
TL;DR
The new Notepad in Windows 11 has significant usability issues, particularly with its menu bar, which lacks expected mouse interaction features. Users can no longer select menu items by holding the mouse button, a regression from the previous Win32 version.
✦ Why It Matters
Consider providing feedback to Microsoft about the Notepad menu bar's usability issues.
Key Takeaways
Full Summary
Windows 11's Notepad has introduced a menu bar that regresses in functionality compared to the classic Win32 version. Users can no longer use a long mouse click to open and select menu items, a feature that has been problematic since 2019.
Keyboard navigation is also flawed; the left and right arrow keys do not allow smooth transitions between menu items, and the F10 shortcut fails to focus the menu bar. Additionally, access keys behave inconsistently, disappearing when using arrow keys for navigation.
These issues are not isolated to Notepad but are part of the broader MenuBar component in WinUI 3, which shares similar problems. Despite user reports and requests for fixes, many of these issues remain unresolved, highlighting a lack of attention to user experience in Microsoft's recent software updates.
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