Windows 11 gets video editor, explorer tabs and more innovations

Panagiotis Kolokythas

It doesn’t want to stop: Microsoft is integrating more and more new functions into Windows 11 and is already presenting them with new pre-release versions for Windows Insiders before they are then delivered to all users later in the year with the big autumn update 22H2 (codename: Sun Valley). will. Build 22567.1 ( we reported ) is now being followed this week by Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22572. The highlights: A new video editor, tabs in Explorer, search highlights and much more.

Clipchamp will be integrated into Windows 11

The new inbox app Clipchamp, which is supplied and installed as standard with Windows 11, is inherited from Windows Movie Maker. With a big hook (more on that below). Microsoft still delivered Windows Movie Maker with Windows in the 2000s, but stopped developing it in the early 2010s, even though it was very popular.

“Clipchamp is our new video editor that makes creating videos easy, fast and fun,” explains Microsoft. The application provides tools for cutting and splitting videos. In addition, users should be able to easily integrate transitions and animated texts into their videos. Clipchamp can also access a webcam connected to the PC and record videos, which can then be edited directly in the application.

As a special feature, Clipchamp offers a timeline function for video editing, which is usually only used with paid professional video tools. This gives users even more options to edit their videos.

But that’s not all: directly in Clipchamp, users have access to an online library with over 1 million royalty-free videos, images, songs and sounds that can be added to their own videos. On top of that there is a cloud-based text-to-speech generator that can be used to translate voice recordings into more than 70 languages ​​and a Onedrive integration that allows content to be used directly from Onedrive in Clipchamp.

The other side of the coin:

Clipchamp is not a product developed directly by Microsoft. We installed the preview build 22572 and Clipchamp reported there with the information that only the basic version is free and this only allows the export of videos with 480p. Those who want to export their videos at 720p or higher are encouraged to subscribe, starting at $9 per month.

Microsoft Family will be another Inbox app in Windows 11

With Microsoft Family, Microsoft integrates another application directly into Windows 11, so that it is directly available after installing the update or after a Windows 11 reinstallation. Previously, this application was offered separately.

Microsoft Family gives users extensive security functions on their PCs and smartphones, with which they can, for example, activate parental controls in accounts to filter apps and games unsuitable for children or only allow child-friendly websites in the Edge browser. There’s also a feature to show family members’ locations or allow parents to decide how long kids can spend on PC, Xbox, or an Android device. Parents and children can store all sensitive files in a safe.

Microsoft points out that Microsoft Family is only kept up to date in Windows 11 Home for the Inbox app and there via the Microsoft Store. Windows 11 Pro users can install the app from the Microsoft Store if they want to use this app.

File Explorer gets tabs

You can also activate tabs in File Explorer via a still hidden option, as the Windows expert Rafael Rivera reports in a tweet. Microsoft did not officially announce this feature in the Build 22527 release notes.

This is a very exciting innovation, because tabs in File Explorer and other Windows applications were already planned for Windows 10 with Windows Sets, but Microsoft didn’t deliver this feature to users after all. Windows Sets was an extremely exciting feature, as we also explain in this article from 2019: Windows 10 Sets – what became of the new feature?

The answer to the question is now exciting: Will Windows Sets still come in Windows 11? Or does only File Explorer get the Tabs feature? There will probably be an answer with the upcoming Windows 11 Insider Builds.

Other new features in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22527

According to the Microsoft release notes for the new Insider Build 22527, there are also various other innovations and improvements in Windows 11, some of which will only be activated in the coming days or next week. This includes:

Search function is expanded with search highlights:

The search function is activated by clicking on the magnifying glass icon on the Windows 11 desktop. Microsoft expands this with further information that is then to be displayed to the user. For example on special days like Earth Day. Microsoft calls this “Search Highlights”. Users should be able to see directly what’s going on in “the world,” Microsoft said also in your region. In the start page of the search you will find content that highlights what is special about today.”

But it also concludes by adding: “Of course, you can still type to search for your apps, files, settings, and quick answers around the web.”

Other minor changes: