Microsoft is testing a modern Windows Run, saying it’s faster than the legacy version

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 is getting a new modern Run dialog with support for dark mode and faster performance in the new preview build 26300.8346.

The Run dialog has been around since the Windows 95 era, and it’s one of those little features of Windows that many power users still rely on every day.

You just need to press Win + Rtype a command, open a file path, open a tool, or quickly jump to a location without opening File Explorer first.

With the new version, Microsoft is trying to modernize Run without changing what makes it useful.

Unlike Legacy Run, Modern Run features Fluent Design, supports dark mode out of the box, and is actually faster than Legacy Run.

That’s interesting because their modern counterparts often have a reputation for being slow.

Microsoft noted that designing a modern Run dialog for Windows 11 was a challenge, as the company had to maintain the same functionality and maintain minimal user interaction, similar to the original Run shipped with Windows 95.

“When we started creating the new experience, we knew the conversation there was fast. We also knew we needed to make sure we deeply understood how you all used it. Make it modern, have ideas, and change it,” Microsoft explained in a blog post.

“To help evolve, we’ve added a brief measurement to the conversation to see what’s being used and to measure display time. This confirmed a few key things that helped the design process.”

Microsoft says performance was one of the most important factors when designing the modern Run box. That’s because many people use the existing Run box to paste text into the clipboard, and then copy it again to remove the text formatting.

This transaction is very effective because of how fast the existing Run is. The Legacy Run box takes about 103ms to appear after pressing the button Win + R keyboard shortcut.

Interestingly, the modern Run is actually faster. It has an average display time of just 94ms.

“This was a huge team effort – we worked closely with our partners across the platform to make these UI areas load faster. The improvements we made to the platform not only make running faster, but help make the entire OS work better,” the company said.

Microsoft says it expects these numbers to improve and there is still room for improvement,

Microsoft is dropping the ‘Browse’ feature in the new Run

Microsoft looked at how people used the existing Run dialog before deciding what should stay and what could be removed. One example is Browse through button, which allows you to scroll to a specific index to open the program.

According to Microsoft, the use of the Browse button is less than 0.0038%. This number is based on a sample of 35 million users who open Windows Run.

As a result, Microsoft has dropped the Browse button from the modern Run. The company says it researched how Run was used and how fast it was, which helped form the basis for building the modern Run.

Modern Run also supports it ~allowing you to quickly access your home directory. It also features listed icons, which should make the entries easier to see without making the box feel too heavy.

How to enable or disable Run modern

Although modern Run looks good and works well in our test, some of you may not like the idea, which is why the feature is optional and is tied to Advanced Settings in Windows.

According to Microsoft, modern Run does not open automatically. Instead, you need to open Settings > Advanced Settings and enable by creating a modern Run, which replaces the Legacy Run.

There are also plans to add more features to modern Run, and Microsoft says it’s gathering feedback before rolling it out more widely.

Some changes are rolling out with today’s preview update

In addition to the Run box improvements, Microsoft is improving the Windows Share UI for AAD users.

Until now, if you wanted to add an app to a share conversation, you had to open the MS Store, install the app first, and then find it in the Share list. Now, you can install apps directly from the Share UI.

Finally, Magnifier now gives you more control over how you zoom, including preset zoom levels of 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 100%, 150%, 200%, and 400%.

These changes will be rolled out to everyone in the coming months, but for now, you’ll need to download Windows 11 Build 26300.8346 from the Experimental Channel.