Microsoft is starting to roll out new application icons in Windows 10 designed to modernize the corporate operating system. Updates to a variety of built-in Windows 10 apps are all available for Windows 10 Fast Ring testers today, with new app icons that follow the principles of Microsoft’s Fluent Design. Microsoft unveiled hundreds of new Windows 10 icons in December, and all of them are far more colorful and modern than what exists in the operating system today.
The calculator, Groove Music, Mail, Voice Recorder, Alarms & Clock, Movies & TV and Calendar are the first applications integrated to get the new icons, and many others to follow. Microsoft also plans to update applications like Photos from the basic white logos that exist today in more colorful options. The new Mail and Calendar icons also appear in the version preview ring for Windows 10, which means they’re only a few days away from being available to all Windows 10 users.
The new icon push is part of a larger Fluent Design effort at Microsoft to modernize enterprise software and services. All of these new icons will appear in Windows 10X, a variant of the operating system designed for dual-screen devices. Windows 10 on ordinary laptops and desktops is still clearly updated, but it’s not clear if we’ll see the new Windows logo or the Start menu design for now.
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Microsoft has also previously revised its icons and Office design, with new options for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, etc. These design changes have also been extended to mobile versions of Office applications, with Microsoft also focusing on its Fluent Design system for a variety of mobile applications. Microsoft’s updated Edge browser also has a new icon, and even Office itself has a more modern logo.
The Microsoft design team is now working in-house collaboratively according to what the company describes as an “open source” method. Read our full Microsoft design feature from last year to find out how the company learned from its mistakes to rethink its future.
