Microsoft is modernizing Windows 11’s aging UI and shifting to native apps

As you’ve probably noticed, the Windows 11 user interface is a patchwork of different solutions, some of which have been around since the introduction of Windows 3.1 in 1992. It’s anything but modern—and Microsoft has finally wised up enough to do something about it.

Marcus Ash, Microsoft’s CVP of Design and Research for Windows + Devices, promises that the user interface will be modernized in upcoming updates, including new dialog boxes and system settings. At least, that’s what he writes in a social media post.

Thanks Adam. We started with extending dark mode in the Run dialog and various File Explorer surfaces to address customer asks. At the same time, we are building out tooling to scale modernizing other dialogs across Windows 11 that were built in legacy frameworks.

— Marcus Ash (@marcusash) March 21, 2026

Another goal is to focus more on “real apps” in Windows 11—the heavily criticized web-apps-within-a-wrapper are going to be phased out in the long term and replaced with proper, native versions. Apps built with web wrappers (like Electron) often exhibit poorer performance with higher RAM consumption, and they tend to be less well-integrated into the overall user experience than native apps.

By the way: If you’re using Windows 11 Home, you’re missing out on the many benefits of Windows 11 Pro. To learn more, see our comparison of Windows 11 Home and Pro. If you want to upgrade, snag it for cheap in the PCWorld Software Store: now just $59 instead of $99.

More changes in Windows’ future

It’s already known that we would receive expanded support for dark mode as well as various improvements to the search function. There are also indications of a new, freely movable taskbar as well as improvements to the Start menu and File Explorer.

Windows users will also gain more control over widgets. Incidentally, anyone who thinks Microsoft means more AI when they say “modern” is mistaken. The company wants to reduce the use of AI in the operating system in response to widespread criticism over Copilot.

According to Windows Latest , the changes will be implemented gradually over the coming months. We don’t currently know exactly when this will happen.