Microsoft finally remembers that personalization "is in Windows' DNA" after five years of ignoring it
Microsoft has reintroduced Start menu and taskbar customization in its Windows K2 initiative, reversing a years-long trend of removing personalization features from Windows 11. The company claims that personalization is 'in Windows' DNA,' citing user feedback as a key driver for the change. Despite these efforts, many users remain skeptical and are demanding further restoration of classic features and design elements.
- ▪Windows 11 removed long-standing personalization features when it launched, drawing criticism from longtime users.
- ▪Microsoft shifted focus toward AI and Copilot, leading to complaints about degraded updates and neglect of core system functionality.
- ▪The Windows K2 initiative brings back customization options for the Start menu and taskbar based on user feedback.
- ▪Pavan Davuluri of Microsoft stated that personalization is part of Windows' DNA and acknowledged user concerns.
- ▪Users are calling for additional features such as themes, removal of WebView2, and a return to Vista- or Windows 7-style visuals.
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| Original publisher | XDA Developers |
| Canonical URL | https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-finally-remembers-that-personalization-is-in-windows-dna-after-five-years-of-ignoring-it/ |
| Publication time | Sun, 17 May 2026 05:00:13 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-17T05:03:58.483Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-17T05:03:58.483Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | H2YddeFsyoRM |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": "1", "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.xda-developers.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position":"2", "name": "Windows", "item": "https://www.xda-developers.com/windows/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position":"3", "name": "Microsoft finally remembers that personalization \"is in Windows' DNA\" after five years of ignoring it", "item": "https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-finally-remembers-that-personalization-is-in-windows-dna-after-five-years-of-ignoring-it/" } ] } Microsoft finally remembers that personalization "is in Windows' DNA" after five years of ignoring it By Simon Batt Published May 17, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at XDA Developers.
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