Microsoft Shows off Windows 10 UI Updates In Milestone Video

Microsoft recently announced that Windows 10 now has one billion monthly active users. In celebration of that milestone, Panos posted on his Instagram page a video that walks through the evolution of Windows and more specifically, Windows 10.

The video shows the evolution of many different aspects of the OS but towards the end, we see features that look more like concepts or possibly the direction the OS is headed.

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In the video above, you can see what appears to be a new File Explorer window, an updated calendar interface, a Start menu that has less focus on color in the live tiles, and a context menu that looks to be more consistent across the OS. In addition, the live tiles also appear to have a bit more depth to them, but it is hard to tell in the fast-moving (and low res) clip.

What we don’t know is if these are simply concepts or are actual updates that we will see in future builds. Also, this may be an internal video that was not intended to be shared publicly but that’s a bit of speculation.

Let me know if you spot any other differences in the video but for now, this may be our best look at where Windows 10 is headed.

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Conversation 22 comments

  • carmellolb

    19 March, 2020 - 5:41 pm

    <p>Absolutely STUNNING! Can't wait to see this in the real OS!</p>

    • Fuller1754

      23 March, 2020 - 4:07 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#532408"><em>In reply to carmellolb:</em></a><em> Agree, but I thought the same thing when they showed off the early Fluent Design videos. Fluent Design has been implemented here and there, not everywhere. It's all quite frustrating. Maybe Panos is the guy who makes Windows as pretty as it has the potential to be. Would be awesome.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

  • thejoefin

    Premium Member
    19 March, 2020 - 6:06 pm

    <p>Videos like this actually drive me nuts, because Microsoft shows the cool concepts then they never come to light. Why even show something feasible? I want Windows 10 to be a slick as they show, but it is not.</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft should do something like the office videos for Windows. The new videos being made for the office products are so beautiful and fun to watch but don’t promise cool UI that never ends up happening. </p>

    • PhilipVasta

      19 March, 2020 - 6:32 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#532410">In reply to TheJoeFin:</a></em></blockquote><p>I know, it's sort of depressing. I like Paul's idea of making a UI for consumers, and keeping the current one for enterprise. I do understand that businesses don't want or need constantly changing interfaces. But as someone who is a consumer and who uses my computers to be productive, I would kill for a Windows UI that felt truly modern like what they show in the videos. Maybe 10X will get there.</p>

    • lwetzel

      Premium Member
      19 March, 2020 - 9:20 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#532410">In reply to TheJoeFin:</a></em></blockquote><p>Sorry but I thought it was a great video. I saw only a history that has grown into the best Windows ever created. I did not see any fails in that video. Maybe I missed something but I am happy where they are and where they seem to be going. </p>

      • thejoefin

        Premium Member
        19 March, 2020 - 9:49 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#532455">In reply to lwetzel:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think it is a great video too. I want to get excited and look forward to the awesome, clean, modern, and coherent UI coming soon(tm) to Windows 10. Sadly Microsoft has teased cool unified design so many times and has failed to deliver. </p>

        • rob_segal

          Premium Member
          20 March, 2020 - 1:00 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#532468">In reply to TheJoeFin:</a></em></blockquote><p>The first fluent design Microsoft made a couple of years ago had some good screenshots and concepts in it. Not all of them made it into Windows. </p>

      • stephenf

        20 March, 2020 - 9:16 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#532455">In reply to lwetzel:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote><em>I wish they would give us the ability to put a Live Tile wherever we want </em></blockquote><p><br></p>

    • Pierre Masse

      19 March, 2020 - 9:46 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#532410">In reply to TheJoeFin:</a></em></blockquote><p>The difference can be that with somebody now in charge, it has some chance to change. Panay is my hope.</p>

      • Paul Thurrott

        Premium Member
        20 March, 2020 - 8:47 am

        Obi-Wan Panay.

  • longhorn

    19 March, 2020 - 6:41 pm

    <p>First Xbox Series X and now this. Microsoft is on a roll. I don't see any bad ideas in the video as long as they don't phase out Windows Explorer completely. Make this now!</p><p><br></p>

  • martinusv2

    Premium Member
    19 March, 2020 - 10:43 pm

    <p>The start menu looks nice. But I thought they would get rid of animated tiles. </p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    20 March, 2020 - 12:25 am

    <p>As someone who hates 16:9 so would prefer the taskbar on the left side rather than the bottom of the screen, I'd welcome something as simple as fixing the @#$%&amp;*! clock so it doesn't make the left-side taskbar so much wider than a program icon. FWLIW, I put my Chromebook's taskbar (OK, Shelf and notification area) on the left side, and its clock shows hour on one line and minutes below it on the next line. Did Google take out a patent on that, or is it too difficult a computer science problem for MSFT?</p><p>IOW, with the problems that still exist, it's frustrating to see MSFT spend so many resources on new features.</p>

  • davidl

    20 March, 2020 - 1:57 am

    <p>New things I noticed…</p><p><br></p><p>Start menu: No text labels on medium sized tiles. Uses acrylic instead of accent color</p><p><br></p><p>Pointer size and color settings</p><p><br></p><p>Popup menu with: Activate, Focus In, Focus Out, More menu, Windows Actions, More menu with Go to address bar, Go to tabs, New Tab. (no idea what this is for)</p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Floating bar with Whiteboard app, Fullscreen snip, and settings button</span></p><p><br></p><p>File Explorer: New layout, Icon in upper left, folders have icon in bottom right (sharing, and a few others), one folder shows image of contents, documents show previews, download button in bottom left, onedrive sync status in bottom right, google drive support. No drive letters.</p><p><br></p><p>Calendar: Icon in upper left, has a title bar, last column on right shows a full day (previously showed a small part of next day), To Do app icon gone</p><p><br></p><p>Photos: Icon in upper left, new layout</p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Calculator has icon in upper left, double wide buttons. Missing: history, keep on top, calculator mode</span></p><p><br></p><p>New snap mode: looks like 1/3 of screen</p>

    • Usman

      Premium Member
      20 March, 2020 - 7:09 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#532519">In reply to davidl:</a></em></blockquote><p>That 1/3 mode is quite a handy thing, I have it on powertoys and makes it easier to work in code editors, where you you want to have most space for your editor and a small for just viewing a page </p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      20 March, 2020 - 8:37 am

      So nothing major then.

  • r2d22

    20 March, 2020 - 3:56 am

    <p>Really nice, I love the new live tiles</p>

  • madthinus

    Premium Member
    20 March, 2020 - 4:34 am

    <p>Would be great if we get key refresh/new features once a year, with a small update later. </p>

  • red77star

    20 March, 2020 - 9:19 am

    <p>Panos being in charge of Windows Division, one thing he is going to achieve for sure is consistency whether we like updated UI or not. Consistency is good.</p>

  • safesax2002

    20 March, 2020 - 10:22 am

    <p>Looks nice. And I love the soundtrack too. :)</p>

  • codymesh

    20 March, 2020 - 11:34 am

    <p>Almost forgot that panos is in charge of Windows now. He is the man to do this, to pull together the Windows UI. Let's hope it happens!</p>

  • Fuller1754

    23 March, 2020 - 4:00 pm

    <p>Boy, I hope Panos can pull off these small changes. They might not seem like much, but they look nice. Consistency is key. Windows is littered with legacy UI all over the place. (For a quick example, right click your browser's title bar. Nice icons for restore, minimize, maximize, and close, huh? Hello, 1998!). Windows 10X doesn't have any of this, and it looks beautiful. Eventually, won't 10X just replace WIndows 10 for consumers completely, or will it really be limited to dual screen devices?</p>

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