Microsoft has a strange sense of time. While the company hasn’t found the time to update a “temporary” feature it launched in 1994, it’s apparently decided that this is the year to kill the Control Panel.
As reported by the French tech outlet JeuxVideo in a recent publication, one of Microsoft’s main projects this year is to retire the Control Panel. For 40 years, this tool has been the go-t0 for viewing and modifying your computer’s settings. However, with Windows 11, the Control Panel has lost steam, and its importance has been pushed aside in favor of a much more general option: the Settings tab.
The Control Panel Won't Disappear Entirely
In a recent product roadmap, Microsoft purportedly signaled fall 2024 as the launch date of the newest version of Windows: Windows 11 24H2. The operating system update will introduce several improvements, such as the possibility of viewing input source management, battery levels (in the case of laptops), and storage space in the Settings tab. The migration is why these options are being removed from the Control Panel.
The Control Panel won’t completely disappear at the end of this year, but it will be much more limited because of the update. However, it’s worth mentioning that many computers won’t upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 for a variety reasons. In some cases, Windows 11 24H2 isn’t compatible with certain Intel or AMD processors. Furthermore, if you have certain external tools that modify the taskbar or change the OS interface, it won’t be possible to upgrade, either.
Image | Unsplash (Clint Patterson)