What just happened? The Control Panel has been an essential component of Microsoft Windows for decades, and was originally introduced in Windows 1.0 in the mid-80s. However, its days are numbered ...

The Control Panel feature has been around since Windows 1.0, but Microsoft plans to replace it with the more modern Settings app.

Since the debut of Windows 8 in 2012, Microsoft has been eager to replace the aged Control Panel with the newer Settings app. The transition so far has been slow and gradual.