Windows 10 will change interface by the end of 2021: here are the main new features in the pipeline and when they will arrive to users
Many users have yet to install the Windows 10 October Update, that is the second major semi-annual update of 2020 of Microsoft's operating system, but we are already starting to talk about what to expect in 2021. To be precise, in the first half of next year, when the Windows 10 21H1 update will arrive, apparently bringing a revamped interface in many places for Windows.
The current Windows 10 UI design is still based on the "Metro Design", which dates back to Windows 8 and is now in many ways inconsistent due to the various changes that have been layered on top of each other over the years. From 2017 onwards, Microsoft will change the aesthetics of Windows based on the new "Fluent Design" that will have to replace the "Metro Design" completely, but without much of a rush. According to Zac Bowden of Windows central, however, Microsoft would have already decided on a date for the end of the transition: June 2021. Here, according to the information gathered by Bowden, how will be the new Windows 10 interface based on the new design.
Windows 10: how will be the new interface
The new Windows 10 interface, codenamed "Sun Valley", will be going to redo the look of the Start menu, the notification center, the taskbar and File Explorer. All the most used parts of the operating system, then, will change their appearance with a more modern design, new animations and, apparently, new features as well.
Most of these changes will lead to a look similar to that of Windows 10X, but tailored for use on desktop and laptop computers. Microsoft is also redesigning the touch keyboard and emoji selector, and those changes have already made their way to beta testers enrolled in the Windows Insider program.
From a graphical standpoint, an interface-wide dark mode and bevels for all window corners are also planned.
New Windows 10 interface: when it arrives
Bowden says Microsoft hopes to complete most of this work by the end of the first half of next year, so by June 2021. However, according to the Windows Central reporter, the new interface won't arrive to the general public until the fall, that is, only with the 20H2 update (the October Udate 2021). Testers, on the other hand, will receive most of these interface changes within the first half of the year.
The last interesting thing to note, finally, is that when the interface arrives for everyone users will be given the option to continue using the old one if they don't find the new one comfortable to use. In this way, then, Microsoft is setting up a smooth transition between the old Windows 10 and the new one.