Microsoft’s Windows 10 UI Redesign Continues With New System Icons

Microsoft is starting to modernize some of the basic parts of Windows 10 by improving the system icons available in the operating system. A new preview version of Windows 10 is rolling out for testers this week, and it includes system icons that now adhere to Microsoft’s Fluent Design style.

The new icons feature a more rounded and streamlined look, and are available as a new font – Segoe Fluent Icons. Microsoft has also updated its new taskbar widget with the new icons, providing a good look at how basic icon changes can modernize even the smallest parts of Windows.

Image: Microsoft

It’s a small change from Windows 10 that will appear later this year for the most part, but it’s part of a larger push by Microsoft to overhaul Windows 10. Microsoft has updated some of its Windows 10 icons in the year. latest with colorful versions, and even modified the Start menu to make it a bit simpler.

Microsoft is also planning a “radical visual rejuvenation of Windows,” dubbed Sun Valley. It may seem like Microsoft has been promising visual revisions to Windows 10 with its Fluent Design push for years, but even bigger UI changes are expected to emerge later this year.

The Windows Start menu, File Explorer, and built-in apps should all be overhauled as part of this UI refresh. Even basic things like buttons, controls, and sliders in apps should spark a love of design. This should mean that Windows will look a lot more cohesive, and hopefully a lot of the old icons and prompts from the Windows 95 era will start to disappear.

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft has put a lot of effort into improving the consistency of its user interface in Windows 10X, an upcoming version of Windows that will be designed for Chromebook-like devices. Windows 10X includes a new Start menu and lots of changes to basic controls like Wi-Fi, Notification Center, and more. It looks like a stripped-down, more streamlined version of Windows.

The way Microsoft markets Windows 10X could be a clue to where Windows is heading in the future. Rumors suggest the company is gearing up to use “the new Windows” as a marketing term, and we expect Microsoft to have a lot more news on Windows soon. Microsoft is planning events in the coming weeks to detail its future plans for games, Windows, and more.

As Microsoft held its Ignite conference this week, the company had very little to say about Windows. However, Panos Panay, head of Windows and devices at Microsoft, admitted news was on the way. “I haven’t talked about the next generation of Windows and what’s to come,” Panay said in an Ignite session earlier this week. “I am so excited. The future of Windows is amazing, but we’re here today to talk about Windows 10. ”

It’s unusual to hear Microsoft talk about its “next generation Windows,” especially since the company has stuck with the Windows 10 brand since its debut almost six years ago. I don’t think that means we’re about to see a Windows 11, but the way Microsoft separates Windows 10 and Windows 10X will be the key to avoiding confusion (hello, Windows RT). This is especially true if Windows 10X doesn’t support legacy desktop apps at launch, as our recent review of the operating system suggests.