The latest Windows 11 update does a lot to fix flaws in Microsoft’s operating system—but it also activates various Moment 5 features that the company has been teasing for a while.
There are, of course, a slew of new changes that have come about thanks to Microsoft’s latest operating system update for Windows 11. However, the new Moment 5 features the company teased a few months ago are some of the most exciting. Chief among those changes include new voice access features and improvements to Narrator in Windows 11.
You can now use Voice Access in Windows 11 to use your mouse across multiple windows. Microsoft has also made it easier to set up voice shortcuts in the Voice Access Commands window. These shortcuts will let you use your voice to copy and paste text, open specific files, open applications, URLs, and even press certain keyboard keys or click the mouse.
The company has also added several new natural voices to the screen reading tool, and you can find all those changes in the Accessibility section of Windows 11.
Some of the best deals on Windows 11 laptops right now:
Microsoft is also updating its Snap Layout feature, which allows you to easily arrange various windows into certain setups based on new AI-powered suggestions. Snap Layouts has been a mainstay in Windows 11 for a while now, but this really allows you to create better pre-made layouts using AI to determine which windows should be larger and which should be smaller.
If you haven’t used Snap Layouts before, you can toggle it on by navigating to System > Multitasking and then selecting Snap Windows to On. You can also explore the various options here, too.
Android is no longer the only operating system with the power of Magic Eraser. That’s because Microsoft has now added the AI-powered feature to the Windows 11 Photos app. This feature can be accessed in Photos. Once you select it from the toolbar, simply highlight the items you want to remove, and then it will use generative erase to clean up the picture for you.
Another update with Moment 5 is that Microsoft will now let you customize where widgets are categorized. This should allow you to better set them up the way you want, though it’s unclear exactly how much control we’ll have over the categories going forward. Still, it’s a nice addition to the Widgets if you use them.
Finally, the release of the Moment 5 update means that local users on Windows 11 will finally get a chance to try Copilot (if they’ve been wanting to). You’ll only get to use it ten times, but that should be more than enough to let you determine if you care enough to upgrade to a Microsoft account for less limited access. There are also a ton of EU-only features that are now available in Moment 5, including options to strip out Bing and Edge from Windows 11. Unfortunately, those options aren’t coming to the U.S. and other regions right now.
