Microsoft is 'working hard on migrating all of Windows to modern UX', and jazzing up Windows 11's design — but can it make good on all its recent promises?

• A Microsoft exec has made it clear that there are some major design improvements inbound
• March Rogers, Partner Director of Design, said: "We're really focusing on design craft in Windows at the moment"
• These enhancements will start rolling out soon

We're hearing that Microsoft is going to focus on polishing up some of the design niggles and inconsistencies with Windows 11, on top of all the other work going on as part of the broader campaign to improve the OS.

Windows Latest reports that March Rogers, Partner Director of Design at Microsoft, posted on X to say: "We're really focusing on design craft in Windows at the moment. There is still lots to do but this is the kind of work I love seeing ship: Settings pages redesigned for clarity, account dialogs updated for dark mode, Narrator working with Copilot on all devices, pen settings cleaned up, voice typing in File Explorer rename.

He added: "Nothing fancy just lots of little details that help Windows feel more polished and coherent. Coming in the April update."

Later in that thread on X, Rogers noted: "We are working hard on migrating all of Windows to modern UX. We are doing it carefully to avoid breaking any extensions built by developers on Windows."

Rogers is also asking the community for their feedback on what they'd like to see improved with the design of Windows 11.

Efforts made towards streamlining the Settings app will certainly be welcome, as parts of this are clunky, for sure. It'll be interesting to see if this means more migration of options from the old Control Panel, too, which is the legacy version of settings that's still in place (and pops up jarringly in Windows 11 from time to time – it looks truly ancient).

Wider coverage for dark mode is something that Microsoft's been working on for a long time now — since the capability came to Windows 11, in fact — and maybe that process will be sped up. This has taken far too long as it is, frankly.

Rogers is also currently engaged in working with "haptic feedback effects on compatible input devices" as seen in the latest preview build of Windows 11.

Analysis: promises, promises…

While it's good to hear that work to hone the design side of Windows 11 is coming – and quickly, with some of this due in the April update that'll be deployed next week, in fact – I have a growing sense of wariness in the back of my mind.

You see, Microsoft is promising a lot here. Fixes are coming for sluggish performance, and for RAM usage levels. Windows updates are being revamped. AI is going to be more reined in. Long missing abilities like moving the taskbar are finally planned to arrive. We're even getting fewer ads…

It's as if Microsoft realizes it needs to turn around the reputation of Windows 11 as a matter of critical priority – perhaps sparked by the whole 'Microslop' affair at the start of the year. This latest assurance about shoring up the design of the OS is another in the growing wish-fulfilment-list – and that's my concern. Is this just wishful thinking? Microsoft may genuinely have good intentions here, but is the company biting off more than it can chew?

Okay, so the design team is always going to improve the design of Windows 11 – or it should be doing – so this is not exactly a surprise. But the apparent scale of the effort to fix Windows 11 in all aspects, design included, in a year flat, feels rather daunting. And I worry that Microsoft is busying itself promising a world of improvements that will only be partially delivered, and more disappointment will ensue in the end.

I'm aware that it's not fair of me to make that judgement at this point, so call it paranoia for now. I really do hope that Microsoft can pull off a successful drive to make Windows 11 much better all-round in 2026.

However, doubts are not easily cast aside here, especially when I see recent developments such as what's just occurred with the Copilot app and its RAM usage in Windows 11. What happened regarding the bold promises about streamlining resource usage here?

The best laptops for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best laptops
1. Best overall:
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4
2. Best budget:
Asus Chromebook CM14
3. Best Windows 11 laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch
4. Best gaming:
Razer Blade 16
5. Best for pros
MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro)

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