Since Microsoft introduced the dark mode switching function for Windows 10 in 2016, users have been looking forward to a comprehensive dark theme for the system interface.However, nearly ten years later, Windows’ dark mode still has many flaws.
WindowsCentral issued an article pointing out that although many applications and system interfaces already support switching themes according to system settings, Windows' own user interface still has many problems with dark mode.
When Windows 10 debuted in 2015, the interface showed a mix of light and dark elements. The taskbar, Start menu, and Action Center were dark, while the File Explorer and context menu were light.
In 2016, Microsoft officially added the dark mode switching function, so that the file explorer and context menu also support dark mode.
But this work only scratches the surface;It is still easy for users to encounter interface areas that do not support dark mode, such as copy dialog boxes, file properties, run commands, registry editors, control panel applets, and many other areas of Windows that still do not support dark mode.
Nearly a decade later, dark mode is still not supported in these areas of the Windows operating system. Even in Windows 11, users still encounter sudden "flash bomb" effects when copying large files or opening properties dialog boxes.
These system areas are core parts of the operating system that most users come into contact with on a daily basis, and the problem is not only incomplete, but in some places, dark mode is even completely disabled.
The article also revealed that as early as the 2020/2021 Windows 11 development period, Microsoft had already begun to improve the dark mode. The internal version included the work of adding a dark mode to old Windows interfaces such as file properties and copy dialog boxes, but for unknown reasons, this work was ultimately not completed.
In contrast, other platforms such as macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android all have complete and consistent system-level dark modes. After enabling dark mode on these platforms, users will almost never encounter areas of the system interface where themes are not applied correctly.
But on Windows 11, this happens every day, and Microsoft doesn't seem to care.
Windows Central emphasized that this is entirely Microsoft's own problem. Almost all third-party Windows applications already support dark mode, but Windows itself does not yet fully support its own dark mode.