Microsoft announces new Windows 10 Start menu design and updated Alt-Tab – The Verge

New Alt-Tab interface.

Windows 10 taskbar modifications.

Microsoft is introducing a brand-new Windows 10 Start menu design that will de-emphasize its Live Tiles. “Beginning with todays develop, all tabs open in Microsoft Edge will start appearing in Alt-Tab, not simply the active one in each browser window,” explains Microsoft. Microsoft is also making some smaller modifications with this new Windows 10 develop.

Microsoft is presenting a brand-new Windows 10 Start menu style that will de-emphasize its Live Tiles. The software giant first hinted at the revitalized style earlier this year, and its arriving for Windows 10 testers today. “We are refurbishing the Start menu with a more streamlined design that eliminates the strong color backplates behind the logos in the apps list and uses a uniform, partially transparent background to the tiles,” describes Microsoft in a blog site post.

Microsoft is likewise making some smaller modifications with this new Windows 10 build. The default taskbar look will also now be more individualized with the Xbox app pinned for Xbox Live users or Your Phone pinned for Android users. This will be limited to new account production on a PC or first login, so existing taskbar layouts will stay the same.

Essentially, the reduction in the color of the blocky tiled user interface on the Start menu will streamline it a little and make it simpler to scan for the apps you utilize daily. Its a subtle modification, but it definitely makes the Start menu look a little less chaotic and prevents many tiles sharing a comparable blue color.

The old Start menu versus the revitalized one.

Microsoft experimented with Alt-Tab modifications in Windows 10 builds in the past, back when the company was preparing to add tabs to every app. There will likely be a lot of feedback around any Alt-Tab changes here, especially if Microsoft prepares to turn this on by default when its next major Windows 10 upgrade ships later on this year.

Alongside an upgraded Start menu, the most recent Windows 10 develop consists of some big changes to Alt-Tab. “Beginning with todays build, all tabs open in Microsoft Edge will begin appearing in Alt-Tab, not just the active one in each browser window,” discusses Microsoft. This appears like a modification that may be a little confusing for veteran Windows users, but Microsoft is fortunately allowing you to switch back to the traditional Alt-Tab experience.

Notifications now consist of an X in the top right corner to permit you to quickly dismiss them, and Microsoft is likewise enhancing its Settings app in Windows 10. Hyperlinks that would generally push you towards the system part of the legacy Control Panel system page will now direct you to the About page in Settings. This will now house the advanced controls normally discovered in that system area of the Control Panel, and Microsoft is assuring “there will be more improvements coming that will even more bring Settings closer to Control Panel.”