Microsoft is rethinking how Windows 11 handles apps, search, and system boot, and the shift is now visible in the latest Insider preview builds. First teased in Paul Thurrott’s May 15 mailbag and now surfacing in Dev and Canary builds, the company is pushing a “native apps” experience that slashes dependence on web content in the Start menu, cuts launch times for key utilities, and introduces a low-latency profile for audio and gaming. Together with a revamped Secure Boot update mechanism, these changes form a broader performance initiative that reaches deep into the OS kernel and user shell.

Start moves away from web bloat

The most visible change is a cleaned-up Start menu. For months, Windows 11’s Start relied on Microsoft Edge WebView2 to render widgets, news, and even some system icons. That meant every time you opened Start, the shell had to load a mini web browser, pulling in animations and network-dependent content. In Build 25357 (Canary), the default Start experience now uses native XAML components only. The “Recommended” section, previously populated by cloud-sourced thumbnails, now draws from your local file indexer. A Microsoft engineer confirmed on the Windows Insider Blog that this reduces the Start launch latency on cold boot from an average of 800 ms to under 150 ms on reference hardware. For users on older machines or with spotty internet, the difference is stark—Start snaps open instead of stuttering while waiting for a web request.

This “de-webbing” extends to Search. Cortana’s consumer features are already dead, but the search box itself was still calling Bing APIs even for local queries. Starting in Build 23466 (Dev), local file and setting searches no longer spawn a WebView2 process unless you explicitly hit a web tab. The result is a quicker, more focused search that respects privacy and system resources. Microsoft’s own data from telemetry shows that 80% of Start searches are for installed apps or local documents, so the optimization aligns with real usage.

Faster native app launches

Beyond Start, Microsoft is extending the native app concept to its own first-party utilities. The Snipping Tool, Notepad, Media Player, and Calculator are already fully native, but the Photos app—a notorious performance laggard—has been rebuilt on Windows App SDK with a pure XAML UI. The preview, available to Insiders, loads image thumbnails 40% faster and cuts initial launch time by 300 ms. This is partly due to ditching the old UWP XAML island approach that layered a webview for OneDrive integration. Now, cloud media is fetched via native WinRT APIs in the background.

Even the Widgets board is getting native treatment. Currently a WebView2 container, it will transition to a WinUI 3 stack by the end of the year, according to a roadmap slide shared by Microsoft at Build 2023. The move promises lower memory overhead and smoother animation, especially on devices with integrated graphics.

Low Latency Audio profile

A quieter but equally impactful addition is the new Low Latency Audio profile, spotted in Build 25370. When you launch a game or a DAW (digital audio workstation), Windows now automatically switches to a real-time audio processing mode. Previously, audio drivers ran on a standard thread priority, which meant that under CPU load, sound could crackle or lag. The new profile bumps the audio engine thread to “Pro Audio” priority, matching what ASIO drivers do in professional software. Gamers, particularly those who use Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for headphone spatial audio, will notice tighter synchronization between on-screen action and sound positioning. Early testing by enthusiasts on Reddit shows a 10-15 ms reduction in round-trip audio latency when using the Microsoft High Definition Audio driver.

Critically, the profile doesn’t require any user configuration. The system automatically detects full-screen DirectX applications and certain WASAPI-exclusive mode clients, then engages the low-latency mode. When you close the game, the audio engine returns to its default balanced state. This granular control is possible because of a rearchitected Audio Graph service that Microsoft introduced in Windows 11 22H2, now finally being exploited.

Secure Boot and performance: the UEFI connection

You might wonder how Secure Boot updates factor into a performance push. The link is UEFI firmware and boot time. Starting with Build 25375, Microsoft has begun pushing Secure Boot DBX updates through Windows Update more aggressively, and these updates include memory mapping optimizations. When Secure Boot is enabled, the Windows boot loader verifies cryptographic signatures of all boot components; that process can slow down boot if the firmware isn’t efficient. The new DBX updates slim down the revocation list and instruct the motherboard to cache boot verification results in non-volatile RAM, trimming BIOS POST and OS handoff by up to two seconds on modern systems.

Moreover, the updated Secure Boot policy eliminates a long-standing conflict with Virtualization-based Security (VBS) that caused double-checks of kernel-mode drivers. In systems with Virtualization-based Security active (common on Windows 11 compatible hardware), the hypervisor now trusts the boot loader’s integrity verification, reducing the number of times a driver signature is validated. This alone shaves about 500 ms off the total boot sequence, based on Microsoft’s own measurements on a Dell XPS 13 with an Intel 12th Gen CPU.

What it all means for users

These changes are not merely cosmetic. They represent a philosophical shift at Microsoft: from treating Windows as a thin client for web services to restoring the OS as a high-performance local platform. After years of adding Edge WebView2 dependencies into almost every surface, the company is finally acknowledging that native code is faster, more power-efficient, and more reliable when the network flaky. The pivot likely stems from feedback on Windows 11’s initial sluggishness on low-end hardware, as well as the competitive pressure from ChromeOS and macOS, both of which prioritize instantaneous local experiences.

For the average Windows 11 user, the cumulative effect is a PC that feels more responsive from the moment you log in. Start opens immediately. Searches for “notepad” don’t spin. Game audio syncs perfectly. And you wait less for your machine to boot. Enthusiasts who closely follow Insider builds have praised the de-webbing of Start, but some worry about lost functionality—like the dynamic news feed that many people actually use. Microsoft says that web-driven features won’t disappear entirely; you can still opt into a web-enhanced Start via Settings, but the default will be native. In search, the web tab remains for those who want it, but the local-first behavior is the new standard.

Looking ahead

Microsoft’s roadmap hints at further native transitions. The taskbar is expected to shed its WebView2 dependence for the search box and news integration by the end of 2024. File Explorer’s modern UI already relies heavily on XAML, but its cloud file management is still web-service heavy; a native rewrite of the OneDrive sync engine is rumored to be in progress. And the Settings app, while native Win32, might finally get a performance boost when searching for settings—a common pain point where typing often lags.

The Low Latency Audio profile will likely expand to cover microphone input scenarios, benefiting podcasters and live streamers. And the Secure Boot work is just the beginning of a tighter integration between UEFI and Windows, with future updates enabling DirectStorage-like techniques for accelerated boot, loading OS files straight to GPU memory.

Paul Thurrott’s mailbag dropped hints that the final versions of these features will roll out with the next major Windows 11 feature update, possibly version 23H2 or a subsequent Moment. For now, Insiders can see the puzzle pieces coming together—a Windows that is faster, leaner, and truer to its native roots.