Windows 11 is touted as a modern, user-friendly operating system.
Here are some ancient Windows features you could still find and use in Windows 11.
Some have been hanging around, unchanged, since the late 80s.
Command Prompt
The Command Prompt, or cmd.exe, was the default command-line tool in Windows.
With Windows 11, Microsoft finally moved to combine Command Prompt with PowerShell.
The Run Dialog can be used to directly open an system or document where the path is known.
This, and a more modern style, are practically the only things that have changed.
The Run Dialog was and still is a very useful tool for Windows users.
Be sure to check out theessential Windows Run commandsfor tips on how to use this tool.
Even more so with the varied, and arguably more complex, storage options available today.
So why Disk Management looks almost identical to the version in Windows 2000 is a bit puzzling.
There are several powerfulWindows partition management toolsavailable, such as those from EaseUS, that also look great.
Or even in Windows 10.
Of all the features in this list, Disk Management is the one that needs an overhaul the most.
The Control Panel
Windows 11 saw several improvements to the main options app.
Several new options and controls were added, and some old ones were moved in from elsewhere.
And yet the Control Panel remains and still contains some necessary parameters.
The Control Panel has been a part of the OS since Windows 1.0.
It began to be depreciated more than 10 years ago in Windows 8.
This depreciation accelerated in Windows 10 with the introduction of the modern parameters app.
Maybe Windows 12 will finally have a single location for all user options.
Disk Clean-up
Windows 11 added several options for cleaning up your storage to the main prefs app.
The ability to remove temporary files, optimization files, thumbnails, and other detritus is all there.
All of these were previously deleted through Disk Clean-up, seemingly making it redundant.
And yet Disk Clean-up is still a part of the OS.
The Disk Clean-up tool, or cleanmgr.exe, first appeared in Windows 98.
But the version that arrived with XP is the one we still see today.
It included some extra options back then, and a few cleaning categories have been added over the years.
But essentially, it is the same.
Especially when it has been completely replaced in parameters.
The Character Map
For most of us, the Character Map is probably a little-used tool.
So why hasn’t it been updated and improved since Windows XP?
In fact, it has barely changed, aside from the shape of the window, since Windows 3.1.
That was 30 years ago.
The fact that the Character Map has never been particularly easy or intuitive to use adds further confusion.
If it is no longer needed, get rid of it.
If it’s still used, improve it.
File Explorer
Yes, File Explorer.
One of the most prominent updates in Windows 11.
In the latest OS, the ribbon was simplified, and Explorer tabs were added several months after launch.
And yet strangely, the old File Explorer style still appears.
We’re not talking about some downloadable customization here.
With the click of a button, anyone can find the old design.
Although it isn’t ancient, it’s still a leftover from Windows 10.
Which itself hadn’t changed much for a long time.
It means there are two versions of the same feature in Windows 11.
