- Microsoft has promised to fix Windows 11
- The company will make extensive efforts to address performance issues and fix bugs.
- It is acting based on “clear” feedback from Windows 11 users and testers who are unhappy with the desktop operating system’s current flaws.
Microsoft has finally said that it will work hard to completely fix Windows 11, fix performance issues and fix crashes.
The Verge got the scoop here and reports that Windows engineers will focus on fixing the desktop operating system’s major issues. This will happen in a process called “swarming,” which basically refers to bringing together many software engineers to work collaboratively on bug fixes and tuning.
In short, it means that Microsoft is doing everything it can to fix Windows 11, and not before time.
Pavan Davuluri, who heads Microsoft’s Windows and devices division, told The Verge: “The feedback we’re getting from our community of passionate customers and Windows Insiders has been clear. We need to improve Windows in ways that are meaningful to people.
“This year will see us focus on addressing the pain points we constantly hear from customers: improving system performance, reliability, and the overall Windows experience.”
Analysis: reputational recovery
Obviously, it’s one thing to say this and another thing to follow through and get results. I hope we start to notice differences in Windows 11 sooner rather than later, and I imagine the initial goal is to stop the flow of bugs in the first place.
In this first month of 2026, we have witnessed a large number of new gremlins running around in the bowels of Windows 11, causing quite a bit of havoc for some users. In fact, some nasty bugs have been evident, such as boot failure, and sleep-related issues have been reported on older PCs (and much more). A terrible start to a new year, all in all.
If Microsoft can make Windows 11 more balanced with updates again, so that, for example, they don’t fix some issues while introducing a bunch of new bugs, it will be a good start to this ‘swarming’ effort to fix Windows 11 and its fundamentals.
Performance tuning will also be key here, and that includes speeding up File Explorer and making it more responsive, as that’s been a slow aspect of Windows 11 that’s long been complained about.
I write about Windows almost daily and one of the common topics that constantly comes up for me is how Microsoft is losing the trust of Windows 11 users due to all the glitches, bugs, and slow performance.
Davuluri acknowledges this in one of his statements to The Verge, observing that: “Trust is earned over time and we are committed to rebuilding it with the Windows community.”
Trust is crucial when it comes to one of the other key areas of Windows 11 for Microsoft: AI. If Windows 11’s reputation continues to suffer blow after blow, due to this error, or that Performance issue: Time and time again, the desktop operating system may never recover its state.
And if users don’t have faith in Microsoft to keep Windows 11 together and in generally decent working condition, how are they going to trust the AI agents that Microsoft so desperately wants to make one of the cornerstones of its operating system going forward? They won’t, and as a result, Microsoft’s AI plans will be derailed, especially if these agents turn out to be buggy.
AI, of course, has been a very controversial area for Windows 11. People feel that Microsoft is relentlessly pushing AI as the next big thing, pushing it into every corner of the operating system (more or less) with dubious benefits and, moreover, at the cost of ignoring the fundamentals and everything that is wrong with Windows 11.
This is what Microsoft indicates that this is no longer the case. I just hope it becomes more than just signage, and that 2026 proves to be the year Microsoft changes Windows 11’s quality assurance (which will require a longer-term strategy than “swarming,” it should be noted), while also defeating the performance demons lurking in certain parts of the operating system.
I already said that I think this year will be decisive for Windows 11, and it seems that Microsoft now realizes the seriousness of this situation. Proponents of Linux in its various versions certainly do, and are hoping to capitalize on any additional flaws.
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