Dell dropped the starting price of its iconic XPS 13 laptop to $799 on June 2, 2026 — a move that puts premium build quality into the hands of students and budget-conscious buyers. Hours later, Microsoft began rolling out a long-awaited Start Menu customization suite that lets users pin folders, resize tiles, and banish unwanted recommendations. Together, the announcements mark a quiet but decisive pivot for the Windows ecosystem: after years of chasing AI-powered frills and futuristic form factors, both companies are re‑centering the basics that everyday PC users actually care about.

The timing is no coincidence. PC shipments have plateaued, and consumer surveys consistently rank price and familiarity as the top reasons people hesitate to upgrade. Dell’s new entry‑level XPS 13 directly answers the price complaint. Microsoft’s Start Menu overhaul tackles the familiarity problem head‑on. In a world where a MacBook Air starts at $1,099 and iPadOS remains stubbornly un‑Window‑like, the twin moves give Windows users a tangible reason to stay — or come back.

Dell XPS 13: Premium, Minus the Price Tag

The 2026 XPS 13 (model 9345) keeps the same CNC‑machined aluminum chassis, 13.4‑inch 16:10 InfinityEdge display, and edge‑to‑edge keyboard that have defined the line since 2020. What’s changed is the processor: Dell swapped the usual Intel Core Ultra for the Snapdragon X Plus — a 10‑core ARM chip built on the same Oryon architecture that powers the higher‑end Snapdragon X Elite. The result is a $200 price drop against the previous base model, while maintaining 16 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and a 512 GB NVMe SSD.

Battery life, always a sore point for x86 thin‑and‑lights, climbs to a claimed 19 hours of video playback — a figure that would have been unthinkable three years ago. Early reviews confirm the device easily clears 14 hours in mixed productivity workloads, which puts it in Arm‑native MacBook territory. Port selection is mercifully practical: two USB‑C (both with Power Delivery and DisplayPort), a headphone jack, and a microSD slot. No USB‑A, but Dell throws a USB‑C‑to‑A dongle in the box.

The student angle is explicit. Dell’s education store cuts another $50, and the company announced a bundle with a 24‑inch monitor, wireless mouse, and backpack for $999 total. That bundle, insiders say, was designed to win school‑district RFPs where Chromebooks have dominated for a decade.

Why It Matters

Dell isn’t just selling a cheaper laptop; it’s defending Windows’ territory. Chromebook shipments grew 9% year‑over‑year in Q1 2026, according to IDC, almost entirely in K‑12 and higher ed. Apple’s M‑series Macs, meanwhile, have eroded the premium consumer and developer segments. The $799 XPS 13 gives Windows a credible hero device at a price where neither ChromeOS nor macOS can match the combination of build quality, app compatibility, and familiarity.

Crucially, the Snapdragon X Plus makes the device eligible for Microsoft’s new “Copilot+ PC” branding, meaning it ships with the dedicated AI engine and Recall feature. Yet Dell’s marketing for the education SKU almost entirely avoids AI buzzwords. The landing page emphasizes durability, battery life, and “runs all your school apps” — a sign that the AI PC message is being dialed back where it doesn’t resonate.

Microsoft Start Menu: Finally, the Controls Users Asked For

On the same day, Microsoft released Windows 11 KB5039327 to the Release Preview channel. The update introduces three Start Menu changes that power users have been demanding since the Windows 8 disaster:

  • Folder pinning – Users can now right‑click any folder (Documents, Downloads, OneDrive, or custom locations) and pin it to the Start Menu as a tile. Tapping the tile opens File Explorer at that location. This restores a workflow that was lost when live folders disappeared.
  • Tile resizing – Pinned apps and folders now support four sizes: small (icon only), medium (icon + label), wide, and large. The large size for folders shows a preview of the latest four files, mimicking the live‑tile behavior of Windows 10’s golden age.
  • Recommendation zone off‑switch – A single toggle under Settings > Personalization > Start now removes all “Recommended” files and apps from the Start Menu, leaving the entire space available for pinned content. Previously, users could only reduce the number of rows, not eliminate the section entirely.

