Summary
- Microsoft pivots from Copilot to a Windows 11 revival called K2 — a marathon of staged updates rather than a single big release.
- Start menu to be rewritten in WinUI 3 for ~60% better responsiveness and more customization.
- Microsoft views SteamOS as a performance benchmark as it preps Xbox hardware with Windows 11.
Say what you want about Microsoft, but at the very least, it seems to know when it needs to change course. After over a year of the company adding Copilot to all of its apps, it finally pivoted direction after users told the company that they were sick of AI tools. Now, Microsoft is trying its best to win back users by addressing some of the more common pain points people have with Windows 11, such as the Start menu.
If one source is to be believed, this initiative is more than just Microsoft throwing engineers at specific problems until people stop complaining. It has a plan to get people on board with Windows 11 again, and it's called K2.
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The Windows K2 plan aims to solve Windows 11's biggest problems
It even includes taking on SteamOS
In a Windows Central report citing "sources," Microsoft is allegedly working on a project called Windows K2. It sounds like a new version of the OS, but it's actually a plan to revamp key areas of Windows 11 to win consumer trust in the operating system. It also won't be a single, big update; instead, Windows K2 will be a marathon of updates introduced over time.
Some of the most interesting parts of Windows K2 relate to performance. For one, the sources claim that the Start menu is getting a full rewrite in WinUI 3, which will make it 60% more responsive and notably more customizable. Another interesting claim is that Microsoft now sees SteamOS, Valve's gaming distro, as a benchmark for Windows 11 gaming. This is particularly important for Microsoft to achieve, as it's planning to release its next Xbox console with Windows 11 as the OS.
Windows K2 doesn't have a release date, so we'll likely be waiting for a while for these features to land if this report is accurate. However, given Microsoft's shift in focus from Copilot to Windows 11 features, it's not too far-fetched to think Windows K2 is real.
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