It looks like Microsoft’s Windows 10 File Explorer will undergo a makeover in the near future. The company has started releasing a special trial version of Windows 10 that adjusts the default folder and file type icons, giving the overall operating system a new look.
It’s all part of an attempt to make identifying potentially fuzzy designs simpler, according to Amanda Langowski, head of Windows Insider, who points out Windows blog post that even the iconic Trash is undergoing a metamorphosis.
Purists shouldn’t be too concerned with new designs. While a “review” is likely to evoke images indicative of a series of drastic and important changes, this is not the case with Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21343.
Most of the time, it appears that the icons are being moved forward and towards the center, so that the images they represent are more clearly visible. However, Microsoft is already working to make changes to several of its icons, and they look very different than you expected.
“Several changes, like the orientation of the folder icons and the standard file type icons, have been made for greater consistency in Microsoft products that show files,” said Langowski. “Notably, top-level user folders, such as the Desktop, Documents, Downloads and Images, have a new design that should make it a little easier to differentiate between them at first glance.”
For example, a side view of a complete Recycle Bin changes to a front image, and a hard drive viewed from the side changes to the front, similar to what you can see on a Mac. These are subtle differences, but users will undoubtedly notice .
Changes are certainly coming, in addition to these specific icon adjustments. Microsoft is still looking to implement a “visual rejuvenation of Windows” in the foreseeable future in the form of a plan called “Vale do Sol”. It’s all part of an effort to communicate to users that “Windows is back”, at least according to a job posting in January spotted by The Verge. Microsoft later announced a series of events throughout this year to focus on various aspects of its plans for Windows, games and cloud services in the coming months.
For now, it appears that Windows 10 changes are located in the icons you use every day. But “radical changes” are on the way to a new look for Windows sometime in the future.