Microsoft is finally getting rid of the junk MSN feed in Windows tools

Microsoft is finally ditching the unwanted MSN News Feed display when you open the Widgets feature in Windows 11. After allowing Windows 11 users to disable the MSN Feed more than 2 years agoMicrosoft says it will hide them by default soon as part of its effort to make widgets “quiet by default.”

“We’re working to make tools feel less distracting and stressful by making the experience quiet by default.” Microsoft says. “To do this, we are testing a new set of default settings designed to reduce unexpected alerts and visual interruptions.”

Microsoft plans to disable the tool panel from opening when you hover over its taskbar item, along with turning off distracting taskbar badges by default. The Widgets panel will open to Widgets instead of the MSN feed by default, and Microsoft will also restrict Taskbar Notifications until you choose to open and interact with the Widgets experience.

These changes should make the taskbar less annoying, especially since the Widgets section often contains notifications for stocks, weather, or MSN News by default. Hopefully, it will make the tools in Windows a more useful part of the operating system, rather than something that many users have avoided.