Windows 10 Control Panel

Since the launch of Microsoft’s metro Windows 8 operating system, system settings have been split across the desktop-friendly Control Panel and the newer Settings app.

While Microsoft has tried to bridge the gap between the two system settings, most users know that the best way to alter the advance settings of Windows 10 is to open the Control Panel.

Control Panel is packed with tools (applets) that allow you to configure and manage the way that the OS works. The Control Panel has many tools and Microsoft is planning to start redirecting some applets to the modern Settings app to make it easy for you to find the tool that you need for a particular task in one place.

One of the important features of the Control Panel is the classic “Uninstall Programs” panel, otherwise known as the “Programs and Features” window.

Control Panel programs applet

By default, it’s buried in Windows Search results, but Microsoft allows you to manually access it by navigating to the Control Panel.

With Windows 10 Build 20211, Microsoft has introduced another nail in the coffin of the Control Panel. The latest change sees the “Programs and Features” being replaced by “Apps & Features”.

Microsoft now wants you to use “Apps & Features” instead, which is the modern replacement of Control Panel’s Programs applet found in the Settings.

According to a quick scan of Microsoft Program Database (PDB) files in Build 20211, Microsoft is testing a flag called “RedirectProgramsAndFeatures” that will redirect the following window to the Settings app.

Program and Features

When you try to open the “Programs and Features” applet in the Control Panel, Windows 10 will redirect you to the “Apps & Features” page of the Settings, as shown in the screenshot below:

Apps and Features

The programs page has been available in Settings for a while, but Microsoft is now planning to direct users to toward it when they access the old applet in Control Panel.

The modern replacement still allows users to uninstall programs, as well as change app execution aliases and access the optional features page.

With this latest change, it seems that Microsoft is finally serious about a unified system settings experience on Windows 10 that will eventually do away with the old Control Panel altogether.

Improvements coming to the Settings app

On a related note, Microsoft also appears to be working on multiple new features for the Apps & Features page in the Settings.

For example, Windows 10 might get an App Manager feature that will allow you to manage the running processes and offer recommendations to shut down resource-intensive programs, such as Google Chrome.

Apps and Features

Like Task Manager, it’ll also give you the ability to force an app to close. Microsoft is currently testing this new tool in the internal builds and we don’t know when it will appear in the production channels.

About The Author

Mayank Parmar

Mayank Parmar is Windows Latest's owner, Editor-in-Chief and entrepreneur. Mayank has been in tech journalism for over seven years and has written on various topics, but he is mostly known for his well-researched work on Microsoft's Windows. His articles and research works have been referred to by CNN, Business Insiders, Forbes, Fortune, CBS Interactive, Microsoft and many others over the years.