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.<\/b>
\nWindows 11 won\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll 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\u2019s 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\u2019s easy to see why. If you\u2019re the type of person who concentrates best when music plays, you\u2019ll 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\u2014whatever keeps you in the zone. (There\u2019s 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\u2019ll even be able to configure \u201cstreaks\u201d\u2014a habit-building feature that\u2019s part of Microsoft Rewards\u2014to set a daily goal and then accomplish it, day after day. Microsoft appears to be making some minor though interesting changes to the Photos app within Windows 11, which is currently in release to the Windows 11 Insider Dev Channel. (That’s possibly important, since the Dev Channel is the \u00ab\u00a0future\u00a0\u00bb branch of Microsoft’s beta program, and isn’t a commitment to releasing an updated app whe Windows 11 launches.) Microsoft has made several changes to the app: an updated toolbar, the addition of thumbnail images at the bottom of the screen, and the ability to click one or more of those to compare two or more photos. Microsoft is redesigning the Photos app within Windows 11 with a new toolbar and a row of thumbnails. Within the Photos toolbar at the top of the screen, Microsoft is adding shortcuts to other visual apps that you may already have on your machine, too. (Photos also continues to include the automatic, algorithmic \u00ab\u00a0Enhance your photo\u00a0\u00bb option, too.) Otherwise, Photos has added the familiar rounded corners and other visual elements of Windows 11. Windows 11 Photos will also allow you to compare photographs. Microsoft Paint has rolled successful saves against death many times over, surviving decisions to deprecate the beloved utility in 2017 as well as relegate it to a downloadable app. In 2019, Microsoft said Paint would remain a part of Windows 10 for now. The updated Windows 11 Paint app has a more intuitive interface. The decision by Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay to show off a new look for Paint in Windows 11 affirms that Paint has survived yet again. In a video, Panay revealed what looks more like a user-interface update than any major change in functionality. (One omission: The reference to Paint3D that currently exists with Windows 10\u2019s Paint.) Still, updating the iconography as well as the drop-down functionality is a welcome step, and simply putting in the work shows that Microsoft remains committed to Paint as a whole. Calculator is a surprisingly powerful tool hidden within Windows 10, though most people probably use it merely for numerical calculations. Inside it is a graphing calculator (remember to expand the app\u2019s window to use all of its functionality!), the ability to convert measurements and currencies, a scientific and programmer calculator, and more. None of that functionality appears to be changing for Windows 11, but the app will include a new theme setting. It\u2019s also been rewritten in C#, which Microsoft did as a way to allow the public to contribute to the app on GitHub, code in new features, and update the app more frequently over time. The Windows Calculator app (shown here within Windows 11) hides some powerful features like this graphing calculator. Anyone who captures screenshots regularly should know that Microsoft has not one, but two tools for doing so: the legacy Snipping Tool, and the newer Snip & Sketch. For years, Microsoft has posted a notice in the former app that it would be replaced by Snip & Sketch…but now that doesn\u2019t appear to be the case. \u201cBoth the classic Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch apps have been replaced by a new Snipping Tool app that represents the best experiences of both apps in the next evolution of screen capture for Windows,\u201d Microsoft\u2019s Dave Grochocki wrote in a blog post. Last but not least are Windows 11\u2019s own Mail and Calendar apps, which eliminate a lot of the visual clutter within Outlook and provide a simplified, streamlined experience. Microsoft doesn\u2019t seem like it will change anything here, simply giving the user interface the familiar rounded corners of Windows 11. For now, Microsoft isn\u2019t doing much with Mail and Calendar except for updating the UI. For Windows 11 news, how-tos, guides, and more, check out PCWorld\u2019s Windows 11 superguide.<\/p>\n