Just a few days ago, a Microsoft support document revealed that “Control Panel was in the process of being phased out in favor of the Settings app.” Now the company has clarified the message, which led us to assume that this legendary component — it has been with us for 39 years — was going to say goodbye. In the end, that won’t be the case. At least not as soon as we had thought.
There is no sign of disappearance (for now)As Ars Technica points out, Microsoft has modified that sentence and has indicated that “Many of the Control Panel settings are being migrated to the Settings app, which offers a more modern and fluid experience.”
Everything remains as it was. Microsoft has actually been migrating configuration options from the Control Panel to Settings for years, and in Windows 11 users rarely have to access the veteran component. Things like screen settings or the section to remove or add applications have been part of the Settings tool for some time, and have disappeared from the Control Panel.
Will continue to be part of Windows 11. Even so, the Control Panel is still available and will continue to be so for the time being. This is demonstrated by its presence in the next major system update, Windows 11 24H2, which has already been offered to Copilot+ PCs and which will migrate some more options that we traditionally found in the Control Panel or at least will be offered in both tools. This is the case of the configuration when closing the laptop lid or pressing the on/off button,
Necessary redundancies. The Settings tool arrived in Windows 8 in 2012, but it really took center stage in Windows 10 in 2015. Little by little, more and more options became part of that tool and in some cases disappeared from the Control Panel. This component is still preferred by a certain sector of users, who thanks to it can configure certain more advanced parameters of the system. One example is the configuration of network parameters, which in some cases are easier to configure from the Control Panel.
Backwards compatibility remains keyMicrosoft has always been bound by backwards compatibility, something that is especially relevant for business users who keep old computers and applications. In such cases, for example, the Control Panel still makes sense, although little by little its options are becoming part of the Configuration tool.
A look into the pastIt is also surprising that Microsoft has kept the Control Panel without any aesthetic changes. Its design and iconography are those of Windows Vista (2006) and Windows 7 (2009), which makes the appearance of those icons and interface so characteristic. Other classic applications such as Paint or Notepad have evolved slightly, while WordPad recently announced its farewell.
At WorldOfSoftware | For me, the best app for taking notes is: the opinion of the editors of WorldOfSoftware