Search is one of the most powerful tools of the modern age. Everyone reading this post has used Google or Bing at some point and likely many times just today.

When it comes to Windows, search is an integral part of the experience. You might use the search box on your taskbar, click the search bar in the Start menu, or hit the Windows key and start typing your query.

With Start11, we wanted to let you be in control of how your search results appear in Windows 10 - and, more specifically - in Windows 11. The reason why Windows 11 needed more attention is that the native experience opens a different panel than the Start menu and it can be a bit disjointed.

So we rebuilt the search experience along with the Windows 11 menu style so that it feels more integrated into the Start11 experience. But we didn’t stop there: you can also enable a Windows 7 style search experience, too.

This means you have three options for choosing how your search results appear with Start11 – you can keep the native option enabled, turn on our new search experience, or stick with the classic style from the Windows 7 era.

And if you are one of the many users who hit the Windows key to start your search journey, Start11 makes it possible to remove the search bar from the menu to reduce clutter and free up valuable space. Below is how I have my Start menu arranged for quick access to storage as well as frequently used apps.

As with everything we do with Start11, it’s all about providing more options. The key is that you are in control to break outside the defaults provided by Windows to make your desktop more personal and productive.

And we aren't done, either – while we have many more features planned for Start11, we will soon release version 1.0 of the application that will be the bedrock for adding new functionality to the application.