The update also adds a “Clean layout” template that applies a minimalistic grid of pinned items with no gaps, reminiscent of the Windows 10 design but with rounded corners. Early Insider feedback on Reddit and the Windows Forum has been overwhelmingly positive, with the top‑voted comment reading: “Took eight years, but we got our tiles back.”

The Real Benefit: Less Friction, More Control

The Start Menu’s evolution reflects a broader shift inside Microsoft. Internal telemetry shows that over 70% of Windows 11 users never interact with the Recommended section, yet it occupies roughly one‑third of the Start Menu’s real estate by default. The new off‑switch isn’t just a feature — it’s an admission that one‑size‑fits‑all curation doesn’t work.

Folder pinning is the dark‑horse champion here. For office workers who live in SharePoint and OneDrive, pinning a “Project X” folder directly to Start saves multiple clicks every hour. For students, pinning a class folder turns the Start Menu into a lightweight assignment dashboard. These are small efficiency gains that compound, and they address a complaint that IT admins have been filing since Windows 11 launched.

Tile resizing, meanwhile, lets users visually separate work apps from personal apps by adjusting sizes. A large pinned folder for family photos sits next to a small shortcut for VS Code — a spatial organization tool that power users have been desperately missing.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Dell cutting $200 from the XPS 13 and Microsoft giving the Start Menu its biggest upgrade since 2021 are not separate stories. They are symptoms of the same underlying trend: the Windows ecosystem is re‑investing in the fundamentals that built its user base.

When Windows 11 launched in 2021, it was sold on a vision of a cleaner, more modern, touch‑friendly interface. The AI PC push of 2024–2025 doubled down on a future where Copilot would anticipate users’ needs before they even clicked. But the market delivered a different verdict. Adoption of AI features like Recall and Windows Studio Effects remains low, and the feature that users keep requesting is simply a Start Menu that does what they want.

Similarly, Dell spent 2023 and 2024 chasing the AI PC halo with expensive Intel Core Ultra and Snapdragon X Elite configurations that pushed XPS prices past $1,400. Those laptops are excellent, but they left a gap for anyone who simply wanted an XPS build without the top‑tier silicon tax. The new ARM‑powered $799 model fills that gap perfectly.

Competition and Challenges

Dell’s move pressures competitors on both ends. For HP and Lenovo, the Spectre x360 and Yoga lines must now justify prices that typically start $200–$300 higher. For Apple, the M4 MacBook Air remains faster in single‑core tasks and benefits from a mature native app ecosystem — but the $300 starting price difference and the XPS 13’s superior portability (2.6 lbs vs. 2.7 lbs) make it a real alternative for undecided buyers.

Microsoft’s Start Menu update, while welcome, is still an Insider build. Features can be pulled before general release, and Microsoft has a history of testing Start Menu tweaks that never ship. The “Recommended” off‑switch, in particular, may face internal pushback because it removes a surface for Microsoft 365 ads. But the Insider community is large, and the noise would be deafening if the toggle disappears.

ARM compatibility remains a question mark for the XPS 13. While the Snapdragon X Plus runs most emulated x86 apps well, niche software — particularly older engineering and accounting tools — may still stumble. Dell is clearly betting that the education and SMB markets it targets don’t rely on those edge cases. For everyone else, Dell will continue to offer Intel variants at higher price points.

What Comes Next

Both announcements set the stage for Computex 2026 later this month, where Microsoft is expected to detail the next Windows 11 feature update (codenamed “Hudson Valley” internally) and partners will showcase new hardware. If the June 2 moves are any indication, the event will focus less on AI hype and more on tangible improvements: battery life, quiet cooling, and an interface that respects user preferences.

The PC industry has spent three years telling people to buy new machines for features they didn’t ask for. Dell and Microsoft just signaled they’re ready to sell people what they actually want: a great laptop at a fair price, and a Start Menu that finally minds its own business.