With the latest Windows 11 Insider Build, you can now choose different power modes depending on whether your device is plugged in or battery powered. This ends the tyranny that one power setting controls all devices.

It's amazing how a feature that seems so obvious isn't always available. Windows 11 Insider Canary's latest build lets you choose different power modes depending on if you are plugged in or running from the battery.

Windows 11 Build 27686 includes new settings in the power menu. You can choose between options such as Best Performance, Best Balanced, or Best Power Efficiency for each.

You can then increase performance when you are plugged in and switch to a more power-efficient mode when you are on battery. This will give you a little extra battery life when traveling and an extra boost when your computer is performing demanding tasks. Windows 11 has advanced power settings to help you in this regard. However, you have to dig around in the old Control Panel to find them.

There won't be much improvement in performance or battery life, but it will help you squeeze out a few more minutes of use from your laptop. The new settings will help you in stressful situations, such as writing an urgent article in the airport lounge when all the plugs are occupied. Ask me how I know.

It's pretty simple to enable this feature if you're a member of the Windows Insider Program in the Canary Channel. Canary builds are unstable, so it's best to wait until the feature appears in other Windows 11 builds.

The latest build has a lot more to offer than just the new HDR streaming feature. The 32 GB limit on FAT32 partitions is now 2 TB. There's also a new HDR-streaming feature that can be tweaked. The HDR gaming mess on Windows machines is not fixed, but we should all continue to pray for an update.

While we wait, a long overdue segmentation of power settings for mobile devices will be a very useful feature. Windows has always made some power adjustments when switching between the outlet and the battery, but allowing the user to choose their own options is a nice way to give them more control. As we Brits would say, "more power to your elbow" or, in this case, "more (or less) energy to your laptop".