Microsoft is finally starting to show us some hints about the visual changes coming to the next major version of Windows 10. Today, we see new icons and colors coming to File Explorer plus some improvements to Windows Sandbox and Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG).
The changes can be seen in Windows 10 Insider Preview build 21343, which is available now in the Dev channel. They are:
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File Explorer improvements. Microsoft’s venerable File Explorer—which literally dates back to 1995 and Windows 95—is getting new and more colorful icons throughout its UI. And in a nod to the type of thing I was hoping to see in Windows 10 version 21H2, these new icons “have been made for greater consistency across Microsoft products that show files.” The icons for top-level user folders such as Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and Pictures all have new designs and even the Recycle Bin icon has been updated.
Windows Sandbox and Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG) improvements. Windows Sandbox and Microsoft Defender Application Guard both take advantage of container technology that’s built-in to Windows 10 and, to date, the container runtime matched that of the host OS. starting with build 21343, Microsoft is introducing lightweight and faster new runtime designed and optimized for container scenarios. This will offer better performance but shouldn’t impact compatibility, Microsoft says.
codymesh
<p>those folder icons are gorgeous! But that drive icon………what's going on there?</p><p><br></p><p>but at least, this time, it looks like Microsoft has found some inspiration for their design ambitions.</p>
jbinaz
<blockquote><em><a href="#619907">In reply to codymesh:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote>But that drive icon………what's going on there?</blockquote><p><br></p><p>I see what they're trying to do: I'm assuming the padlock indicates if it's BitLocker encrypted. And perhaps the Windows icon is showing it's got Windows on it? Maybe the file format? But yeah, you're right: it's way too busy.</p>
darkgrayknight
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#619929">In reply to jbinaz:</a></em></blockquote><p>This might be fairly nice to have. Easier to see which drive has the OS and which are encrypted so it is easier to see what the other drives are.</p>
hastin
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#619929">In reply to jbinaz:</a></em></blockquote><p>This is how the icon already looks, but with the side view.</p><p><br></p><p>It indicates that the system drive with Windows is a bitlocker drive and is unlocked.</p><p><img 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"></p>
Pulagatha
<p>I haven't had to time to look closely at it, but just initial impressions. The inset icons on the folders don't match enough. The gradient is too strong. The top and bottom outline for the folder detracts from the overall icon. It looks like someone put a lot of time into it, but it looks like the definition of trying too hard. The fact that the folders are color coded too seems like a nice touch. It's definitely better than the accent color being the color of every folder. The icons seem difficult to read at small sizes because of the gradient.</p>
PhilipVasta
<p>I know that people have wildly different opinions on this sort of thing, but it's amazing to me how much a few icons that you see frequently can really modernize the feel of the File Explorer. Of course, this needs to be the case for all of the rest of the OS…</p>
navarac
<blockquote><em><a href="#619910">In reply to PhilipVasta:</a></em></blockquote><p>It only seems more modern if you sit and look at it. I'm too busy to drool over silly little pictures!</p>
PhilipVasta
<blockquote><em><a href="#620030">In reply to navarac:</a></em></blockquote><p>I get what you're saying, and I do think there can be an overemphasis on style. But I also think updated styling can help the OS feel fresh, and more importantly, it can improve usability.</p>
t-b.c
<blockquote><a href="#620030"><em>In reply to navarac:</em></a><em> No, you're not. Visual cues can hamper or heighten productivity. Done correctly, they can help you locate what you are looking for more quickly and anyone "too busy" would likely appreciate these improvements.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>
crunchyfrog
<p>More colorful icons? How about fixing Windows Update first.</p>
vernonlvincent
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#619912">In reply to crunchyfrog:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yes, because the art department is also the team working on Windows Update.</p>
Username
<blockquote><a href="#619916"><em>In reply to vernonlvincent:</em></a><em> </em>Yes, because the art department is also the team working on Windows Update.</blockquote><p><br></p><p>Yes, because art in Explorer is as important to users as stability and functionality of OS and key underlying features. Especially so given that most users now interact with services via their browser whose content art is not determined by Windows.</p>
winner
<blockquote><em><a href="#619916">In reply to vernonlvincent:</a></em></blockquote><p><em>Yes, because the art department is also the team working on Windows Update.</em></p><p><br></p><p>Yes, because the same management that decides the art department should be bigger than the department responsible for Windows Update has decided icons are more important than Windows Update.</p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberI’m pretty sure that the people working on icon designs are no more qualified than you or me to work on Windows Update.
veermaharaj
<blockquote><em><a href="#620078">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>Get the UI to look visually cohesive, then start smacking bugs.</p><p>Once the UI no longer feels like a visual cesspool, if they can maintain the new look going forward, and they can focus on functionality improvements.</p><p><br></p><p>Its a legacy product, treat it as such. Maintain and refine.</p>
winner
<p>This adds to the already rich ecosystem of many generations of iconography in Windows 10. It's like a museum!</p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberOr an archeological dig.
