Microsoft is shrinking the Windows 11 control panel interface because it moves more important settings to the settings application.
The control panel has been managing all aspects of Windows. But Microsoft wanted to get rid of the control panel as early as Windows 8. The release of Windows 10 reduced the functions of the control panel. With the release of Windows 11, the settings application gained many options from the control panel.
The Verge reminds users that advanced network settings have been moved to a dedicated page in the "Settings" program, and Microsoft also stated that different settings have been removed from the control panel. And in Windows 11 Preview Build 11 22509 provides instructions for changing the control panel.
We have moved advanced sharing settings (such as network discovery, file and printer sharing, and public folder sharing) to a new page in the "Settings" application under "Advanced Network Settings."
We have made some updates to the device-specific pages under "Printers and Scanners" in "Settings" to display more information about your printer or scanner directly in "Settings" when available.
Some entry points of the network and device settings in the control panel will now be redirected to the corresponding pages in the settings.
Since Microsoft released Windows more than 30 years ago, the control panel in Windows has never undergone major changes. It has been used to help customers deal with their PC programs and some other settings.