Windows 11 could soon take advantage of high-speed USB devices, as Microsoft is currently testing support for a new 80Gbps USB standard.
This will be the successor to USB4, which can deliver data transfer speeds of up to 80 Gbps (double the speed of USB4) and is known as USB4 Version 2.0. The preview was released through Microsoft’s Dev Channel in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft’s own community for professionals and Windows enthusiasts to try out new features and versions of Windows operating systems and provide feedback.
Testing will be limited to a very, very limited number of users for now, because to enable this USB speed standard, your PC will need to have one of Intel’s most advanced processors, the Intel Core 14th Generation HX Series mobile processors.
This range of processors was only just announced at CES 2024 on January 8, so very few users will have access to them at the moment.
As Microsoft describes in his Windows Insider blogthis is the first substantial update to the USB4 standard, doubling USB transfer speeds from 40 Gbps to 80 Gbps. Here’s what Microsoft had to say, building on what this development will mean for future devices:
This is the first major version update to the USB4 standard and increases performance from 40Gbps to 80Gbps. It enables the next generation of high-performance displays, storage and connectivity. It is fully backwards compatible with peripherals built for older generations of USB and Thunderbolt and works alongside all other USB Type-C features.
What else is Microsoft currently testing?
The Windows 11 Preview Build 23615 brings testers a slew of new features, including USB4 version 2.0. Another introduction besides the USB speed upgrade that Microsoft is looking at is automatically launching Copilot when Windows 11 boots, specifically for widescreen devices (it doesn’t specify exactly what is wide enough for this). Windows Personalization observers don’t seem too excited about this prospect, and it seems Microsoft knew this was likely and provided instructions on how to disable it: Settings > Copilot.
In this build, Microsoft has also added apps that let you share URLs directly from the Windows panel, namely WhatsApp, Gmail, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. For example, if you want to try this in Microsoft Edge, you’ll first need to enable the Share button, as it’s disabled by default. You can do this by going to the three-dot icon at the top right of Edge, going to Settings, scrolling down to ‘Select which buttons to show on the toolbar:’ and enabling to show the Share button .
Next, you’ll need to highlight or copy the link you want to share and then click the Share button to the right of the address bar (which will first appear gray, but then darken once you’ve selected a link).
While the above build is still being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, these new features will also be made available via a gradual rollout in Beta build 22635.3061 via the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program. Users installing this build will need to toggle the switch to enable the new features if they want to try them out. Thurott.com has detailed these and more features and preview builds which have just been released and which Windows Insiders can try out now.
It will be a while before we see the effects of the USB4 version 2.0 standard and you will have to get one of the latest Windows PCs to see for yourself. It sounds promising and will likely improve the user experience when USB4 Version 2.0 devices and accessories hit the market.