If usest years of Windows, you will know that many processes or features of the operating system are connected to Explorer files. Although explorer.exe should only be associated with file management, it is also used by other Windows functions such as the line tasks. Of course, this is not the best for performance.
So Microsoft seems to be disconnecting features like the taskbar, the centre notifications and others from File Explorer (explorer.exe). The integration of the desktop and explorer.exe is one of the bottlenecks in the operating system, as a heavy file operation can make unrelated functions such as the taskbar unresponsive.
If the explorer.exe process crashes, it also crashes the desktop and many other features of the operating system. Of course, this can be fixed if you do a process restart, but this is a very rough solution. Windows 11 desktop errors can be greatly reduced if certain functions are disconnected from explorer.exe
So Microsoft started to separate the “Impressive Shell” from the File Explorer.
For those who don't know, Impressive Shell was added to Windows with the Windows 8 and was originally responsible for functions such as the Charms Bar. Impressive Shell is associated with a process called “ShellAppRuntime.exe”, which is associated with explorer.exe.
In the latest preview versions, Microsoft is trying to move Impressive Shell out of File Explorer.
This was first identified from the developers of “Start Is All Back” who reported: “Interesting feature in dev 25252: ImmersiveShellInShellAppRuntime (id:39319758). Moves Impressive Shell from explorer. It still doesn't start ShellAppRuntime.exe, but eventually, this whole metro hodgepodge might become a little more reliable."
At the time of this posting, Windows was unable to start ShellAppRuntime.exe, but this seems to have been fixed in the latest versions.
In newer versions, it is now possible to launch ShellAppRuntime.exe independently.
In the future, Windows 11 features will use different processes, making it easier for Windows to run their functions without having to rely on File Explorer. This will reduce errors and make the operating system faster.
However, it is important to understand that the “disconnect features from explorer.exe” is still in its infancy and users will not notice any changes.
