Windows 11's Start menu was built using React – now switching to native WinUI

Post by pjmlp » Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 7:27 AM UTC

idiotsecant wrote: post #8

How does this happen? How do you build a fundamental OS control in react?

Post by drysart » Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 8:02 AM UTC

solid_fuel wrote: post #9

idiotsecant wrote: post #8

How does this happen? How do you build a fundamental OS control in react?

This is what I'm wondering. How dysfunctional is microsoft that they shipped a react-based start menu? It reads like satire, "Windows 11 is so bad that even microsoft doesn't use native controls".

Post by pjmlp » Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 9:33 AM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #22

pjmlp wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of stuff nowadays uses Webview2 across Windows. Not only has Project Reunion been a disaster (moving UWP regular Win32), apparently Microsoft new employees lack Windows experience, being raised in Chromebooks and Macs, apparently they aren't getting the trainings they should. You can go watch recordings of the community calls, and see puzzled faces when asked about Windows capabilities not yet supported on Win…

apparently Microsoft new employees lack Windows experience, being raised in Chromebooks and Macs, apparently they aren't getting the trainings they should. They should be given Petzold's famous book on the subject, published by Microsoft Press itself.

Post by flohofwoe » Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 9:42 AM UTC

drysart wrote: post #23

solid_fuel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I'm wondering. How dysfunctional is microsoft that they shipped a react-based start menu? It reads like satire, "Windows 11 is so bad that even microsoft doesn't use native controls".

It's not React. It's React Native. React Native and React are about as similar as JavaScript and Java. React Native is a way of orchestrating a UI comprised of native controls.

Post by nubinetwork » Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 11:06 AM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #19

People stop believing in anything related to WinUI coming from Microsoft marketing machine. Besides examples like this one. The amount of issues on Github across all WinUI related tools, keeps increasing all over the place, there is almost no visible activity, the community calls have been a disaster with Q&A being ignored, team rotation, whatever. Native AOT still cannot do what .NET Native did (there is a CsWinRT 3…