I don't even agree with the premise in the first place if I'll be honest. Windows 11 is almost the same scale as Windows 7. The taskbar is the same size, the tray icons are the same size. Most of Microsoft's applications seem to all be roughly the same scale.

I've heard a lot of complaints about the Settings app being a downgrade from Control Panel and being too padded or whatnot, but let's not forget that the old Windows XP era Control Panel couldn't even be maximized. It was just one size no matter what.