Skip to main content

Fluent Design is Microsoft's new Metro UI for Windows and more

Fluent Design is Microsoft's new Metro UI for Windows and more

Share this story

Microsoft is officially unveiling its Fluent Design System today at its Build developers conference, known previously as Project Neon. The software giant has been teasing changes to its Windows 10 design for months now, and it's now ready to detail some of the changes that are coming later this year.

As part of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Microsoft is including some of this new Fluent Design System. Most of the changes include subtle additions like blur effects, which is a type of design we saw back with Windows Vista. Fluent Design System is designed to be the true successor to Microsoft's Metro design, and will appear across apps and services on Windows, iOS, and Android.

1/4

Microsoft is planning to implement these subtle design changes gradually. Some are already available in new updates to existing Windows 10 apps, and more will start to appear in Windows itself as Microsoft updates the operating system with the Fall Creators Update and future updates. "It's going to be a journey," says Microsoft director Aaron Woodman, noting that these design changes will appear over time in Windows and other products.

On stage at Build today, Microsoft's Joe Belfiore demonstrated a number of Fluent Design changes. "You're going to see Fluent Design show up in the Windows shell, in our apps, and across devices," explains Joe Belfiore. Microsoft is focusing on light, depth, motion, material, and scale for its Fluent Design, with subtle changes that make the design feel like it's moving during interactions in Windows.

An inking demo showed how Microsoft is bringing the pen experience across the entirety of Windows, allowing you to annotate PDFs and write everywhere in Windows. It's not clear when this new inking experience will be available, but Microsoft will be rolling out these design changes over the coming months and beyond.