Windows includes a number of native apps: Mail, Calendar, Clock, Paint, and more. All of these will receive a new look and/or features within Windows 11.
Windows 11 won’t just change the Windows operating system, it will change the way some Windows apps look and feel, too. Though Windows 11 will launch this fall, Microsoft has already been highlighting several Windows apps that are being updated for Windows 11. So far, Microsoft has shown off several Windows apps that it’s reworking for Windows 11, including what you might consider to be core Windows apps: Mail and Calendar, Paint, and even the lowly Clock app. Below, we’ll show you what to expect of these new apps within Windows 11. (Remember, Windows 11 is officially in beta. Things may change between now and the final release.) Perhaps the most unexpectedly interesting update to Windows 11’s suite of Windows apps is the lowly Clock app. Now, in addition to the usual suite of Timers, Alarms, a Stopwatch, and a World Clock, Microsoft has added Focus Sessions and Microsoft To-Do. Microsoft has dramatically revamped its Windows 11 Clock app, adding Focus Sessions with Spotify integration. Microsoft describes Focus Sessions as a major new feature, and it’s easy to see why. If you’re the type of person who concentrates best when music plays, you’ll love Focus Sessions and its integration with Spotify. Focus Sessions allows you to block out a period of time, with a literal stopwatch counting it down. During the Focus Session, you can connect your account to Spotify and ask it to play classical music, electronic, trance—whatever keeps you in the zone. (There’s a mute button, too, in case you receive a call.) The Clock app also includes integration with To-Do, so you can accomplish tasks and check them off. Finally, you’ll even be able to configure “streaks”—a habit-building feature that’s part of Microsoft Rewards—to set a daily goal and then accomplish it, day after day.
