Microsoft plans big Windows 10 UI refresh in 2022 codenamed 'Sun Valley'

Windows 10 Design 2022 Concept Source: Microsoft

What you lot need to know

A big UI refresh is on the cards for Windows 10 in 2022.
The project is codenamed Lord's day Valley.
Improvements to File Explorer, Commencement, and Tablet Fashion are expected.

Microsoft is preparing a major OS update for Windows 10 in 2022 that sources say will bring with it a significant design refresh to the Windows UI. I'grand told that Microsoft is planning to update many summit-level user interfaces such as the Offset menu, Action Center, and fifty-fifty File Explorer, with consistent modern designs, improve animations, and new features.

This UI project is codenamed "Sun Valley" internally and is expected to transport every bit part of the Windows 10 "Cobalt" release scheduled for the holiday 2022 flavour. Internal documentation describes the project as "reinvigorating" and modernizing the Windows desktop experience to keep up with customer expectation in a world driven past other modern and lightweight platforms.

Windows 10 has remained much the same these terminal few years, with piffling to no changes in its blueprint or feature prepare. Many other platforms on the market place take gone through entire redesigns or UI refreshes in the last five years, and while Windows ten has gone through minor blueprint iterations with the introduction of Fluent Design, we've not seen a pregnant refresh or rethinking of its UI.

The Sun Valley project appears to be spearheaded by the Windows Devices and Experiences team, lead by Principal Product Officer Panos Panay, who took charge of said division back in February. Microsoft appear in May that the company would be "reinvesting" in Windows 10 in the 2022 timeframe, and my sources say that Dominicus Valley is the result of that reinvestment.

What can we expect?

Windows 10 new touch keyboard Source: Windows Central

It's still too early to nail downwardly exactly what will be updated with Lord's day Valley, simply sources take said to expect new Start menu and Action Center experiences, likely based on those same experiences found on Windows 10X, but tailored for desktop. Microsoft is besides working on an updated Taskbar built with modern code, and an improved UI for the legacy File Explorer.

For tablet users, I'one thousand told that better animations and a more than "fluid feel" is on the cards. We already know that Microsoft is redesigning the touch on keyboard and emoji picker, as those changes are already live in the Windows Insider Dev Channel. Microsoft will also continue its escapade of rounding-off corners throughout the UI, including app windows and other shell areas.

Sources also say to await a wider adoption of WinUI throughout the Windows Vanquish and in-box apps, which should provide subtle yet improved design changes. In improver, more legacy UI areas are expected to get dark manner back up in an effort to brand the Windows UI wait and experience more consistent when using Windows 10's nighttime theme.

I empathise that this refreshed blueprint volition be an evolution of Fluent Design, and not a complete redesign of the OS. Microsoft isn't introducing a new design language with Lord's day Valley, it's simply refreshing and refocusing the current 1 on desktop, and trying to apply it more consistently throughtout the Bone, a big feat for the legacy Windows desktop.

When is the release date?

Win 10x Taskbar Left Source: Windows Central

Information technology's important to stress that Microsoft can cut or delay these plans at whatsoever fourth dimension between now and when the update ships next twelvemonth. Information technology'southward probable that some of these plans won't make it to the final product, every bit that'southward just the nature of Windows OS development, and the reason why Microsoft doesn't denote these plans ahead of time. Only, these are the things Microsoft wants to deliver to Windows 10 customers next year.

Microsoft is hoping to have virtually of this piece of work done by the terminate of the Cobalt evolution semester, which wraps upward in June 2022. Microsoft will then RTM a build, ship that off to OEMs and begin testing it in the Beta Aqueduct as a designated release. The update itself won't roll out to the public until the fall, probable with an LCU (latest cumulative update) which sits on top with last-infinitesimal features and fixes.

If Microsoft is able to pull off its plans with Sun Valley, this volition be the biggest Windows ten UI refresh we've seen so far, coming after three long years of Windows 10 sitting on the back burner. Panos Panay wants people to get from needing Windows to loving Windows, and a modern refreshed interface that'southward intuitive and design-driven is a corking start.

With Sun Valley, Windows 10 will however be familiar to PC users, dissimilar the transition from Windows 7 to Windows eight. I'one thousand also told that for some features, users will be able to switch between the new and old experiences, giving users a option rather than forcing it upon them. Sun Valley is all about improving and modernizing the familiar Windows UX, and non radically changing it upwardly.

For now, what are your thoughts on Microsoft's Sunday Valley project? Permit united states of america know in the comments.