RGB lighting isn’t for everyone, but a quick look at Reddit’s PC builder or the legions of glass-walled PC cases suggests it’s for some people. If this is you, you’re probably used to dealing with poor quality RGB control applications from the company that made your motherboard, keyboard, mouse, and/or fans. Not all of these programs are terrible, but they usually include all sorts of features that you don’t want or need, and are often difficult to use.
According to Twitter user @thebookisclosed, Microsoft may be working on a fix for this issue in a Windows 11 test build. They discovered a hidden screen in the Settings app in Windows 11 build 25295 dedicated to basic RGB lighting controls for connected accessories, providing a consistent and unified experience. an interface for assigning colors and lighting patterns that does not require the installation of third-party software.
We don’t know if this feature will arrive in Windows 11 or what form it will take – Microsoft is testing all sorts of features in its Windows Insider builds, and the company doesn’t always deliver them to regular consumers. If a feature is shipped in something similar to its current form, it may have limitations. Third party apps will likely continue to offer a wider range of lighting patterns and effects, as well as other features such as the ability to sync all RGB accessories in a given room. It’s also not clear if the UI can control RGB accessories plugged into the motherboard’s 3- or 4-pin RGB header or RAM slots, in addition to things plugged into external USB ports or your motherboard’s internal USB headers.
To date, the closest thing to a universally compatible RGB control application is OpenRGB, an open source cross-platform control application. But it supports some accessories better than others, it doesn’t always detect everything on a given PC (at least in my experience with it), and it can take a while between major updates. Windows’ built-in control of these lights can help standardize the experience for the less tech-savvy, as well as save them loads of gigabytes of competing RGB control applications from various accessory manufacturers.
Other features that Microsoft is testing in beta versions of Windows include a tabbed user interface for Notepad, an updated version of File Explorer, and a search bar for Task Manager.