Carrot and Stick: After good Windows 11 Start Menu news comes the bad

Microsoft started tests of a reimagined Windows 11 Start menu some time ago. Included in the changes was a feature that some Windows users wanted to see for years: an option to fully remove the recommendation section.

This wish has been granted and while still in testing, is something that Windows users can look forward to. Along with the change come other modifications to the Start menu, and one of them could potentially annoy users.

Automatic categorization of applications

All installed applications are moved to the startpage of the Windows 11 Start menu. This means that you do not have to click on the "all" link anymore to get a listing of the apps that are installed on the system.

Microsoft displays these apps in a new category view directly.  Apps are sorted into categories such as productivity, games, social, or utilities & tools.

Sounds great? While categories sound good on paper, Microsoft's implementation does not support the option to create custom categories.

In addition, categories only show up if at least three apps are sorted into one. If you remove all apps but one or two from a category, that category is removed. The apps are moved to the other category, which likely will be the largest category available.

A JSON file on the device determines an application's category. That is good for privacy, as Windows does not send Microsoft your entire list of installed apps just for the sake of putting them into categories.

Downside is that it is a pretty fixed affair. Since you can't create custom categories, you are left with the default categories that Microsoft has created.

While there is a theoretical chance that Microsoft is introducing the option to create custom categories before it ships the feature, or thereafter, I would not hold my breath. It took Microsoft just four years to give users an options to hide recommended in the Start menu after all.