The Death of the Control Panel is Highly Exaggerated
If you follow news about Windows 10, you’ve no doubt seen articles proclaiming that the next version of Windows 10 is going be the end of the Control Panel.
But it ain’t true, I tells ya!
In the “insider” version of Windows 10, if you open Control Panel and click on “System” you’ll end up in the Settings app, that’s true. So there’s no doubt that Microsoft plans on replacing Control Panel with Settings, but not any time soon.
Above: Windows 10 Settings app’s “About” page.
Above: The Control Panel’s “System” applet.
Above; The Settings app’s “About” page links back to the Control Panel’s System applet for more “System info”. See the closeup below.
There are dozens of items in the Control Panel that have to be migrated to the Settings app before Microsoft can remove Control Panel from Windows 10.
In the official Windows 10 blog, Brandon LeBlanc writes:
Making Settings even better
We’re continuing to work on bringing capabilities from Control Panel forward into Settings. As part of this ongoing effort, we are migrating information found in Control Panel’s System page into the Settings About page under Settings > System > About. Links that would open the System page in Control Panel will now direct you to About in Settings. We are also bringing new improvements like making your device information copyable and streamlining the security information shown. And don’t worry—if you’re looking for more advanced controls that lived in the System page in Control Panel, you can still get to them from the modern About page if you need them!
Somehow some people have jumped on this as the official obituary for the Control Panel, but it’s not.
If you use the Control Panel often, don’t worry, it will still be part of Windows 10 for the foreseeable future. But Microsoft will continue to move items from the Control Panel to the Settings app. But that won’t happen overnight. There are many features in the Control Panel that cannot be accessed via the Settings app. For instance, the Settings app does not have a replacement for “Additional Power Settings”, which currently resides in the Control Panel. The User Account applet in the Control Panel is much more robust that the Account page in the Settings app. And there are many more.
So, for the time being, the Control Panel will continue to live alongside the Settings app – it’s not going away anytime soon.
If you want to learn more about the new features coming in Windows 10 version 2009 (fall 2020 update) including the controversial new start menu — read this Windows blog post.
Hi TC & EB,
I read the information and understood that Control Panel would have a name change, good ol’ Microsoft, move a piece of furniture and change it’s name, altjough we don’t know when it will happen. (“Nada, just a thought, we at M/S love confusing people otherwise we stagnate.”)
The control panel is being removed from Windows10 – not being renamed. All the control panel applets are eventually going to be moved to the Settings app. But there are dozens of more control panel items to be moved, so the end of the control panel is versions and years away.