At Build 2023 a few days ago, Microsoft announced a new open-source tool for Windows 11 in the form of Dev Home. It offers developers a way set up and customize their development environment through the help of various extensions, such as the built-in Dev Home GitHub extension, and monitor their projects. The app is currently in preview and is available in the Microsoft Store for all Windows 11 users. Interestingly, Dev Home also offers numerous widgets for Windows 11, which are now available.
Dev Home provides a range of new widgets that can be used for multiple functions such as keeping track of the utilization and performance of your CPU, GPU, RAM, as well as your network. You can also use these widgets to terminate your most demanding programs and switch between your graphic cards. Here is the list of widgets currently supported in Dev Home, as detailed by Microsoft and spotted by Neowin:
- GPU: Monitor the performance of your machine's GPU.
-
SSH keychain: Lists the SSH connections available in your
ssh/.configfile. Select one of these SSH items to open that connection in Windows Terminal. - Memory: Monitor the performance of your machine's memory.
- Network: Monitor the performance of your machine's network.
- CPU: Monitor the performance of your machine's CPU.
- GitHub: The Dev Home GitHub extension can be connected to your GitHub credentials to provide both customizable widgets and notifications.
Obtaining the new widgets is a fairly straightforward process. If you are on Windows 11, simply go to the Microsoft Store or GitHub to download the Dev Home Preview app. Press Win+ W to open Windows Widgets, where you will then be notified about the new widgets now available. You can also instead press the “+” on the widgets board to add them manually.
However, keep in mind that as the app is in preview, which means that you could face some instability and bugs. Moreover, there is currently no option to resize widgets, which might be a turn-off for some. However, it's likely that improvements will be made to the user experience further down the line as the app matures.