Microsoft is now rolling out Windows 11 in preview to the Insider Program through the Dev channel. As expected, the new Insider Preview highlights many of the features Microsoft announced last week, although Android app support comes later. It also adds some stuff Microsoft did not mention at the Windows 11 launch.
Specifically, the design refresh we seen brought to the platform overall is also extending to the native Office applications. Users getting the latest Office Insider release can see new aesthetics for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Project, Access, Visio, and Publisher.
As you might expect, the new Office apps design borrows heavily from the new UI of Windows 11. That means rounded corners on the window and even the ribbon on apps. Microsoft's new neutral color selections are also visible, while there is now an ability to automatically switch themes.
At the moment, the new look is reserved for Beta channel testers on the Office Insider Program. Microsoft has not yet added the design changes to Visio, Publisher, Project, or Access but they are coming. Automatic theme changing is currently only in Microsoft Word, but will also come to Access later.
Known Issues
As with all previews, Microsoft is erring on the side of caution and warning of a few issues with this early phase of testing. Some of the issues Microsoft confirms include:
- “The team's focus has been on primary app surfaces like the ribbon and document canvas. As a result, there will still be some color and style inconsistencies across different UI surfaces. The backstage (i.e. File menu) is not yet updated.
- There is currently a bug with animations in our apps on Windows 11, which can make transitions look less polished.
- The Mica background effect has not yet been added to our apps. It will be coming in a future update.
- The preview gallery for Data types and Shapes have a color bug in dark grey theme. Please expand the gallery to view contents while we resolve this issue.
- There is a bug where the document title appears misaligned within the title bar.”
Tip of the day: The Windows default font these days is Segoe UI, a fairly simple and no-nonsense typeface that's used across many of Microsoft's products. However, though some like this subdued style, others look to change Windows font to something with a bit more personality.
Thankfully, Microsoft does let you change Windows fonts, but it doesn't make it particularly easy. I our tutorial we show you how to change system font in Windows 10, or restore it again if you don't like the changes.
