Skip to main content

Microsoft's upcoming revamp of Windows 10 user interface aims for consistency

windows update
Windows 10 is in for a series of small changes thanks to Microsoft’s Project Neon, a revamp of the familiar, old MDL2 user interface currently in use on the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. All those little changes and refinements add up to a refreshing and new look courtesy of a renewed focus on simple, clean animations, and overall consistency.

According to MS Power User, the new UI will focus on clean animations and a new style reminiscent of Windows 7’s Aero Glass, with plenty of semi-transparent windows and sidebars — not unlike what we currently see on MacOS Sierra.

The new transparent effects also have some new branding. Microsoft calls the semi-transparent elements “Acrylics” — these are the parts of the window that blur whatever is in the background. Again, it’s similar to what you can currently see on the most recent versions of iOS and MacOS, and that blurry glass look is very familiar and pretty slick overall.

Unlike the Apple-branded alternatives, where these effects are used sparingly, Microsoft plans to bring a lot of blur and transparency into the Windows 10 UI, according to MS Power User. It’s part of Microsoft’s plan to make the user interfaces for all Windows devices (mobile, HoloLens, and desktop) a consistent user experience.

The Project Neon user interface relies heavily on 3D and HoloLens interactions as part of that push from Microsoft, highlighting menu items as you hover over them in a much more visible way than we currently see on Windows 10. Instead of a simple color change, menu items are more likely to “pop” with highlights and 3D effects.

With all of these new graphical changes, you might expect that the Project Neon UI could easily become bogged down when you have a lot of apps open, a lot of things going on. But according to MS Power User, the animations — no matter how flashy — stay smooth and consistent throughout.

We don’t yet have a timeline for Project Neon, but it could be on the horizon for 2017. Chances are, we’ll see it rolling out incrementally after the Windows 10 Creators Update comes out later this year.

Editors' Recommendations

Jayce Wagner
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.
Microsoft just teased its next big Windows 11 update
Windows 11 22H2 Tablet Taskbar YouTube screenshot

Microsoft has given us a glimpse of a feature that "Moment 2" may bring as early as January 2023.

Since Windows 11 version 22H2, the Redmond, WA company has dedicated to releasing smaller feature updates, known internally as "Moment." The first one gave us the much-requested tabs in File Explorer (along with its Context IQ tech). The next Windows 11 version 22H2 "Moment" is currently slated for early 2023, according to sources, after it undergoes testing throughout 2022.

Read more
It’s not just you — Microsoft admits its patches broke OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive files can sync between a PC and a phone.

If you’ve been experiencing OneDrive crashes and error messages, before digging too deep for a solution, note that it might be Microsoft’s fault. Common solutions like restarting, or signing out and back in won’t help because the issue is with the latest Windows 10 update.

Apparently, the problem begins after installing the 22H2 update for Windows 10 that was released on October 18, 2022. Today, Microsoft confirmed that after updating Windows 10, OneDrive might “unexpectedly close,” a nice way to describe a crash. This problem isn’t affecting Windows 11 computers and it’s still possible to use OneDrive via a browser.

Read more
Did Microsoft accidentally leak the next version of Windows?
a view of the strange new windows from ignite 2022

A brief glimpse of a desktop. Just a moment to take in what you were looking at. But then it hits you. Did Microsoft accidentally leak its next version of Windows during the company's Ignite event? Many watching the event are asking the same question.
Zac Bowden at Windows Central has done a great job of breaking down what, exactly, you saw. For a moment, there was a Windows desktop with a floating taskbar along the bottom and a Mac-esque Dock along the top, and a floating search box in the center of the screen. 

This is not the first time we’ve seen this design. Microsoft is working on a three-year update cycle and the next version of Windows is known internally as "Next Valley." The user interface shown off briefly at Ignite matches up with what we know about Next Valley. Of course, the update is not due until 2024. 
For starters, the floating taskbar along the bottom of the screen takes direct inspiration from macOS, down to the rounded corners and the frosted glass background. The icons look bigger and brighter, a la macOS. 
Next, the toolbar along the top featured a battery icon, Wi-Fi icon, the date on the right, and weather on the left. All of this was on the same frosted glass background as the taskbar. If you didn’t know better, you might think this was actually a MacBook running Windows.
But the giant floating search bar in the upper-middle of the screen belies that notion. It was pure Microsoft from the icons to search and close to the font in the search box. What it was doing there on the screen is a big question.
Is Microsoft planning on adding a big floating search box to Windows? If so, it could work a lot like Apple’s new Dynamic Island on iPhone. In fact, we’ve seen a leak for Dynamic Island on Mac, and we were not fans. It would take up a lot of usable space, slow the system down with needless animations, and while not being terribly useful. It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft plans to handle it.
This brief glimpse of a strange Windows operating system may have been nothing more than a mock-up of somebody’s idea for Windows. It could have been an experimental concept that accidentally made it into the presentation. Or it could have been an intentional leak of what Microsoft has planned in Next Valley, giving us a glimpse of what's to come.

Read more