Windows 11’s design consistency is so poor that I could write an entire novel about it, and I don’t think it’s going to get any better. We still have pop-ups using the light theme when the operating system is set to use dark mode. We also have references to features that no longer exist, such as the Windows 8 Charm feature.
In our tests, Windows Latest found that Windows 11 still references the Windows 8 ‘Search Charm’ when users attempt to switch from a Microsoft account to a local one. The screen below appears when users try to switch to a local account when device encryption is enabled.
The ‘Search Charm,’ a feature unique to Windows 8, is no longer present in current Windows versions. Yet, the instruction for backing up a recovery key in the “Switch to a local account” process still advises users to “use the Search charm to search for ‘device encryption’.
I don’t know how many of you have used Windows 8, but the Charms Bar was a pretty neat addition to the OS, at least on tablets. On Windows 8, a swipe from the right side of the screen activates the Windows 8 Charms Bar, which contains a set of features, such as a search bar, Settings, Devices, and Start Screen button.
The charm bar is no longer available in the OS, but Windows 11 still references it in Windows Settings.
While Windows 11 has modernised many elements, including replacing Windows 95-era icons, you’ll still come across these mistakes.
For example, if you frequently use the Windows Settings app, you would have noticed references to “PC settings”, a term previously used in Windows 8
But I think the worst case of a UI consistency issue is the pop-ups we see in File Explorer. For example, if you right-click on a drive and click Properties, it’ll open in light mode even when the OS is using dark theme. Or those pop-ups that appear when Windows needs confirmation to delete a file. Or the pop-up to empty the recycle bin.
All of these use a light theme, and we don’t know if these pop-ups will ever respect Windows 11’s dark theme… unless and until Windows migrates legacy pop-ups to WinUI.
What do you? Do you think Windows 11’s UI needs serious reconsideration? Let me know in the comments below.