Microsoft Family and Clipchamp will soon arrive on your Windows 11 PC, but do you actually want them?
If you’ve installed Windows 11 on a PC recently, you’ll notice that the operating system comes with some apps pre-installed. Unfortunately, if you’re not a big fan of them, Microsoft has some bad news for you as it plans to add two more to Windows 11.
​​​​Two New Pre-Installed Apps on Windows 11
Microsoft announced the apps on Windows Blogs, as part of the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22572. It contains a lot of interesting additions, such as an improved Search bar that can go through your organization’s files.
However, it’s not all good news for people who hate pre-installed apps. The software giant also announced Microsoft Family and Clipchamp as staples of Windows 11, and will now come pre-installed with the operating system.
Microsoft calls these apps “inbox apps,” because they come “in the box” with Windows 11. The announcement doesn’t reveal if users can uninstall these apps or not, so we’ll have to wait until it’s released to see how permanent these apps are.
Microsoft Family is a parental control app that lets you protect your kids from the dangers of the internet. It also allows you to monitor how much time your children spend on “Windows, Xbox, and Android” to ensure they’re not spending too much time in front of a screen.
Meanwhile, Clipchamp is Microsoft’s new video editor. It’s quite a lot more advanced than the aging Windows Movie Maker and features more professional-looking tools and transitions for making quick, stylish videos.
Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth?
Microsoft’s reasoning to add more inbox apps is clear. The company has these apps that it wants its users to use, so it adds them as part of the core Windows 11 experience. That way, people don’t need to search or download anything after setup; all the apps they want and need are already there for them.
The question is, is this the right strategy for Microsoft? Windows users are already used to Microsoft giving them what it decides is best for them, and they’re equally experienced in downloading and using third-party tools as soon as the PC boots for the first time.
If Microsoft really wants users to use its software, it needs to ensure that it can beat out the competition in each app’s market. As soon as a competitor does a better job than it, people will regard these preinstalled these apps as nothing but bloatware and will quickly remove them, even if Microsoft tries to make it as difficult to do so as possible.
A Handy Addition, or More Chaff for Windows Users?
With two more inbox apps arriving on Windows 11 PCs, we’ll have to see if users adopt them or remove them ASAP. However, given how people have reacted to Microsoft’s inbox apps in the past, the future looks a little bleak for these new additions.
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