Microsoft says it’s working on a major redesign of all existing legacy dialog boxes in Windows 11, and it’s going to be more than just a dark theme. Right now, Windows barely has modern (WinUI 3)-based pop-ups or dialogs, as most of the operating system falls back to the legacy side. This will soon change.
Microsoft has repeatedly told us that it plans to fundamentally improve the operating system. When Microsoft says fundamental improvements, it’s referring to the areas that truly matter, including memory management, overall performance, a consistent design language, and more.
We’re already seeing performance improvements with features like Low Latency Profile and a more reliable explorer.exe. As for design, Microsoft recently rolled out dark mode to some of the legacy dialogs in Windows 11, starting with file operation dialogs.
You might have already noticed dark-themed legacy dialogs, but in case you don’t use dark mode, try switching the theme and performing file operations, such as moving all your files from one partition to another.
Similar improvements have rolled out across the operating system over the last few months, including file copy, delete, cut, and other file operations. This is a step above having light-themed legacy dialogs in Windows 11, but it’s far from being modern unless it’s replaced with a WinUI 3 counterpart.
A great example is Windows Run, which is getting a WinUI 3-based modern redesign as an optional feature.
Windows Run has been built with legacy UI/API (Win32), and it works well enough. We all have different use cases for Run. Some use it for what it’s designed to do: run a command or open a specific directory, while others use it to remove formatting from text. Microsoft doesn’t want to ruin it, so it developed a modern version and made it optional.
It looks like Microsoft is planning to continue pursuing that path, if a new statement by a senior executive is anything to go by.
Microsoft teases major design update for Windows 11
As first spotted by Windows Latest, in a post on X, one user argued that modernizing the Run dialog is a great step, but Windows still has many older dialogs that need more than a fresh coat of paint.
One user pointed to examples like the common file open dialog, which is the dialog that shows up when you’re trying to browse a partition for files, folders, or a certain path.
Another user tagged several Microsoft Windows employees and asked for these older Windows 11 windows to be updated. Luckily, one of the executives responded to the question and promised that a major redesign effort is indeed underway.
March Rogers, who is Partner Director of Design at Microsoft, says the company is working through its list of older dialogs and rewriting them in WinUI.
March added that Microsoft has already redesigned the file copy dialog internally, and it’s also working on the common file dialog.
“We are working through our list of all older dialogs and rewriting them in WinUI 3,” March wrote in an X post. “The file copy dialog is already done, the common file dialog is on our list.”
Microsoft hasn’t redesigned these legacy dialogs in decades, so it will be interesting to watch how it plays out.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the modern counterparts ship as optional features initially. As I mentioned at the outset, Windows 11’s Run dialog is also getting a modern WinUI-based update, but it’s optional and needs to be turned on from Advanced settings in the Settings app.
Could Microsoft follow that approach for all other legacy dialogs in Windows 11? We don’t know, and perhaps Microsoft is also trying to figure it out. What do you think? Is it a good idea to rewrite legacy dialogs in WinUI? Let me know in the comments below.
