The topic Microsoft moved PowerToys’ Command Palette into Windows 11’s Run dialog… is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
We love PowerToys here at XDA, to the point where we often ask why Microsoft hasn’t just added the entire suite into Windows 11 as official tools yet. I’m not exaggerating when I say that using Windows 11 without PowerToys means you’re leaving some seriously nice features and tools on the table, and you really ought to give it a go to see what you’re missing out on.
Well, it turns out that Microsoft is now adding a PowerToys feature into Windows 11 proper. The Command Palette (aka, ‘CmdPal’) has been such a useful tool in PowerToys that Microsoft decided it deserved a spot on its OS, too.
As announced on the Microsoft DevBlogs, there’s a new Windows 11 Run dialog coming soon. It has actually been in the works for a few years now and has a pretty interesting history. Basically, Microsoft really liked the look of PowerToys Run, so they made some mock-ups for a new Run tool inspired by it. This then inspired them to create the Command Palette for PowerToys as part of a hackathon. Now, that same code is being brought into Windows 11:
CmdPal is a lot more than just a run dialog, of course. But the same code that powers CmdPal in PowerToys has now become a part of the new Run Dialog. In fact, the run command provider in CmdPal is exactly the same code as the new Run Dialog! Anyone who’s ever contributed to CmdPal has helped build a part of Windows.
The new Run dialog is quite a bit faster than the old one, loading in just 94ms compared to the current dialog’s 103ms. So, it’s both powerful and fast-loading; just what you want from a Run tool. It’s available right now on the Windows Insider Experimental Channel, with a general release hopefully coming soon.
Here are some essential PowerToys to use on Windows 11 to simplify your workflow.