Microsoft confirms (then negates) it is finally killing the Windows Control Panel in favor of the Settings app

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DragonSlayer101

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What just happened? The Control Panel has been an essential component of Microsoft Windows for decades, and was originally introduced in Windows 1.0 in the mid-80s. However, its days are numbered as Microsoft has confirmed that it will deprecate the tool in favor of the Settings app, which was introduced as part of Windows 8 in 2012.

In a blog post this week, Microsoft announced that "the Control Panel is in the process of being deprecated in favor of the Settings app, which offers a more modern and streamlined experience." The company noted that the legacy tool is still part of modern Windows versions for compatibility reasons and to allow users to change settings that are not yet accessible through the Settings app.

Update (8/27): After numerous stories circulated about the demise of the legacy Control Panel, it seems that Microsoft has either backtracked or, at the very least, softened its stance on the matter. They have rephrased the above statement as follows: "Many of the settings in Control Panel are in the process of being migrated to the Settings app, which offers a more modern and streamlined experience." So, the Control Panel may live on for another day – or even another few years – as the Settings app continues to absorb most of the settings, while the Control Panel remains in the background as a backup tool.

The original story follows below:

Microsoft plans to migrate all remaining tools, applets, and menu options to the Settings app before officially sunsetting the Control Panel. In the latest stable version of Windows 11, some settings can be adjusted from both the Control Panel and the Settings app, but the former still offers more granular control in certain cases, making it essential for power users.

As part of Microsoft's plan to fully deprecate the Control Panel, the company recently added new Power Mode options to the Settings app in Windows 11 Build 27686, released to the Canary channel last week. However, the 'Power Options' applet in the Control Panel still offers more advanced options, so it remains to be seen when Microsoft will migrate those menus to the Settings app.

While longtime Windows users may feel nostalgic about the Control Panel, its deprecation has been anticipated for some time. The company has been gradually migrating various elements of the Control Panel to the Settings app over the years as part of its plan to consolidate all settings in one place, so this move doesn't come as a major surprise.

Senior Microsoft officials had previously hinted that the Control Panel might be retired in favor of the Settings app, though it's only now that the company has officially confirmed the move. Microsoft hasn't announced a specific timeline for when it will remove the Control Panel from Windows, but it's likely to happen once the remaining settings are migrated to the Settings app in the coming months.

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Microsoft confirms (then negates) it is finally killing the Windows Control Panel in favor of the Settings app

 
Oh boy I can't wait to not be able to find anything anymore when I am in a pinch to fix something quick until I eventually adjust to the new paradigm... but at least the Windows 11 settings app is at least getting close to being passible; the Windows 10 settings app was complete garbage and at no point was usable to me.
 
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I still haven't used Windows 11 in any appreciable manner.... but I've briefly seen the new settings and while it looks like they are trying to organize, it was still missing settings I needed to change. We need ALL the settings back in there, and some color icons! I'm sick of this oversimplified colorless icons UI trend. At least make some color icons and give us an option to switch to them. You can leave your dismal defaults if you want.
 
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"Microsoft plans to migrate all remaining tools, applets, and menu options to the Settings app before officially sunsetting the Control Panel." --But will they?
This is Micro$oft who can't even get all the Power options into the Canary version, not a good start.
(and yeah, I realize Canary is worse than Beta, but still)
 
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madboyv1 said:
Oh boy I can't wait to not be able to find anything anymore when I am in a pinch to fix something quick until I eventually adjust to the new paradigm... but at least the Windows 11 settings app is at least getting close to being passible; the Windows 10 settings app was complete garbage and at no point was usable to me.
Click to expand...
I imagine there will be a flood of free downloadable patches to bring the Control Panel back. I can't imagine using Windows without it.
 
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Microsoft keeps making windows less and less functional which is why businesses and enthusiasts use it over other OS systems. They really need to shift course to a more functional design rather than try to follow apple. Apple iOS and MacOS are very annoying to use and their market just buys stuff for the look and the hype, MS needs to stay away from that market and focus on the savvy tech users, and business users. Maybe start developing stylish hardware to complement their OS?
 
Oh I'm sure someone will be playing the cat & mouse game of here's a registry hack to put it back/microsoft patches it/hacks again/patches again.
Maybe someone will come up with an app that mimics the old control panel.
I know MS won't do it, but what they should do is give users (hold your hats) A CHOICE.
Default it to the settings app, but allow users to put back the old control panel.
 
I'm happy to use the new settings app if it works easily. It hasn't been the reality though, it's a dog to use.

I trust MS to screw this up and backpedal when enterprise applies pressure.
 
