Windows Central reported that the Windows 10 system in 2021 will usher in a major UI update. The project is codenamed “Sun Valley.” It is expected that improvements will be made to the file explorer, “start” menu and tablet mode.
Microsoft is preparing a major operating system update for Windows 10 in 2021. It is reported that this update will bring a major design update to the Windows UI. It is reported that Microsoft is planning to update many top-level user interfaces, such as the “Start” menu, operation center, and even file explorer, and adopt a new modern design, better animation effects and new features.
This UI project is internally code-named “Sun Valley” and is expected to be part of the Windows 10 “Cobalt” version, which is scheduled to be released in the 2021 holiday season. Internal documentation describes the project as “revitalizing” and modernizing the Windows desktop experience to keep up with customer expectations in a world driven by other modern and lightweight platforms .
Over the past few years, Windows 10 has remained unchanged, and its design or feature set has hardly changed. Many other platforms on the market have undergone a complete redesign or UI refresh in the past five years. Although Windows 10 has undergone a small design iteration after the introduction of Fluent Design (fluent design), we have not seen a major UI refresh. Or rethink.
The “Sun Valley” project appears to be led by the Windows Devices and Experience team, led by Chief Product Officer Panos Panay, who was in charge of the aforementioned departments in February. Microsoft announced in May that the company will “reinvest” in Windows 10 within the 2021 time frame. According to foreign media sources, “Sun Valley” is the result of this reinvestment.
What can we expect?
IT Home understands that it is too early to determine the specific update content of “Sun Valley”, but there is news that it is expected to have a new “Start” menu and operation center experience, which is likely to be based on the same experience on Windows 10X , But tailored for the desktop. Microsoft is also working on updating the taskbar built with modern code and improving the user interface of traditional file explorers.
Picture from Windows Central
For tablet users, better animations and a more “smooth experience” are in the works. We already know that Microsoft is redesigning the touch keyboard and emoji selector, because these changes have been launched on the Windows Insider development channel. Microsoft will continue to remove rounded corners in the entire UI, including application windows and other Shell areas.
The source also said that it is expected that the entire Windows Shell and built-in applications will adopt WinUI more widely, which should provide subtle and improved design changes. In addition, more traditional UI areas are expected to receive dark mode support, in an effort to make the Windows UI feel more consistent when using the dark theme of Windows 10.
It is understood that the refreshed design this time will be an evolution of Fluent Design, and it is likely to be called Fluent Design. Microsoft did not introduce a new design language through “Sun Valley”, it just refreshed and refocused the current design language on the desktop, and tried to apply it more consistently throughout the operating system, which is important for the traditional Windows desktop change.
When is the release date?
It should be emphasized that from now until next year when the update is released, Microsoft can cut or postpone these plans at any time. It is likely that some of these plans will not enter the final product, because this is the essence of the development of the Windows operating system and the reason why Microsoft does not announce these plans in advance. However, these are all things Microsoft hopes to provide to Windows 10 customers next year.
Picture from Windows Central
Microsoft hopes to complete most of these tasks before the end of the Cobalt development semester, which ends in June 2021. Then, Microsoft will release the RTM build version, deliver it to OEM manufacturers, and start testing on the Beta channel as a designated version. The update itself will not be rolled out to the public until autumn, and may be functional and fixed together with LCU (the latest cumulative update).
If Microsoft can complete the plan with “Sun Valley”, this will be the largest Windows 10 UI update we have seen so far, after three years of “sitting to death” in Windows 10. Panos Panay hopes that from needing Windows to falling in love with Windows, an intuitive, design-oriented modern refresh interface will be a good start.
With “Sun Valley”, Windows 10 will still be familiar to PC users, different from the transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8. The author also learned that for some functions, users will be able to switch between the old and new experiences, giving users a choice instead of imposing them on them. “Sun Valley” is to improve and modernize the familiar Windows UX.
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