Microsoft Photos for Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel has undergone a significant transformation, shedding its previous clutter for a more streamlined and efficient user experience. The latest update introduces a cleaner interface, with fewer icons adorning the top bar and a context menu that opens with impressive speed, reminiscent of the simplicity found in the legacy Photos app.
Historically, the Photos app had become increasingly congested as Microsoft integrated various features into the top toolbar, including Designer, Clipchamp, and OneDrive shortcuts. These additions, while functional, created a visually distracting environment for users seeking a straightforward image viewing experience. The right-click menu was equally cumbersome, often taking longer than necessary to load and featuring an overwhelming number of options.
Since March, Microsoft has committed to enhancing the quality of Windows applications, as outlined by Pavan Davuluri in a blog post. This initiative includes the removal of “unnecessary Copilot entry points” from various apps, including Photos. The recent update marks a continuation of this effort, with the removal of the dedicated “Ask Copilot” button and a broader focus on decluttering the app.
Microsoft Photos loses the clutter, and it feels noticeably faster
Testing the revamped Photos app on a PC running Windows 11 Insider Preview Build revealed a significant reduction in toolbar icons. The previous version displayed four additional icons alongside essential functions like Edit, Print, and Share. The new iteration retains only the necessary buttons, providing a more focused and user-friendly interface.
The context menu has also been streamlined. Previously, right-clicking a photo would present options such as “Edit with Designer” and “Create a video with Microsoft Clipchamp,” which were often irrelevant to users’ immediate needs. Now, the menu features a concise list of essential actions, including Save As, Open With, and Start Slideshow. Microsoft’s changelog describes this as a “refreshed design that puts the focus on your content and top actions like edit, print, and share,” a statement that perhaps underplays the extent of the improvements made.
Moreover, the context menu now opens significantly faster, eliminating the delay caused by unnecessary promotional entries. Users will also notice a more responsive experience when opening and zooming into photos, aligning with Microsoft’s claims of improved launch performance. The app is now simply more efficient, performing less extraneous work in the background.
Everything else Microsoft changed in this Photos update
In addition to the major changes, Microsoft has introduced several smaller enhancements to the Photos app:
- A richer file info pane: The info panel now displays quick actions like Resize Image and Copy Path at the top, along with expanded metadata and the full file path.
- HEIC files retain their original format: Editing a HEIC photo no longer necessitates conversion to another format for saving changes.
- SVG viewing support: The photo viewer can now open SVG files directly.
- Faster launch performance: Thanks to a new WASDK multi-process architecture, viewer load time has been reduced by approximately 2.1 times.
- A dedicated Microsoft apps section: Clipchamp and OneDrive shortcuts are now grouped together, removing them from the main toolbar.
- New device import controls: Users can now choose when Photos begins importing images and videos from connected devices.
While Microsoft retains Designer’s AI editing tools, these are now integrated within the app rather than cluttering the toolbar as a permanent fixture.
Photos (Preview) undoes all of this progress in the same update
The recent update also introduces “Photos (Preview),” a separate app that features its own Gallery, People, Albums, and Favorites sections. Although it appears to be a next-generation Photos app, it ultimately serves as an inferior alternative to the existing Photos app and is automatically installed alongside it.
Upon inspection, Photos (Preview) operates as a WebView2 process rather than a native application, raising concerns about performance and efficiency. This new addition seems to contradict Microsoft’s efforts to streamline the Photos experience, as it introduces yet another layer of complexity to an already established app.
Microsoft should keep debloating apps, not add more web wrappers
Despite the introduction of Photos (Preview), the majority of the changes made to the Photos app align with the direction Windows 11 needs to take. Microsoft has already removed the Copilot button from Snipping Tool and rebranded Notepad’s AI tools to reduce their visibility.
As Photos (Preview) remains labeled as experimental, Microsoft is actively seeking user feedback, suggesting that there is potential for it to be integrated into the main Photos app or even OneDrive in the future. However, the introduction of a WebView2 process masquerading as a second gallery app seems counterproductive. The focus should remain on refining existing applications, ensuring they are as fast and efficient as their predecessors from the Windows 7 era.
