The gamepad of portable consoles has become more convenient for typing in Windows 11

Microsoft has added new features to the latest version of Windows 11, including an on-screen keyboard optimized for gamepad control. This innovation is aimed at improving the interaction for owners of portable gaming devices such as ASUS ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion Go, as well as users who prefer to play on a PC from the couch using controllers.

Main features:

• On-screen keyboard for gamepads: In the new layout, you can enter text and move around the screen using the Xbox controller. This makes typing more convenient for those who control the system via a gamepad.
• Update rollout: The new feature is now available for testing in Windows 11 Preview Build 22631.4387, where users can experience the changes before their official release.

Other updates:

• The message system has been refined, which made its work more convenient and clearer.
• Access Phone Link from the Start menu: Users will now be able to open the Phone Link app more quickly, which integrates smartphone control on a computer.
• Copilot key remapping: It is now possible to reprogram the Copilot button, assigning other functions to it at your discretion.

In the Windows 11 24H2 update appeared support for the ReFS (Resilient File System) file system on desktop computers, which was previously only available in server versions such as Windows Server. One of the new key functions is block cloning (Block Cloning), which allows you to significantly speed up file copying operations.

ReFS was first introduced by Microsoft in 2012 and is intended for server applications and large file storage. It provides high resistance to failures and data corruption thanks to built-in integrity checking and automatic backup. If a file system encounters corruption, it isolates only the corrupted data while preserving the integrity of other information.

In Windows 11, ReFS is presented in the Dev Drive format, which is aimed at developers and professionals. Microsoft says the new file system can improve performance when copying files. For example, copying a 1 GB file using ReFS is 94% faster than using traditional NTFS, which is especially noticeable when working with large amounts of data.

However, ReFS cannot be used to install the operating system – its main role remains in optimizing work with files and improving performance when working with storage. In addition, ReFS can automatically manage different levels of storage, optimizing the balance between performance and capacity, which is especially relevant when using SSDs and HDDs.

Despite the obvious advantages of ReFS, its usefulness on ordinary home PCs may be limited if there is no multi-disk array or the need to work with large volumes of data, as in server systems.