depending on the size of your display.
Hover the mouse cursor over the maximize button (between minimize and close).
Show the different layouts available.
If
In your workflow, you can snap your
PowerPoint presentation, Word report, and research PDF to maximize your productivity on a single screen. Once you snap one window, Windows 11 will show every other open window on that desktop, allowing you to quickly choose what other windows should fill those snap spaces.
Select one of the available layouts and then choose the other applications to fill the remaining spaces.
Once you snap, a grouping will appear, so even if you’re needing to pull up Outlook and respond back to that email—you can quickly find your group and jump right back in without needing to re-snap. Windows helps you get back to where you were.
Minimize all windows by moving the cursor to the bottom-right corner and clicking, or the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + D.
Hover your mouse cursor over one of the applications you just snapped. Show that the second option is labeled “Group,” and will show the app icons of the different windows in that Snap Group.
Other Demos: Desktops
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Another way that Windows helps you stay organized and focused is with Desktops.
Desktops can be created from Task View, which shows all open windows on your current desktop.
Locate the Task View button in the taskbar.
Tap or click on it (or use keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Tab) to launch the Task View. Add a new desktop.
Each desktop can display a different set of apps so that you can create separate
“rooms” for different parts of your life. You can have one for home, one for school, one for gaming, another for work… as many as you need.
With Windows 11, you can now personalize each of your desktops with custom
wallpapers, so that each desktop can be its own place with its own look and purpose.
Relaunch Task View and rename your second desktop to “Work” or “School.”
Select this new desktop and launch several different applications. Press task view again to show the difference between desktops.
In the new desktop, right-click anywhere on the desktop and select
“Personalization” and “Background.” Select a different background image than is set on desktop one. Relaunch Task View to show the different themes. NOTE: In current Insider builds only desktop backgrounds can be different across virtual desktops, all other theme elements remain the same.
Other Demos: Docking Experience
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Sometimes switching projects or tasks means switching locations like taking a call in a quieter space—but disconnecting and reconnecting can mean rearranging all of your work flow twice. Not anymore. Now, when you get up and go, everything will be where you want it to be when you get back with the new docking and undocking experience.
When you disconnect your Windows 11 PC from a dock with an external monitor, the windows on your external monitor
minimize on your laptop, so they don’t disturb what you were doing. And when you reconnect, everything is back where you had it before. Wow. No more trying to remember or recreate your layouts.
NOTE: This demo experience will likely rely on pre-recorded content and RDX.
Only possible to demonstrate with a device that can be docked and undocked from multiple displays.
On a multi-display device, launch multiple windows on the secondary display and use Snap Layouts to create a Snap Group.
Disconnect the device from the external displays. The windows from the second display should all minimize and not be visible on the main display.
Reconnect to the external display. The windows in the Snap Group should return to how they were positioned before disconnecting.
With Snap Groups and the new docking and undocking experience, it’s easier than ever to get back to being your most productive and creative.
Open the Settings app and navigate to Display. Show the options to “remember window locations based on monitor connection” and “minimize windows when a monitor is disconnected” under
“Multiple Displays.”
