> This is the Windows 11 start menu. See that Recommended section at the bottom of it? That is built with React Native for Windows. No, that is not a full JavaScript framework in your start menu. There’s no web view / browser running gobbling up your resources. It’s React Native for Windows which is a flavor of React Native that directly calls Windows APIs including, you guessed it, WinUI 3.
I would still say that means Windows Start uses React, frankly.
>It’s React Native for Windows which is a flavor of React Native that directly calls Windows APIs including, you guessed it, WinUI 3.
>So that’s it. Windows Start has a very small section (that can be disabled) that’s written in a framework that follows React principles and compiles down to native code.
False. React Native doesn't "compile down to native code". It runs actual JavaScript, just not inside a browser, but a standalone JS runtime.
Fatal error by the author: They’re right, it doesn’t use React in the way that everyone actually means and criticises. It still technically uses React though, so—as is already evident—you still get the worst of the worst, bad-faith arguers saying “WELL ACKSHULLY…”
That is actually still React. React is React Core + ReactDOM (web) renderer. React Native is the React Core + native renderer. They are both still React, and they both use Javascript, which while fast when JIT'd, is typically much slower than native code.
I'm not commenting on whether this is a good or bad thing, but the article strikes me as a bit misleading.
It may not involve a webview, but from what I can tell it definitely still is running JavaScript.
Either way it doesn't matter. As someone who has used Windows in a significant way since the 90s, the taskbar and start menu are a buggy mess. The new design is awful, I just want a list of my programs like before.
The recommended section using React Native is honestly more strange and confusing than if they had just used React for the whole thing. It doesn't seem like a particularly complex UI element, it would be easier to just develop it using the already used native APIs.
The amount of misinformation that spreads from a single tweet or blog post is insane. Someone says "Windows uses React" and suddenly it's gospel. The actual XAML Islands explanation makes way more sense from a performance standpoint. Microsoft has been using XAML for their UI framework for years, why would they switch to React for something as performance-critical as the Start menu?
The weirdest thing about this (which is frankly bizarre) is Microsoft emphatically shilling React Native for MacOS[1] usage (???). Like, wtf? Why? Not only is it embarassing for MS to be using another competing company's (Facebook's) UI layer when they're, you know, an operating system company. But they're also pushing it for competing operating systems. What idiotic PM signed off on this? How in the world does Microsoft benefit out of promulgating Facebook's technology?
nit: the embedded screenshot of the Windows 11 Start Menu is low res enough that seeing/reading the Recommended section is challenging without squinting!
The internet tends to flatten everything into “it's React”.
React Native for Windows is quite different from embedding a web React app in the OS shell. It’s essentially a renderer that maps React components to native WinUI controls.
So saying “Windows Start is written in React” is a bit like saying an iOS app built with SwiftUI is “written in HTML”.
I understand there is a position of "we've always done it this way, so we keep doing it this way"
And.
"we need to move with the times and use new tech!".
But surely there is some happy middle ground that doesn't end up with a entire js runtime in the damn start menu?
I'm a fairly casual dev compared to faang folk, but surely even they realised this was an awful choice?
22 comments
[ 720 ms ] story [ 115 ms ] threadI would still say that means Windows Start uses React, frankly.
Ok
>This is the part of the Windows Start that uses React.
Ok
>So that’s it. Windows Start has a very small section (that can be disabled) that’s written in a framework that follows React principles and compiles down to native code.
False. React Native doesn't "compile down to native code". It runs actual JavaScript, just not inside a browser, but a standalone JS runtime.
I'm not commenting on whether this is a good or bad thing, but the article strikes me as a bit misleading.
Either way it doesn't matter. As someone who has used Windows in a significant way since the 90s, the taskbar and start menu are a buggy mess. The new design is awful, I just want a list of my programs like before.
On that note, do we have an open standard for OS implementations? Where the fuck is our modern scratch made OS written in Rust?
It’s about time we topple this shitty triopoly.
[1] https://microsoft.github.io/react-native-macos/docs/intro
https://x.com/0xAkuKun/status/2036235161956917593
VSCode had an instant search for 10 years. Now it's broken suddenly for the first time ever. Can't search anything. Back to greping like a cave man.
sigh
React Native for Windows is quite different from embedding a web React app in the OS shell. It’s essentially a renderer that maps React components to native WinUI controls.
So saying “Windows Start is written in React” is a bit like saying an iOS app built with SwiftUI is “written in HTML”.
But surely there is some happy middle ground that doesn't end up with a entire js runtime in the damn start menu?
I'm a fairly casual dev compared to faang folk, but surely even they realised this was an awful choice?
[except for the bit that does]