6 Years after release, Microsoft is still working on migrating the Windows Control Panel

When Microsoft released Windows 10 in 2015, it launched the operating system with a new Settings application, which it designed as a modern replacement for the Control Panel.

The company moved some applets from the Control Panel to the Settings application, but left most applets untouched at the time. It did announce that the Control Panel was going away and that the Settings application would become the main control hub for preferences on Windows 10. Some options to access the Control Panel were removed in the Creators Update, and a few applets were migrated to the Settings application in the six years since the release of Windows 10.

It is now the end of 2021, six years after the release of Windows 10. Windows 11 has been released in the year, even though Microsoft stated earlier that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows.

The Control Panel is still available, as only some applets have been migrated so far. Now, with the last build of Windows 11 in 2021 comes the migration of two Control Panel applets. Both applets have been disabled by Microsoft in the Control Panel; they are now placeholders that point to the relevant section in the operating system's Settings application.

The two applets in question are Installed Apps and Update History. Both won't open anymore when opened in the Control Panel.

Links to Programs & Features in Control Panel will now open to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. EDIT: In other words, links to the page to uninstall or change programs on your PC.

We're moving Uninstall Updates (for cumulative updates, etc.) from Control Panel to a new page in Settings under Settings > Windows Update > Update History.

The Settings pages to control installed apps and manage the update history are not new, as they have been present in previous versions of Windows 10 and 11. Administrators who used one or both of the applets of the Control Panel can't do so anymore.

The Settings applications often lack functionality that the Control Panel applets offered. The software uninstallation applet displayed installed programs in a table, which users could sort and add information, such as the installation location.

The uninstall an update applet displayed a table of installed updates as well, and users could sort it and add information to it.

The installed apps page of the Settings application lacks these options. You can search installed apps, sort by date, name or size, or filter by drive. Information such as the installed path can't be added.

Closing Words

If Microsoft keeps up the pace, the Control Panel will still be present when Windows 12 is released in 2027. It is clear that the change removes functionality. While the core functionality is still there, helpful features such as the option to add information to the listings or sort listings using other parameters, are no longer available.

Administrators may resort to using third-party programs to uninstall software, or the Windows Package Manager for that purpose.

6 Years after release, Microsoft is still working on migrating the Windows Control Panel