Windows 10 Redesign Imminent - "Sun Valley" Slated for 2021

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

Summary

Windows 10 codename "Cobalt" is rumored to bring a long awaited refresh to the design of Windows, codenamed "Sun Valley". This update is expected to "modernize" the Start Menu, Action Center, and the File Explorer. I have no idea what the hell Microsoft's definition of "modernize" is this year, seeing as in 2001 their definition for "modernize" was Fisher Price, but this update is expected to come out by Holiday 2021 if all goes well. 

 

This development comes shortly after Panos Panay (Head of Surface) was appointed to also be in charge of Windows Experiences. Will this be the update that finally ties everything together? Probably not.

 

Quotes

Quote

"Microsoft is preparing a major OS update for Windows 10 in 2021 that sources say will bring with it a significant design refresh to the Windows UI. I'm told that Microsoft is planning to update many top-level user interfaces such as the Start menu, Action Center, and even File Explorer, with refreshed modern designs, better animations, and new features.

This UI project is codenamed "Sun Valley" internally and is expected to ship as part of the Windows 10 "Cobalt" release scheduled for the holiday 2021 season. Internal documentation describes the project as "reinvigorating" and modernizing the Windows desktop experience to keep up with customer expectation in a world driven by other modern and lightweight platforms."

 

My thoughts

As hinted above, yes I don't believe this will solve anything. Microsoft has had a track record of changing their design language at what seems like a roll of the dice, and look where that's landed us. Now what we'll have is Win9x/XP designed applications, Pre-WinRT/8 designed applications, WinRT/8 designed applications, Pre-Win10 Fluent Design, Win10 Fluent Design, and finally this new Neo-Fluent Design or whatever the hell they call it all on one system. Great for a timepiece, bad for OCD.

 

We may have our first glances on what this new UI will look like though, Windows 10X. <Speculation> The Action Center is most likely getting ported straight from 10X to Windows 10, and we may see the ability to center taskbar icons like in 10X. <\Speculation> Whatever this is, we should be sure that almost no app developer will adopt this new style, and Microsoft will quickly switch to another one.

 

Sources

Microsoft plans big Windows 10 UI refresh in 2021 codenamed 'Sun Valley' | Windows Central

[LAwLz]

This scares me, a lot. 

Windows 10 already seems to be having an identity crisis, with rather large UI changes happening like every year and none of them are consistent. 

Secondly, a lot of the UI stuff Microsoft has been focusing on recently is shit. Stuff like Windows 10X which I wouldn't want anywhere near my pc because it looks like a smartphone UI, and a very basic one at that. 

[HotdropHeinz]

9 minutes ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

This update is expected to "modernize" the Start Menu, Action Center, and the File Explorer.

Oh dear, please no. We all know how that worked out the last time...

[Blademaster91]

More UI changes? Why not just leave it alone and work on getting dark mode consistent like adding it to task manager?

I'm not excited for more UI changes that weren't needed, and its too bad that MS are forcing UI changes such as taking away the Windows 7 control panel functions and forcing the crappy settings app where settings are all over and more confusing.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

1 minute ago, Blademaster91 said:

More UI changes? Why not just leave it alone and work on getting dark mode consistent like adding it to task manager?

I'm not excited for more UI changes that weren't needed, and its too bad that MS are forcing UI changes such as taking away the Windows 7 control panel functions and forcing the crappy settings app where settings are all over and more confusing.

I think will be more of a macOS Big Sur redesign, where it looks different, but the functionality is the same.

 

Remember, this is the 2nd Windows 10 redesign. The first was in 2017/2018 with the introduction of Fluent Design.

[HotdropHeinz]

And all this while STILL the search function is a complete pile of crap, dark mode not being implemented completely and major updates bricking machines around the world regularly. Why is Microsoft talking about "modernizing the Start Menu and File Explorer"?!

[Delicieuxz]

So, Microsoft are going to re-implement the Windows Vista / 7 start menu? That's the most modern and practical start menu Windows has had, while the Windows 10 start menu is functionally worthless, and the Windows 10 UI is fugly all-over and looks like it belongs in the 80's.

 

I'm all for a Windows 10 UI overhaul. Hopefully, even in Microsoft's hands, it can't get any worse than it already is.

 

As long as Microsoft have their heads screwed-on semi-properly now (though, I don't know that there's cause to assume that), "modern designs, better animations, and new features" should easily mean a good step forward. The Windows 10 UI, as it is, is a major downgrade from 7 in all of those things and requires a full start menu replacement to be functional.

[The_russian]

Brilliant, let's mess with how things look instead of fixing settings. I don't really like settings but that's probably just because I am used to using control panel, who knowns I might start to get used to it eventually. The problem right now is that both settings and control panel exist simultaneously, and not everything can be found in both places. They really need to pick one (probably going to be settings) and make sure it can do everything the other one can, that way you aren't hopping between the two looking for a setting. 

