Seriously Windows 11 UI is built on React?!!!
The claim in the meme — that the Windows 11 Start menu is built using React Native and causes a CPU spike every time it's opened — is partly based on truth, but it's exaggerated for humor.
What's True:
Windows 11 Start Menu is Electron-based: Microsoft has indeed used WebView2 (based on Chromium) and React/TypeScript for parts of Windows 11's UI, including the Start Menu and other shell components.
These components are rendered via XAML + WebView2, which means they embed a mini browser (Chromium) for rendering web tech UIs.
CPU usage spikes can occur when invoking the Start Menu, especially on low-end machines, due to Chromium startup overhead.
What's Exaggerated or Misleading:
It's not React Native, which is for mobile apps (iOS/Android). It’s more accurate to say it uses React.js via WebView2 in combination with native XAML.
The CPU spike is not necessarily massive or constant — it's more of an initialization penalty or overhead depending on your system resources.
Microsoft has been working on performance optimizations to reduce this behavior.
TL;DR:
✅ Web tech (React + WebView2) is used in Windows 11’s Start Menu.
⚠️ Not React Native and CPU spike varies.
😂 The meme uses exaggeration for comedic effect — and the image of Richard Stallman (a staunch free software advocate) just amplifies the irony.