Microsoft does not stop working on Windows. Since they announced a huge reinvestment in it (the first fruit of which was Windows 11), the Redmonds have thought and executed plans to constantly improve their operating system. The search function seems to be the next big focus of this renovation.
Was the Twitter user @PhantomOfEarth the one who discovered and explained all these changes (some of them hidden) in Windows 11 Build 25252. We will use his tweets and pictures to make this article. Let’s go!
This is back in build 25252 and is now official, it looks like the entire search UI has been updated. Updated dropdown with 4 options, new design for search field and updated search from the beginning. This thread is getting long. https://t.co/3OhP7O2Kdd pic.twitter.com/HehaAk9tll
— PhantomOcean3 💙💛 (@PhantomOfEarth) 28 November 2022
The Windows 10-style search bar is back
With the arrival of Windows 11, the famous search bar introduced by Windows 10 disappeared. Instead, we have a magnifying glass icon that served as a shortcut to the Windows 11 search interface.
Recently, however, Microsoft has tried to replace this icon with a small “fake” search bar, since it is only a shortcut (just like the magnifying glass icon).
Now, as we see in the attached screenshot, we will have the option of having a search bar in the purest Windows 10 style. Those of you who missed it are in luck.
A new built-in search instead of the web?
As you can see in the video attached to the tweet, we have a new search interface that we can only access from the home menu (enabling certain identifiers because it is still hidden).
The smooth animations and the fact that this new search can only be accessed from the Start menu are hints that, unlike current web search, this new implementation would be completely native. We think so because everything points to it exploiting Windows 10X code, an operating system that lacks a search bar. This may be why this new interface only appears (so far) from the Start menu.
Like its previous iteration, it will not automatically open the search UI when clicked. There are some cool new animations for the transition between the start menu and this new “start search UI”. pic.twitter.com/rf0fTYqeie
— PhantomOcean3 💙💛 (@PhantomOfEarth) 28 November 2022
We believe that all these changes will come sooner rather than later in Windows 11 and are a prelude to what we will see with Windows 12. Early leaked designs of the upcoming Windows showed us a search bar at the top center that took the front of the stage. Will Microsoft start rebuilding search now for what we might see in 2024?