In the latest build of Windows 11, more options are moved from the control panel to the settings

The latest build of Windows 11 for Insider members, in addition to fixing problems and bugs in previous builds, moves some of the options in the control panel to a new, redesigned interface designed for Windows settings. Microsoft described the move as part of the company’s “ongoing effort” to move more options from the control panel to settings.

The duality of Windows settings has been one of the issues that has been criticized by users since Windows 8 with a separate interface for Windows settings because of the scattering of options for users to configure different parts of Windows. This is still the case in Windows 11, and users have to go to the traditional control panel to access some of the options. This fragmentation and inconsistency, in the opinion of users, has caused a lot of damage to their user experience; However, Microsoft is slowly moving more options from the control panel to new settings.

According to DigitalTrends, in this build, which has been released under build number 22523, the Program & Features section has been completely moved to the new settings, and all links that end to Program & Features in the control panel will be redirected to the Apps & Features section of Windows 11 settings. This change will probably be included in the next annual Windows 11 update, and in the future if you click on this section in the control panel you will no longer see the traditional software removal or installation interface and will be taken to the settings window instead. Additionally, the Uninstall link for Win32 applications is redirected to this section.

This change means that the option to manage and delete updates installed on Windows also goes to the new settings and is available as Update history from the Windows Update section. Earlier in the experimental build, which was released earlier this month, several options from the Network & Sharing center section, including advanced sharing settings, network-detectable device settings, and file and printer sharing, were among the other things that made their way into the new settings. And their input points were blocked from the origin of the control panel.

During this time, Microsoft has even changed the user interface of the settings several times by changing its design language in different versions of Windows, but with many options remaining in the heart of the control panel, this part is still incomplete. However, the pace of Windows 11 development so far has been promising, and it looks like Microsoft is finally retiring the control panel, which has been an integral part of Windows for more than a decade, in favor of the new settings.

This build includes a number of other minor changes, for example; Grouped windows are displayed using the Snap layouts feature in the Task View and Alt + Tab sections, as well as a problem that caused memory management errors and crashes on devices with an ARM64-based processor. The problem of overlapping application icons with date and time in the taskbar on secondary monitors has also been fixed. Microsoft plans to release all of these improvements and changes to Windows 11 in the form of 2022 annual updates, some of which may be available to users sooner with cumulative updates.