Did Microsoft just fool us? The new Windows setup experience is 10 years old

It was available on Windows 10 as well

1 min. read

Published on January 31, 2024

published on January 31, 2024

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We recently reported that Microsoft has redesigned the Windows setup experience. As it turns out, the UI has been available for 10 years. It’s just not enabled by default!

As pointed out by X (formerly Twitter) user XenoPanther, the supposedly new setup can be enabled on early versions of Windows 10 as well, including build 9780, the earliest publicly available build.

21996 is the earliest build I have on my PC. But by running "setuphost /install /boot" you can bring up the modern Windows setup UI. I've heard this may work in early Windows 10 builds (Pre-WIP) pic.twitter.com/bw1DKhyf1O
— Xeno (@XenoPanther) January 27, 2024

All you have to do is run the following two commands: setuphost setuphost /install /boot

In the official blog post highlighting Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26040, Microsoft called this change refreshing and claimed the Windows OS Media Setup is much cleaner and has a modern design. While it could be refreshing and cleaner, the new setup is certainly not modern!

Ever since the announcement, experts pointed out that the setup’s design is more in line with Windows 8 and Vista and doesn’t fit well into the modern Windows 11 UI. Atleast, we now know the answer to it.

What do you think of Microsoft releasing years-old UI as new? Do share in the comments section below.

More about the topics: Windows Insider Program, Windows Installer

Kazim Ali Alvi

Windows Hardware Expert

Kazim has always been fond of technology, be it scrolling through the settings on his iPhone, Android device, or Windows PC. He's specialized in hardware devices, always ready to remove a screw or two to find out the real cause of a problem. Long-time Windows user, Kazim is ready to provide a solution for your every software & hardware error on Windows 11, Windows 10 and any previous iteration. He's also one of our experts in Networking & Security.