RetroFed
A major Windows 11 UI redesign is coming, Microsoft is dumping legacy code for WinUI
Nobody_SpecialMicrosoft confirms Windows 11’s File Explorer Properties dialog is a real WinUI rebuild, and more legacy dialogs are moving to WinUI next.
Microsoft says that their plan is to convert more Windows UI elements to WinUI3, while confirming that the new File Explorer Properties dialog was rebuilt from scratch in WinUI, and not just a fresh coat of paint.
Windows 11 has felt inconsistent for a while now. Modern panels are right next to decades-old dialogs, RAM usage keeps creeping up in apps that are supposed to be native, and popular Windows apps keep turning into web wrappers because developers don’t trust Microsoft to stick with a UI framework.
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deegeeseI didn’t believe them when they said Windows 10 would be the last version I ever use, but they were right!
Oh, no, they’re going to shove even more javascript code into the OS, aren’t they? They must have loved the Windows 11 start menu that uses JS and famously spikes the CPU when you just click the start button and they want more of that.
That was a hot take without reading the article. It sounds like they’re actually trying to fix the problem I described, including the Start Menu. Good for them!
How do you extract that from the article? The article explains how they are going to use WinUi3 and how MS has optimized it. WinUi is a UI framework used in C++ and C#. Basically it means they will make the UI more consistent.
I get that JS argument because well they famously abandon their performance objectives for cheap fast delivery that looks shiny but doesn’t work as well. Especially the windows org. I worked in MS so I kinda get this.
My comment was a hot take / snark without reading the article. I’ve edited my post since I read the article and read more about WinUI, prompted by the comment from @blackbeans@lemmy.zip (thanks!). This X post says that they’re going to include the Start menu in this overhaul, so that’s good news. The relative performance of Linux desktop must be making them sweat. Competition in technology is a good thing.
You are correct and I’ve edited my post. Not only consistency but performance as well. This is good. See my other comment for more details.
They’ve been talking a lot about fixing the UI lately. Sounds like they finally hired a proper developer to do it, after years of having some intern work on it.
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I honestly cannot believe how bad the new UI feels. It’s like they just flattened all elements and reduce information density by increasing whitespace, followed by a shrug and no additional thought into what was lost and what should be added. Which… now that I think about it, is Windows 8. hmm.
Yeah, its insane how shitty it is. Its malaevolance for the user.
It’s vibe coded guaranteed.
It’s been downhill since Metro design (which was just beautiful on mobile phones)
I don’t know if this is a hot take but-
In my mind, Aero is peak UI. It had contrast, depth, high information density in all the applications. Well… high-ish. That’s also when they started putting Ribbon in everything. I’m not a fan of Ribbon menus.
Windows 98 was clearly the peak
Win 2000 was the shit. Last one I liked.
I was talking about the Windows UI on Mastodon the other day, particularly in reference to how I have it set to dark mode on my PC at work, but when I hit Send/Receive in Outlook I get a bright white, XP-ass-looking box pop up. Someone replied, “the older the settings boxes look, the more useful they are”. And I can’t disagree.
Yep. It was the same in Windows 10 where all their newer setting panels were just useless and you could do so much more with the old control panel.
I’ve been half wondering if they are already vibe coding everything, given the number of bugs that I’ve noticed in outlook online over the last few months
We’re what, 14 years past when they should have done that? Windows 8 introduced the new UI style, and then Windows 10 was their chance to cement it. You can’t even blame compatibility, Microsoft’s own controls were all behind the legacy UIs. You can tell they were pushed and rushed out the door when nothing was ready.
At this point their UI has been so hacked and slashed that the fact that it compiles is a shock to me.
And still Control Center will survive somehow like an undead cockroach.
I think we’re already at the point where Linux is more compatible with Windows software than Windows itself is.
Long past, if you consider compatibility with older software. ironically, linux is also more compatible with windows software than it is with linux software themselves :D
The other day I tried installing Star Wars Dark Forces 2 from disk, complete with a ‘windows 95/98 compatible’ blurb on it. Heroic launcher got the installer running without issue and within a few minutes it was playing.
I ended up using the Openjkdf2 engine instead for some nice quality of life improvements, but it was still quite something to see Linux run a piece of software from 1997 so effortlessly.
My first experience with WINE was trying to install an old Windows 3.1/95 pinball game (https://www.myabandonware.com/game/3-d-ultra-pinball-creep-night-3fh) and just double-clicking the installer to see what would happen.
It installed and launched without issue and even added a shortcut to the KDE app launcher.
I use Bottles now to keep cleanly separated environments, but … even I wasn’t expecting things to just work like that? I thought WINE would be more difficult to figure out but nope!
Months of work to redo one super basic dialog box.
It blows my mind how slow large companies are.
This comment in a different thread from someone who used to work for them gives some great background as to why.
Great. How about stop spying on us first?
And stop vibe slopping core applications. Notepad should be rock solid.
Laughs in gnu
I hope they actually follow through and start making the OS less a gallery of 2 decades worth of half-assed redesigns and more a cohesive, responsive design. Dare I say their last actually decent UI update may have been Windows 8 which was also half-assed but at least it worked well from what I hear. Windows being a centrally controlled OS should be better at this than Linux and yet they aren’t!
Can’t wait to laugh at all the problems this will cause
I recently HAD to switch to Win11, and it looks like a child’s toy. I cannot express how much I hate its look. It feels like a 30-year step backwards.
Sooner or later, I will be able to 100% leave the Microsoft (Microslop/Enshitifiaction environment.) On that day, I will be a lovable and righteous mother fucker.
It feels stupid to say, but of all the things that got me to move to Linux and never even install Windows 11, it was that stupid Start menu. Windows 10 was kind of perfect. You had your full list of alphabetical apps if you needed it, but you also had the ability to pin nicely sized tiles for frequently used apps, sort them into groups, and even make folders. Windows 11 gives you a little grid of icons. Just a huge step back.
I don’t have the energy to rice my desktop anymore and KDE has been perfect.
The thing is, though, is that Microsoft is literally incapable of solving this problem when you think about it. So much of Microsoft’s current business model is centered around being able to subtly direct you and your actions and maintaining tight control over the UI experience is key to that. People aren’t stupid and they’ll always feel that friction, so it’s just a push-pull of how much they think they can get away with at any point and slowly nudging it until it pisses you off again.
Time to give the Windows 8 “Metro” UI another shot, after all the only reason it wasn’t accepted (according to numerous Microsoft employees) is “People are afraid of change.”
They’ve decided their AI shit hasn’t fucked up enough of the program, and found more spots for it to trash