New Windows 11 beta brings more changes to Control Panel settings

Editor’s take: Microsoft has been on a long journey to transition away from the traditional Windows Control Panel, a staple of the operating system since its inception. Despite the company’s efforts to usher users toward a more streamlined settings interface since the launch of Windows 10, the migration remains a work in progress, often leading to user frustration. The completion of this extensive development process still seems distant.

Recent Developments in Windows 11

In its latest move, Microsoft has rolled out new Dev and Beta builds of Windows 11 to Insider testers, unveiling yet another transformation in the management of system settings. According to the well-known build explorer, “phantomofearth,” these updates provide users with one less reason to depend on the familiar Control Panel.

In a significant shift, Microsoft has relocated yet another Control Panel setting to the Windows 11 “Settings” app. Although this change is currently concealed and not activated by default, Insiders can manually enable it. The newly transferred options, which include the keyboard character repeat delay and repeat rate, can now be found under the Accessibility > Keyboard section in the Settings app.

Furthermore, Microsoft has recently transferred all remaining options from the mouse properties dialog box to the Settings app, and is now doing the same with keyboard-related settings. While these options still permit users to customize how applications and Windows respond to keystrokes, they now reside in a new location, promoting operational consistency across the platform.

Interestingly, keyboard options continue to exist in the traditional Control Panel under Keyboard settings. Microsoft typically tests new features and modifications through Insider builds before they are rolled out to the latest stable OS updates. However, there are no guarantees or fixed timelines for the implementation of these changes.

The gradual phasing out of the Control Panel is progressing at a notably slow pace. Microsoft initiated the replacement of the legacy settings app back in 2020 and confirmed a year ago that it would eventually retire the feature entirely. The Control Panel has been an integral part of Windows since version 1.0, which debuted forty years ago, and it took on its modern form with the release of Windows 95, presenting a special folder filled with shortcuts to various configuration applets stored as .cpl files on the system volume.

While most Windows options are now accessible through the modernized Settings apps in Windows 10 and Windows 11, a few remnants still linger in the aging Control Panel window. Given the current pace of Microsoft’s migration efforts, it appears that this now-deprecated feature may continue to coexist with us as we look ahead to Windows 12 and beyond.

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New Windows 11 beta brings more changes to Control Panel settings