 

16 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

Hopefully, even in Microsoft's hands, it can't get any worse than it already is.

Careful, if anyone is capable of somehow making it worse, it's Microsoft. 

[Mark Kaine]

Just make a 1:1 copy of Vista and most importantly bring back the blades !!! 

 

Also most importantly : no forced updates or no deal 

[Mark Kaine]

37 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

I'm all for a Windows 10 UI overhaul. Hopefully, even in Microsoft's hands, it can't get any worse than it already is

They would also need to call it 11, or 112, or 540360, I don't care, but 10 is tainted forever... ~

 

 

23 minutes ago, The_russian said:

 I don't really like settings but that's probably just because I am used to using control panel, who knowns

Both is hopelessly outdated and designed with the only goal to confuse the user tbh. 

 

Security through obscurity. 

 

And the security risk, in Microsoft's eyes, is the user. Clear and simple. 

[Dabombinable]

If they'd fix their photo viewer I'd be happy. It's gotten slower with each update - it used to be as fast as Infranview.

[Donut417]

The biggest question of all............. How broken will this be when its released? Because you know a major update like this is bound to break a lot of machines. 

[Vishera]

Microsoft changing the UI so users will have to learn the UI again?

Microsoft should focus on fixing the cancer they created,rather than making it worse.

The UI of Windows 7 was good,there was no reason to break it in neither Windows 8 nor Windows 10.

Microsoft are focused on how the OS looks rather than how it feels - just like AMD did after the launch of RDNA and the broken drivers that lasted more than half a year.

The big difference between the two is that Microsoft doesn't give a damn about Windows 10 customers,It only cares about their server customers.

I had rather have a good old UI than a broken mess that gets worse with time (take example from Nvidia's driver UI - it just works)

 

[Tenelia]

They can't even unify the Windows XP Control Panel with the Windows 10 theme UI... Every half-year update also makes changes to the kernel that breaks anything that hooks into the kernel... Sigh... Someone get me a gin tonic.

[Vishera]

2 minutes ago, Tenelia said:

They can't even unify the Windows XP Control Panel with the Windows 10 theme UI... Every half-year update also makes changes to the kernel that breaks anything that hooks into the kernel... Sigh... Someone get me a gin tonic.

They should rollback the UI to Windows 7

[RejZoR]

I'd much appreciate if they'd migrate the shit from 15 years ago to Windows 10 design so we don't have this silly mix of Win10 design and Windows XP design lingering all over the place inside Win10...

[MoozOfDoomz]

7 hours ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

snip

I bet It'll look similar to the Xbox SX UI redesign with all the curved edges and stuff. 

[Doobeedoo]

Actually I do look forward to it. Thing is, they updated design and settings in fragments amd still it's not completely done and consistent. I'd expect unification of Control Panel and Settings along with better organization of it. Easier and faster and more intuitive to get to what you need. The Dark Theme hopefully fully finished as it doesn't cover Task Manager and Properties windows. As for File Explorer and Start I guess that should be interesting to see. 

[SFFDesigns]

I'd actually like a file explorer redesign. I hope they make it all more consistent though

[spartaman64]

are they finally going to move all the settings to one page. its just so silly to have to go to the windows 10 settings to change some settings and then have to go to control panel to change others. or even just have the two link together it will take like 5 days of programming max

[Dominik W]

I'm worried. Windows is just a big mess of 7, 8 and 10 together. They need to pull themselves together.

[Master Delta Chief]

I hope that MS is finally gonna solve the Settings so that everything is integrated into one single app and not just spread around like it is right now, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic about it until I actually see some results. Same goes for the mess they made with the Store app which I hope gets resolved as well in time. 

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

21 minutes ago, Master Delta Chief said:

I hope that MS is finally gonna solve the Settings so that everything is integrated into one single app and not just spread around like it is right now, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic about it until I actually see some results. Same goes for the mess they made with the Store app which I hope gets resolved as well in time. 

I thought the control panel couldn't be migrated due to issues with older apps that have calls to control.exe

[SpaceGhostC2C]

Can we forget anesthetics for a moment and remember that first and foremost the OS is a means to an end, and tea main goal from the user perspective is to stay it of the way? Make it easier and quicker to do what you actually want to do with the computer? 

 

You know what they should do? They should appoint this man as "Head of UX":

Spoiler

 

He should get a 6-figure salary, and have  just three tasks assigned: testing the UI, making final pass/reject decisions over its elements, and firing people. That would go a looong way. 

[Nowak]

Why? They haven't even finished the Fluent Design UI they promised 3 years ago.