2020 may be the year Windows 10’s UI finally becomes beautiful. In a video celebrating the OS’s 1 billion user milestone, Surface architect and chief product officer Panos Panay shared glimpses of new designs.
First up is the Windows logo itself. The start of the video flashes through all the old start menus, before settling on a gradient Windows 10 variant. It’s clearly a reference to the new icons we’ve been seeing of late, which utilize gradients and depth for a unique but modernized look.
We then get a glimpse at the lock screen, which has also seen some changes. The Windows Hello symbol appears more prominently, while a bolder font for the time should make it easier to see at a distance.
The Start Menu, it seems, will see changes beyond its icons. The video shows it slowly desaturating as the new icons roll in, removing the ugly mishmash of bright colors we can see today. There’s even a glimpse at a new context menu.
Still, perhaps the most striking are the changes to some of its app. A brief glimpse at file explorer sees it completely overhauled. Microsoft has tied marries its Fluent Design efforts and some of the changes coming with Windows 10X, to great effect. In the teaser, File Explorer no longer looks like a piece of legacy software.
Unfortunately, we’re yet to see most of this in official code. The revamped Start Menu was teased in a Windows Insider webcast, so hopefully, that will be coming soon. However, given Microsoft’s previously slow progress with Fluent Design, it’s anyone’s guess when the entire concept will be complete.
Last Updated on February 17, 2021 9:59 am CET by Markus Kasanmascheff
