Microsoft provides much needed update on Windows 11's dark mode in refreshing moment of transparency

Microsoft's head of design and research on Windows gives an important update.

Microsoft's head of Windows Design and Research, Marcus Ash, has provided a much needed update on the progress of Windows 11's dark mode, which to this day is still incomplete. In a new post on X, Ash confirms that Microsoft is continuing to work on dark mode, bringing it more more areas of the OS, including legacy UI interfaces.

"We are pushing to get our tools/techniques to the point where we can get dark theme into more areas across Windows," Ash says. "As we make progress in various legacy system panels/dialogs, we will keep improving consistency." His post comes in response to myself and others discussing dark mode in Regedit, to which Ash says there's "No timelines to commit to yet for Regedit."

While there may not be a timeline, it's clear the company wants to deliver dark mode to Regedit and other legacy areas of the interface eventually, which makes total sense. Windows is never going to escape the "feels unfinished" allegations for as long as dark mode is incomplete in the way it currently is.

It's so refreshing to see Microsoft executives be so open and honest about plans and roadmaps for features and improvements that the company is considering and working on for Windows 11. This is the first update we've had on the progress of dark mode on Windows 11 in a very long time, and I'm so glad to see it.

It's clear Microsoft is taking its promise to fix Windows 11 seriously, even if some of the improvements are still far out, such as a total completed system wide dark mode. It is unfortunate that it has taken Microsoft this long to get to this point, and even more unfortunate that it's going to take more time to complete, but it's good to hear that the company is working on the tooling to speed up this process for future UI elements.

Right now, Windows 11's dark mode looks like this: