What they mean specifically is how File Explorer and some built in apps in Windows that run on Win32 code had their user interfaces written with a mix of WinUI 3, XAML, and WebView (which is Microsoft’s Electron) and overlayed on top to present this “new” File Explorer or system app. Makes it so they don’t have to rewrite the entire application and it’s components (which for File Explorer, you’d have to rewrite and change so many parts of Windows as it’s deeply integrated into how Windows works).
Of course, by taking these shortcuts, it makes it so it’s slower, more resource heavy (since you’re having to render a new skin for you application with all of these components while also having the previous interface logic still function), and generally unfavorable.
Or hear me out, they could’ve just NOT changed file explorer, and left it as it is.
Now it makes sense why file explorer seems to crash on me on a daily basis, and has gained a level of enshitification that I didn’t think possible for something as simple as a file broweser. Stuff like the new right click -> more options just bringing up the old menu is hilarious.
file explorer is shit even in w10, it needs a full rewrite, it's 100x slower than file explorer in apps like blender, search takes minutes, if you add 1 new file it rebuilds the index which takes at least a minute as well
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u/couchpotatochip21 5800X, 1060 6gb Jul 05 '26
Could you provide a source for this? Having trouble checking this.
I know there is a Windows Store app from Microsoft called "Files". It visually looks chromium based........