The best suite of free tools for Windows is getting a lovely dashboard redesign to make it even better

Have you given PowerToys a try before? If you haven't, you're really missing out on this excellent, free suite of tools. They add a whole ton of features to Windows, to the point where I'd argue that anybody who's a Windows power user should definitely give it a try, at the very least.

However, there is one problem: PowerToys can be really overwhelming. It did debut in Windows 95 after all, and people have been sticking new features onto it for the last 30 years. Forutnately, Microsoft has confirmed that they're introducing a new dashboard which seems like it'll really clean things up.

Microsoft confirms that PowerToys is getting a dashboard redesign

As spotted by Neowin, the story begins over on the PowerToys GitHub page. In an issues thread titled "Dashboard/Feature overview" posted on May 16th of this year, someone discussed how both the dashboard and the grouped feature pane don't really work out when you're trying to find a specific tool. To be honest, I totally agree with them; as feature-packed as PowerToys is, it can be overwhelming to find the right one.

Fortunately, a software engineer at Microsoft called Niels Laute caught wind of the thread and shared some details on an upcoming dashboard update. Right now, all he has is a concept that Microsoft is "exploring," but it's still looking very promising. Take a peek:

What do you think? Personally, I think it looks really nice. At the time of writing, the only reply to this image is someone saying the concept is "a huge improvement over the existing design," and I have to agree with them. I especially like how easy it looks to toggle the tools and sort them by categories, and I hope that the actual release of the new dashboard will keep most of this design.

Still, the design was only posted earlier today, so it hasn't really made the rounds among the PowerToys enthusiasts just yet. Given how a dashboard change always messes up workflows at least temporarily, I'm curious to see if the vets will have any objections and if Microsoft will address them. I suppose we can't say for sure until it's released.

So, convinced to give PowerToys a try yet? If you're still on the fence, we have a ton of resources you can check out to learn how to use this excellent suite of tools. Here are some of my favorites:

• I automated my workflow with PowerToys — here's what happened
• I finally became a PowerToys convert years after I should have
• I tried the future of PowerToys Run, and it looks very promising
• 8 reasons you should be using PowerToys on your Windows PC
• 7 PowerToys Run plug-ins I use to boost my productivity