Has Microsoft gone too far with web apps on Windows 11?

Windows 11 Widgets Hero (Image credit: Future)

Many elements of Windows 11 are powered by the web, including the entire widgets panel. Additionally, several of Microsoft's first-party apps are web apps, such as Clipchamp and the Teams Chat experience that's built into Windows 11. While web-powered components are growing in popularity, especially at Microsoft, they have critics. Many point to high RAM usage and slow performance as reasons that Microsoft should stick with native apps instead.

In this week's poll, we want to know if you're happy with the direction Microsoft has taken in this regard. The poll was inspired by a discussion sparked on Twitter earlier this month when our executive editor mentioned web apps.

Ok enjoy widgets taking 300mb of ram, chat integrated into the os that should be blazing fast and light taking a ridicolous amount of resources and time to run, compared to whatsapp beta for example, or photos app editor using 700mb of ram and I could go on and on... ENJOY /SOk enjoy widgets taking 300mb of ram, chat integrated into the os that should be blazing fast and light taking a ridicolous amount of resources and time to run, compared to whatsapp beta for example, or photos app editor using 700mb of ram and I could go on and on... ENJOY /S— Stop Bad Press (@Stop_Bad_Press) April 16, 2022 April 16, 2022

Web apps provide several benefits, such as unified development across platforms. They also have drawbacks, such as higher RAM usage. Some, such as Twitter, feel native and perform smoothly. Twitter updates its web app frequently, which means that Windows users don't have to wait for a platform-specific update to get new features.

On the other side of the coin, there are programs like Microsoft Whiteboard. When Microsoft converted Whiteboard to a web app, performance got significantly worse. Microsoft Whiteboard has a 2.8-star rating in the Microsoft Store and several reviews mention poor performance.

Does Windows 11 rely on the web too much?

In our testing, the pen latency on the web app version of Whiteboard is noticeably worse than the previous version. The new Whiteboard drew so much negative feedback that Microsoft announced that it would revert to the previous version.

What do you think of web apps and web-based components in Windows 11? Let us know in this week's poll and in the comments below.

Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He's covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean's journey began with the Lumia 930, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.