Microsoft has pushed back against reports that the company has built a modernized Registry Editor app for Windows 11, clarifying that the newly discovered modern Registry Editor is just a sample app, and not intended to ship in Windows.
Windows Latest was first to report on this new Registry Editor app, but stated within their article that the app is "not a mock-up," which led some people online to believe this app is a real replacement for the existing Registry Editor.
It appears that the app is a mockup, designed to showcase Microsoft.UI.Reactor technology, meaning it was only built to show developers what is possible with the tech and not representative of any modernization work ongoing by the Windows team.
Unfortunately, some reports didn't make it clear in their headlines that this app is just a sample app, which has resulted in a lot of pushback and criticism from users due to its unfinished design. Now, two Microsoft execs have taken to X to clear up the mess.
"It’s a sample. You say it’s the new one and then in the last line of the tweet you point out it’s a sample," Microsoft VP Scott Hanselman said in a reply to Windows Latest on X. This was followed up by a post from Windows Insider lead and CVP Marcus Ash, who said "Right. A sample. Not a developer preview of a new regedit."
So, that's confirmation from Microsoft that this new Registry Editor is not coming to Windows 11, and is just a sample app designed to showcase to developers what is possible with Microsoft.UI.Reactor.
With that said, this doesn't mean the Windows team isn't working on a modernized Registry Editor. My own sources tell me the Registry Editor is on the list for a modern rejuvenation under the Windows K2 effort, but there are other pillars and higher priority items that need to be addressed first before the Registry Editor can be tackled.
The good news is a modern Registry Editor for Windows 11 is unlikely to look like the sample app being depicted in recent reports, and that a modernized Registry Editor is on the docket for the future.
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