Windows 11 unofficial mod claims not to alter crucial system files while making UI better

Windows 11 logo with app icons floating on the background

Ever since Windows Vista, Microsoft has been making its desktop OS more visually pleasing. With the GUI (graphical user interface) taking up more and more resources, special hardware features like WDDM GPU schedulers have also been improving over time to help keep up with such graphical advancements.

However, it is never an easy task to balance the two as users of Windows 11 have often complained about sluggish performance from time to time, and Microsoft subsequently responded that it intended to make things better. Regardless, Microsoft will have you believe it is already much better than 10 when it recently cited a paid study to show an impossible performance advantage.

Some users online are reporting better snappiness on Windows 11 24H2 compared to previous versions, even on unsupported hardware, but there is no hard evidence for it yet.

If you do not mind third-party applications, you can check out Rebound 11, which promises to improve the Windows 11 user interface and experience (UI/UX) with the help of WinUI 3, Microsoft's native UI for Windows App SDK.

The developer says, "Rebound 11 is a comprehensive enhancement project for Windows 11, designed to bring consistency with WinUI 3 apps without compromising system security or modifying essential system files."

Rebound Hub and Rebound 11 unofficial Windows 11 mod

The author of Rebound 11 says that there are several advantages to using their utility compared to other third-party apps. The biggest one is that it does not do system-wide customization, and thus, the MSSTYLES system files stay intact. So, changes are easily reversible if you want to go back. Windows should also be able to run updates, and thus, critical security updates can be installed.

Rebound 11 has asked users to ensure their system meets the minimum requirements before proceeding to install. Thankfully, they are not steep at all, and anyone with 4GB of memory and 2GB of storage space can have it. A DirectX 12 compatible graphics processor is required, though, so if you still have something really old, it may not work properly.

This could be fun to try out, though make sure to back up everything important before proceeding. As always, it is best to be safe than sorry when dealing with third-party modification tools. The best place to do it is in a VM. You can download Rebound 11 from its GitHub repo here.

Via: XPower7125 (YouTube)