It took its sweet time coming, but Microsoft is finally giving the design side of its operating platform some long overdue attention. In fact, the Windows UI seems to the focus for Redmond this year.
The company is not just developing Windows 10X as a simpler variant of the OS, but also bringing some of its sense and sensibilities to the mainline Windows 10. The idea is to modernize many of the old, vintage parts of the operating system.
As part of this new design push, the company unveiled new system icons that now adhere to its now famous Fluent Design style.
Released as part of a new preview build for Insiders this week, build 21327, these new icons come with a more rounded and simplified look. They are actually available as a new font that goes by as Segoe Fluent Icons, which should make it easy to use these icons in other places too.
By the same flip of the coin, Microsoft has also updated its new taskbar widget with the new icons, showing us in the process that even basic icon changes can modernize even the smallest parts of the operating system.
And while these may be small changes, they are part of a broader push by Microsoft to overhaul the Windows operating platform.
The software titan has put a lot of work into improving its UI consistency in Windows 10X.
That design sense could be a hint to where Windows is heading in the future.
