Microsoft confirms Windows 11’s File Explorer Properties dialog is a real WinUI rebuild, and more legacy dialogs are moving to WinUI next.
Microsoft says that their plan is to convert more Windows UI elements to WinUI3, while confirming that the new File Explorer Properties dialog was rebuilt from scratch in WinUI, and not just a fresh coat of paint.
Windows 11 has felt inconsistent for a while now. Modern panels are right next to decades-old dialogs, RAM usage keeps creeping up in apps that are supposed to be native, and popular Windows apps keep turning into web wrappers because developers don’t trust Microsoft to stick with a UI framework.



And stop vibe slopping core applications. Notepad should be rock solid.
A former Microsoft engineer recreated the old notepad and it is less than 3 kilobytes. Source
as it should be. PaperClip on my old C64 was feature-rich and it took barely any memory. An empty Word document takes up more room than a Toronto condo and is about as useless.
Great point… i’m no expert in software development or user experience or whatever but it just seems obvious to stop adding friction in all forms including your notepad example. And of course the ads for OneDrive and suggestions on the start menu, etc…
The tough part to me is that it seems Microsoft is thinking they’re the hero by doing common sense stuff solving (part of) a pain they’ve introduced in the first place.
Anyway, I’m windows free after moving my gaming pc to cachy and couldn’t be happier.