Yet another reason I'm glad I'm still using Windows 7 and XP. I have speed, ease of use, customization, control and no telemetry (And I've never had problems with program compatibility or that I could get hacked (10 years and counting with no problems)).
 
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Seeing as how I'm on the verge of turning 70 and walking away from what passes as civilization these days (together with my collection of books, CDs, and DVDs), and since the missus pre-deceased me 5 years ago, I'll just adopt a cat, take my stuff, and move to a tiny house far away from everything (except Amazon Prime), then get back to playing with Linux and writing strange sf short stories. And Window$ and Mac$ can go to he//. ;-P
 
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wandererxyz said:
Seeing as how I'm on the verge of turning 70 and walking away from what passes as civilization these days (together with my collection of books, CDs, and DVDs), and since the missus pre-deceased me 5 years ago, I'll just adopt a cat, take my stuff, and move to a tiny house far away from everything (except Amazon Prime), then get back to playing with Linux and writing strange sf short stories. And Window$ and Mac$ can go to he//. ;-P
Click to expand...
I'm not yet 50 but feel much the same already. There's a whole lot of nonsense going on and I don't feel much like being part of it.
 
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What everyone's "too polite" to say is that MS these days is infested with braindead mactards, and they infest the entire Windows design team. They care nothing about functionality, only animations and rounded corners. These appledrone subhumans only know how to do UIs in React Native aka Javascript and will be the death of Windows and all software everywhere.
 
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Typical, out of two options they kill of the one people prefer. Microsoft has been dog **** for years. They need to fire everyone responsible.
 
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MakeMSGreatAgain said:
I still haven't used Windows 11 in any appreciable manner.... but I've briefly seen the new settings and while it looks like they are trying to organize, it was still missing settings I needed to change. We need ALL the settings back in there, and some color icons! I'm sick of this oversimplified colorless icons UI trend. At least make some color icons and give us an option to switch to them. You can leave your dismal defaults if you want.
Click to expand...
I agree, the main reason why Settings feel useless is simply the lack of available settings there, which you have to look for in legacy Control panel.
Regarding Settings design, what I don't like is that is not clear, what is a settings option and what is a link to online help, so when I am trying to find the right settings, I am clicking on things and instead of it doing something, it redirects you to some generic help webpage, that isn't helpful at all.
Another minor gripe I have is navigation with keyboard only. If I want to simply select all available optional updates to install with keyboard, I have to press complex sequence of keys to select everything.
 
BobHome said:
"Microsoft plans to migrate all remaining tools, applets, and menu options to the Settings app before officially sunsetting the Control Panel." --But will they?
This is Micro$oft who can't even get all the Power options into the Canary version, not a good start.
(and yeah, I realize Canary is worse than Beta, but still)
Click to expand...
Yeah, as far as I remember, there were always some legacy settings, that remained in some legacy settings windows/menus, regardless of Windows version. They were already trying to transfer everything in Windows 8/Windows 10, but they didn't succeed despite those systems being there for at least a decade. I don't see them succeeding in Windows 11 now.
 
The best part about approaching 70 is that most of my friends "IRL" are half my age, think I'm cool for an old guy, and since my late wife and I (married for 30 yrs. before she passed) never had kids (she was a busy high school math teacher for 4 decades, I was a freelance writer and worked on and off in the film industry on cheesy sci-fi and horror films) so we were busy as heck all the time! But she always said that her students were her "kids," and when asked, I told her that she could help me on how much of a tip to leave when we went out to eat! She was my huggable scientific calculator!) ;-) And I was the "geek squad" of our house when she had PC issues (often)!

Sorry for the ramble. We've had more Windows PCs in this house than I could ever count...
If anyone out there has someone special, a significant other, spouse, or partner, give 'em an extra hug and let them know how much you care about them. You and they are worth it!
 
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One more reason to get back to Linux.

The Settings app is slower and poor in detailed options.

I think MS should think of not making an SO that relies on third-party software to improve the Windows xperience.
 
Microsoft is getting more stupid with each version of Windows. The Control Panel was very well organized and helped support people have all the stuff in one place. Now we bring the new stupid out, the Setting menu is useless since birth, and will become important when the good stuff is being killed. Thanks' a lot Microsoft, for nothing !
 
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CP looks old but works well, Settings app looks modern but is clunky, awkward in a lot of places, limited and sometimes hard to set given that supposedly has been developed to simplify the adjustments of the system. I will prefer 10 out of 10 times a refresh of CP rather than a deprecation, it just works, they can keep hiding it but it works better than Settings and when things get hard, there is no Settings adjustment, just a link to a certain part of CP.
 
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