winner
<blockquote><em><a href="#620077">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>You are hilarious Paul!</p>
skinnyjm
<blockquote><em><a href="#619914">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>and don't forget the various fonts and font sizes throughout (i.e. submenus under advanced tab of system properties)</p>
vernonlvincent
Premium Member<p>Are these visual improvements part of 21H1 or 21H2? Just curious as I like what I'm seeing so far.</p>
bart
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#619915">In reply to vernonlvincent:</a></em></blockquote><p>H2. H1 is done. If you download the Beta build you'll see what's coming in H1 (spoiler, not much)</p>
zhackwyatt
Premium Member<p>And the most important thing….no 3D objects folder taking up space. YAY!</p>
javial
Premium Member<p>And what about Windows borders or different colors (or degrades or amount of grey) for diferent areas in order to make some contrast between areas?</p>
scovious
<p>At last OneDrive's icon doesn't seem so out of place. </p><p><br></p><p>I hope Microsoft is also adding functionality to Explorer: for example I would like the ability to make multiple connections to a server using more than one user name/account. I also would love new explorer view layouts for content like folders, photos and videos which could use some better visual representations as an option. The preview pane is so limited. Dark mode is also not great.</p>
Sir_Timbit
<p>Multiple tabs in Explorer…. One day, Microsoft!</p>
hallmanac
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#619935">In reply to Sir_Timbit:</a></em></blockquote><p>I second this motion.</p>
samp
<p>Is nobody going to mention the drives icon? I mean, the others are nice, but a long time in coming, whilst that gobstopping drive mess detracts from this whole upgrade (the other changes allow it to use that title)</p>
echo64
<p>Man honestly it's about time but worth the wait they look amazing, can't wait to see how they look with the dark explorer theme I'm downloading the new build now!</p>
fourbadcats
Premium Member<p>I like the icon updates but yowza, that's a lot of space between all the items. Maybe this is a tablet/touch spacing instead of compact for mouse use.</p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/248449/new-windows-insider-dev-build-brings-new-explorer-icons-more#619969" target="_blank"><em>In reply to fourbadcats:</em></a></p><p>Indeed, too much whitespace. Even worse in Details view.</p><p>Apparently MSFT believes one can never have too many unused pixels between lines of text.</p>
fishnet37222
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#620001">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>Supposedly you can go into File Explorer settings and turn on compact mode. I can't say for sure since I'm not using an Insider build at the moment.</p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/248449/new-windows-insider-dev-build-brings-new-explorer-icons-more#620005" target="_blank"><em>In reply to fishnet37222:</em></a></p><p>Thanks for that. It's about the same as it used to be now.</p><p>I guess I'll find out with the next build whether compact or not would be one of the settings every Insider build resets.</p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberIt clearly is. Look at the address bar. It’s huge.
vernonlvincent
Premium Member<blockquote><a href="#619969"><em><img src="">In reply to fourbadcats:</em></a></blockquote><p>Perhaps they just have a resized File Explorer window instead of a full-screen one. Just like the one I just created and was able to duplicate the spacing layout on a machine running 1903.</p><p><br></p>
lezmaka
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#619969">In reply to fourbadcats:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think this was mentioned in an earlier news post where Microsoft said they were adding a new compact view mode. So really the "new" compact view mode is just what we have now, and they are updating the default view mode to have lots of wasted area.</p>
StevenLayton
<p>Sure, new icons are nice, but why haven't they fixed [insert your own pet peeve here]</p><p>;)</p>
Shel Dyck
<p>I'll be impressed when the common dialogs, alerts, etc. become aware of dark theme. they need to finish what they started.</p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p>One step forward, two steps back.</p><p>This new version shows more @#$%&*! useless whitespace between entries in Details view. You'd think someone, just one person, working in the Windows unit would have been able to realize that anyone using Details view wants to see a lot of details in the Explorer window at the same time.</p><p>Good thing I prefer 2-pane file managers, which are all 3rd party, so immune from MSFT's zeal for making Windows <em>new & improved</em>.</p>
longhorn
<blockquote><a href="#620000"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>But… you will be pleasantly surprised when you navigate Explorer with your fingers.</p><p><br></p><p>"Convergence" was an Ubuntu idea that failed. Now Windows, macOS, (Chrome OS), Gnome and KDE are all working hard trying to implement this idea: One application – many form factors.</p><p><br></p><p>I don't believe in this idea either. Third party to the rescue.</p><p><br></p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/248449/new-windows-insider-dev-build-brings-new-explorer-icons-more#620012" target="_blank"><em>In reply to longhorn:</em></a></p><blockquote>you will be pleasantly surprised when you navigate Explorer with your fingers.</blockquote><p>My cold, dead fingers because I have no plans to buy touchscreen desktop monitors, no plans to buy my own laptop since I have a work-provided one (nontouch), and no plans to buy a Chromebook with a touch screen.</p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberThen no need to jump in on this topic, please.
