PowerToys Addresses Critical Flaw in Workspaces Feature

Microsoft’s PowerToys has recently been updated, addressing a major issue that previously held me back—and likely others—from fully utilizing Workspaces in the app. With the new version 0.87.0, PowerToys now allows integration of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) within Workspaces. Essentially, this means you can now save a combination of apps and PWAs on your desktop, which you can launch with a single click.

Before this update, trying to set up Workspaces with a PWA was more of a hassle than it was worth. You could "capture" a PWA, which suggested it was saved within the workspace. However, it merely stored an instance of the browser running the PWA. The latest update changes that by enabling a workspace to launch the PWA directly instead of just opening a browser window.

This improvement significantly enhances the functionality of Workspaces, especially since many services deliver their best experience in a PWA format rather than a standalone application.

Beyond this major enhancement, PowerToys v0.87.0 brings several other improvements, like allowing the Screen Ruler utility to display measurements in inches, centimeters, and millimeters. Let’s delve into the highlights and release notes for PowerToys v0.87.0, which Microsoft shared on GitHub.

Highlights:

• Advanced Paste: Includes a new "Advanced AI" feature utilizing Semantic Kernel to orchestrate sequential clipboard transformations.
• Workspaces: Now supports Progressive Web Applications and can relocate existing windows instead of spawning new ones.
• Mouse Jump: Introduces new settings for customizing screen pop-ups’ appearance, courtesy of @mikeclayton.
• New+: Compatibility with Windows 10 has been added, thanks to @cgaarden.
• Quick Accent: Offers the option to select character sets visible on the UI, thanks to @Sirozha1337.

Further enhancements across PowerToys v0.87.0 include:

• Awake: Enhancements in initialization, logging, and tray icon setup.
• File Explorer Add-ons: The Preview Pane now applies the PerMonitorV2 DPI mode for error corrections on varying scales.
• Keyboard Manager: Labels have been added to the ‘IME On’ and ‘IME Off’ keys.
• Monaco Preview: Now supports .ahk, .ion, and syntax highlighting for .srt files.
• Peek: Improved to determine supported image formats based on local capabilities.

Other tweaks encompass major updates and bug fixes for settings and accessibility issues, such as:

• PowerToys Run: Introduced a scoring function to order WindowWalker plugin results accurately.
• Screen Ruler: Allows displaying measurements in metric and imperial units.
• Settings: Enhanced link navigation and resolved accessibility challenges.
• Workspaces: Fixed a bug causing multiple instances of applications to overlap and improved the workspace editor’s stability and usability.

The development team has also upgraded dependencies and enhanced the codebase to improve overall performance and stability. There’s a raft of community contributions and behind-the-scenes improvements that bolster PowerToys’ functionality and user experience.

For Windows aficionados and developers, these updates offer a more robust toolset, making PowerToys an even more indispensable part of the desktop experience.