Microsoft is adding new features to the Windows 11 Start menu beginning this month, rolling the changes out first to Windows Insiders using Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs, including the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices. The new Start menu is said to be roomier, with easier all-apps scrollable viewing and the ability to organize categories. The restyled Windows 11 Start menu will also offer a new phone companion panel that provides quick access to frequently used contacts, recent messages and calls, and more on synced Android or iPhone devices.

“Windows 11 is also getting a variety of new AI features, including an AI agent baked into the Windows settings menu; more Click to Do text and image actions; AI editing features for Paint, Photos, and the Snipping Tool; Copilot Vision visual search; improved Windows Search; rich image descriptions for Narrator; AI writing functions in Notepad; and AI actions from within File Explorer,” The Verge itemizes.

A Microsoft blog post says the AI features will make user experiences “more intuitive, more accessible, and ultimately more useful.” A dev channel post for Windows Insiders details additional upgrades for Insiders who have dev channel toggled on.

That new Start menu is “part of a wider wave of new features coming soon to Windows 11,” writes Windows Central, explaining that the new menu “includes three different views for the all apps list, which now appears at the very bottom of the main Start menu page.”

In addition to a traditional list view and new grid list view, there is a category view that can automatically folder installed apps into groupings that Windows Central reports is “similar to the App Shelf on iOS and iPadOS.” The Phone Link companion displays a smartphone overview on the far right, and can be hidden at any time.

“Many Windows 11 users will soon get Windows 11 24H2 automatically,” according to Tom’s Hardware, which says a Microsoft bulletin published Friday advised of the changes.

“Microsoft specifically says ‘Devices running Home and Pro editions of Windows 11, versions 23H2, 22H2, and 21H2 that are not managed by IT departments will receive the update to version 24H2 automatically,’” writes Tom’s. “For many folks, Windows 11 24H2 is going to be downloaded whether you intend to install it or not.”