navarac
<blockquote><em><a href="#620000">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>Go to options and invoke "compact mode" to go back to "normal".</p>
skinnyjm
<blockquote><em><a href="#620029">In reply to navarac:</a></em></blockquote><p>Thanks! that "fixes" it, not sure why they have it in what appears to be tablet mode by default. I sure hope they change this before going final.</p>
Scott Shingleton
Premium Member<p>Hundreds of engineers working on the product, and big accomplishment is new icons in file explorer? How about finishing the product so control panel isn’t needed, make the interface consistent, fix the performance issues etc.? It feels like Microsoft only builds 75% software at best anymore. </p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/248449/new-windows-insider-dev-build-brings-new-explorer-icons-more#620003" target="_blank"><em>In reply to Scott_Shingleton:</em></a></p><p>To the extent Control Panel uses Windows Explorer windows, and the likelihood MSFT is going to do exactly NOTHING with (Windows 7) Backup and Restore, BitLocker, Credential Manager, File History, Storage Spaces, Sync Center and a few others which have some connection to the file system, I expect Control Panel to remain part of Windows through the 2020s. I'm pretty sure it'll outlive me, and I figure there's a fair chance it's outlive anyone here who's a subscriber.</p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberThere’s no reason to be cynical. This is one build, not a feature release. It’s one change.
navarac
<blockquote><em><a href="#620065">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>It is sometimes difficult not being cynical though.</p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberYes. That is true. 🙂
sherlockholmes
Premium Member<p>Its nice that Microsoft focuses on the important things in Windows 😉 </p>
tonchek
<blockquote><em><a href="#620011">In reply to SherlockHolmes:</a></em></blockquote><p>Well, think of it in this way: "Only icons are left to be fixed!" ;)</p>
navarac
<blockquote><em><a href="#620011">In reply to SherlockHolmes:</a></em></blockquote><p>This build (21343) is much slower to boot than 21H1 (19043.899). Maybe the extra weight of the new (again) icons?</p>
sherlockholmes
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#620028">In reply to navarac:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yeah maybe because they are in color :-P</p>
madthinus
Premium Member<p>We are refreshing icons again and we are not even finished with the previous round of refreshes. Love this line in the blog post: "As you can imagine, there are a lot of icons in Windows 10 and more icons will continue to get updated over time."</p><p><br></p><p>No kidding. </p>
Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberAnd let’s not forget the icons that will get left behind. 🙂
ghostrider
<p>It's clear the File Explorer team sat down to discuss and prioritize all the important changes and fixes they desperately needed to implement, and decided on…. <em>icons</em> as the most important. Holy cow – Windows is truly scr**ed! When everything now seems to be about about how a product <em>looks </em>and not how it <em>works</em>, the writing is clearly on the wall.</p>
crp0908
<blockquote><em><a href="#620094">In reply to SvenJ:</a></em></blockquote><p>I believe they're referring to the error "The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password."</p><p><br></p><p>I work around this by referring to the same resource using up to three different methods: 1) FQDN 2) abbreviated name 3) IP Address</p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/248449/new-windows-insider-dev-build-brings-new-explorer-icons-more#620092" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><em>In reply to SvenJ:</em></a></p><blockquote>What have you done with Paul?</blockquote><p>He got new icons.</p>
sandy
<p>Have they finally set the correct icon for the Network Connections folder?</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft made new icons, put the new Network Connections icon in Shell32.dll but didn't replace the old icons in NetShell.dll, so (still correct at least up to version 1909, but I think 2004 too) go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Centre > Change adapter settings and we still see the old Windows 7 icons all over the place, instead of the new icon.</p><p><br></p><p>There are plenty of others, but this minor mistake shows the not-finishing-the-job problem; even when the work was done, nobody checked it.</p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/248449/new-windows-insider-dev-build-brings-new-explorer-icons-more#620187" target="_blank"><em>In reply to Sandy:</em></a></p><blockquote>. . . even when the work was done, nobody checked it.</blockquote><p>Isn't that what the Insider Program is for, <strong><em>free</em></strong> user checking, and worth every penny?</p>
ezzy
Premium Member<p>It's kind of humorous to me. I joined the insider program long before Windows 10 was ever released. Even back then I was saying, "why the hell is everyone so worried about WTF an icon looks like when there's so much more to do?"</p><p><br></p><p>Annnnnd things haven't changed much.</p>
mr brandon
<p>As a consumer I am welcome to this refresh. As my work locations go to "tech guy" the slightest change is catastrophic. We are still dealing with "The Great Vertical Tabs Catastrophe of 2021"</p>
hrlngrv
Premium Member<p>Minor gripe: icon #127 in %SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll changed from</p><p><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/tC3WwvdJ/userfolder.png"></p><p>to</p><p><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/L8mLpkvT/userfolder2.png"></p><p>(at 64×64). IOW, the new version is indistinguishable from #3 or #4 in that file. Perhaps an oversight, but I've already changed to using my own icon file to replace it.</p><p><strong><em>ADDED:</em></strong> this is something Linux does much more intelligently with icon themes. They can be a PITA in their own way, but it's easy to keep multiple themes and pick and choose between them. Far more difficult with Windows unless one becomes very familiar with Window Blinds.</p>