14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no secret that Microsoft is trying to kill off the classic desktop Control Panel in Windows 10, and the Redstone 2 update seems to be the moment when the full focus goes on the Settings app, which is supposed to provide almost the same functionality.
The latest Windows 10 Redstone 2 build pushes Microsoft’s plan one step forward by removing the Control Panel shortcut from the Win + X menu (right-click on the Start menu), making it a little bit more difficult to access it directly.
Many configuration options from Control Panel have already migrated to Settings, but in the previous builds, Control Panel could still be easily accessible without turning to registry tricks or other types of workarounds.
Just open it from File Explorer… for now
In build 14942, the easiest way to open the Control Panel is to launch File Explorer and type “Control Panel” in the address bar, but alternatively, you can also turn to registry hacks that restore the shortcut in the Win + X menu.
Although many users might not actually like this change, merging Settings and Control Panel is actually a top request, and there are plenty of Windows insiders who’d like to see this happening.
And yet, the whole process seems to be taking way too long, as Microsoft actually started moving options from Control Panel to Settings even before the launch of the original Windows 10 version and it isn’t yet complete at the time of writing this article.
The Redstone 2 update landing in the spring of 2017 is likely to bring this transition to an end, so expect this new version to completely remove Control Panel. There still are options that need to be moved to Settings, but given the fact that Microsoft is making it harder for users to access the traditional configuration screen, the firm might finally be ready to go all-in on Settings.
