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Chiara Mooney & Shiven Mian – Building for Microsoft (Chain React 2023)

Infinite Red0 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
6K views · talk · dated · Uploaded 2023-06-01

Microsoft engineers Chiara Mooney and Shiven Mian describe the journey and challenges of building and consuming React Native for Windows inside Microsoft. It was given at Chain React 2023.

HN cites it as first-party evidence of where Microsoft uses React Native in Windows, particularly the Start Menu.

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3 comments from Hacker News

@smileybarry2025 · in “Windows 11 Start Menu Revealed as Resource-Heavy React Native App”

This has been making the rounds on Twitter and the story never dies despite being essentially false. (Backed by “I hit Start and got a CPU spike”) Just the “Recommended” section - the lower frame showing M365 files & frequent apps - is built with React Native[1]. And, AFAIK, it uses Microsoft’s React Native for Windows that renders real XAML components, so it’s not just a masquerading WebView or something. The Start Menu itself is still C++ and XAML. (And I think WinUI 2, i.e. the system-included variation of WinUI) It’s not just all a web thing or a JS-backed React Native app. 1: [VIDEO]

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@mort962025 · in “A 14kb page can load much faster than a 15kb page (2022)”

I found this: [VIDEO] I googled the names of the people holding the talk and they're both employed by Microsoft as software engineers, I don't see any reason to doubt what they're presenting. Not the whole start menu is React Native, but parts are.

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@CjHuber2026 · in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop”

AFAIK the Start Menu itself is still C++ and XAML however only the Recommended section is build with React Native [1]. Funnily or rather sadly, they seem to be quite proud of using it as seen in the video. 1: [VIDEO]

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