Microsoft and the Control Panel: Company rows back a little
Last week, Microsoft wanted to throw the Control Panel into the scrap heap. Now the company is rowing back a little.
(Image: heise online / dmk)
The classic Windows Control Panel is outdated, Microsoft wrote in a support article last week. After this caused an uproar in the community, Microsoft has toned down the statement somewhat. However, the end result remains the same – The Control Panel will be scrapped in the long term.
(Image:Â Screenshot / dmk)
In the Microsoft support article explaining the Windows system configuration tools, Microsoft has slightly adjusted the wording regarding the Control Panel. Last week, the article still contained the sentence "The Control Panel is in the process of being deprecated in favor of the Settings app[...]", but now the company writes more cautiously "Many of the settings in Control Panel are in the process of being migrated to the Settings app[...]". So instead of naming the process for obsolete software, at the end of which it is removed from the system, the description now reads that a migration to the Settings app is taking place.
Wordplay with the same result
In the end, however, this leads to the same result: at the end of the long-running process of replacing Control Panel apps with more modern Settings apps, in which all necessary components have been replaced with newer ones, Microsoft will remove the remains of the previous Control Panel from Windows. It is already clear that many entries that were still available in the Control Panel under Windows 7, for example, can no longer be found in the Control Panel under Windows 11.
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If Microsoft marks a function or component as "deprecated", for example on the official discontinuation list, this is merely an indication that it does not make sense to continue using it in the future. Those affected should familiarize themselves with the successor functions now. There is no specific timetable associated with this. Some functions have been discontinued years ago, but are still included for compatibility reasons – Software Restriction Policies are a good example.
So for those who hope that the Control Panel is here to stay after all, as has been suggested by various media reports: It will still be with us for a while, but it will disappear. It's better to get used to the settings apps now.
(dmk)
