As part of Microsoft’s latest presentation on the future of hybrid work, the tech giant revealed that Windows 11 is getting a much-requested improvement to touch controls in the form of additional touch snap layouts.
Available across touch-enabled devices running Windows 11 after Microsoft's productivity event, the new touch-snap layouts will allow users to better organize their desktop for multitasking and productivity, saving them from the plight of rummaging through tabs and different windows to find the information they are looking for.
Accessed by dragging a window or app to the center of the top of your display, Windows 11’s snap layouts offer a substantial improvement in ease of use over Windows 10’s drag-and-drop snap assist feature which often lacked precision.
Currently, when accessing Windows 11’s snap layouts you will be given a choice of four different layouts you can choose from, or six if you have got a larger display. While this selection has been somewhat limited in the past, Microsoft now expanding its touch snap offerings means that you should not have to resort to manually organizing your windows if there is not already a snap layout that takes your fancy.
Analysis: a welcome blessing for power users
As multiple monitor setups are rarely an option for touch-enabled devices, such as the Microsoft Surface, the addition of more touch snap options is a godsend to Windows power users who want to eke out every bit of productivity they can from their devices.
While new snapping options in Windows 11 are undoubtedly a good thing for organising your information, users will likely still find themselves limited by the size of their device rather than the number of windows that it is physically possible to cram on there.
Since snapping four windows onto a Surface Go’s 10-inch display is already too much information to handle, we can only hope that Microsoft has carefully considered the snap layouts that users might actually want to use on their touch compatible devices.
We have not yet got our hands on the expanded suite of touch snap layouts just yet, but we are certainly hoping that more horizontal snapping options are included as currently, those are sorely lacking as it is vertical or bust.
