Microsoft is making new versions of its popular apps for notes, photos and music available to a wider audience. The applications now follow the design philosophy of Windows 11.
Windows 11 was not a finished overall experience at launch. For example, it still lacks the promised Android integration and standard apps lacked an update to bring them up to the level of Windows 11. The latter shortcoming is quietly getting remedied.
Notepad
Late last year it already became known that Microsoft was tinkering with a new version of Notepad. Today Redmond is rolling out the new Notepad with dark mode to Beta users. The Photos app is also getting an update, and it is immediately available to all Windows 11 users. The same goes for Groove Music, which becomes Windows Media Player.
We explained the improvements for Notepad earlier. Microsoft is reworking the app to the standards of the Windows 11 design language and providing a dark mode. Find and Replace gets a different layout and the Undo feature is going to remember multiple actions.
Photos and Groove
Photos gets new features such as easier cropping. A bar at the bottom lets you quickly browse between different images. Groove Music changes its name and becomes Windows Media Player, but does not change as much functionally. The media player is based on Groove Music but can also handle video files such as MP4 and MKV. However, don’t expect Microsoft to compete with powerful alternatives such as VLC.
All innovations are currently exclusive to Windows 11, and it is unclear whether Microsoft plans to let Windows 10 users enjoy the updates as well.