The new interface for Windows 11’s search feature, which began rolling out to users along with the April 2022 cumulative update, is now available to more people. The new interface comes with a feature called “Search Highlights” designed to highlight fresh content such as illustrations, facts and news or trending topics from Bing.
Search highlights are provided by Bing, so they change frequently to help users learn new topics and discover trending items. For example, today is World Penguin Day, and Windows Search will introduce important facts about penguins. Similarly, the search will also highlight moments such as festivals or other events around the globe and in your region.
Microsoft said it hopes to provide users with “rich, bold, and interactive” content through Windows Search, and the search highlights will be further enhanced in the coming months. The aim is to share interesting illustrations from Bing and help people discover new facts, and stay connected and productive.
If you don’t like too much content to disturb, you can turn off search highlights from windows settings. When you turn it off, Windows Search will only show suggested apps, quick search results from Bing, etc.
As you can see in the screenshots above and below, the search interface is evolving to become more like a start menu, making it easier and faster to find something. for example, you can easily find an application on the home page you search for without having to search for it in the taskbar or start.
In addition, Microsoft said that the experience can be improved by taking input from your work and school accounts for a personalized experience, but the search for guide dog location in Windows 11 still doesn’t support the reverse search feature available on Windows 10.
Accuracy issues with Windows Search
Windows Search is not invulnerable, and it often fails to display the correct items in search results. For example, when a user searches for an application, the search displays results from the network and ignores the local results. This has proven that Bing’s integration isn’t always the best idea. Microsoft has confirmed that the company is working to improve Windows search, and one of the latest previews includes additional fixes to make search faster.
while it’s undeniable that in the latest version, search is now slightly better, it still has bugs, especially not being able to present accurate results related to search queries. In the example above, Windows Search shows the steam application’s settings file in the results, not the application itself.