A Windows Control Panel retrospective amidst a concerning UX shift

Unsurprisingly, this change has not been met with a lot of enthusiasm by the average Windows user, and with Microsoft nowofficially recommending users migrate over to the Settings app, it seems that before long we may have to say farewell to what used to be an intrinsic part of the Windows operating system since its first iterations. Yet bizarrely, much of the Control Panel functionality doesn't exist yet in the Settings app, and it remain an open question how much of it can be translated into the Settings app user experience (UX) paradigm at all.

Considering how unusual this kind of control panel used to be beyond quaint touch-centric platforms like Android and iOS, what is Microsoft's goal here? Have discovered a UX secret that has eluded every other OS developer?

Maya Posch

I like the Windows Control Panel, and approaches like it. They're easy to use, they allow you to have multiple settings panels open at the same time, they can be easily extended by third parties - for better or worse - and they make it easy to find things with colourful, recognisable icons. The current Windows Settings application is a massive regression, as is the change from macOS' iconic and incredibly user-friendly System Preferences to the new System Settings application. KDE also moved to a sidebar design I'm not a fan of, and GNOME has had a similar unpleasant, monochrome sidebar, too.

It's not big enough of an issue to make a huge deal out of, and the KDE sidebar settings application is at least marginally usable, but I really do wish someone would have the guts to undo this general trend, because it's getting harder and harder to find the settings I want at a glance, and not allowing you to open multiple settings panels at the same time is a huge loss.

And a small note: this article uses the Windows 3.x Control Panel as its starting point, but both Windows 1.x and 2.x had a Control Panel as well. It's an old concept, for sure.