Windows 10 icons are finally getting redesigned

Windows 10 icons are finally getting a long overdue redesign, a change that follows Microsoft's new Office icons last year.

This is all part of a multi-year effort across Microsoft's design teams to update the icons across all its products, and the changes to Windows 10 will include redesigned icons for built-in apps like Alarms & Clocks, Calculator, Mail, and Calendar.

The icons will be updated as app updates from the Microsoft Store, and they will begin to roll out to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring starting today.

In fact, the new Mail and Calendar icons have already gone out to the Release Preview ring. Microsoft says Insiders will get to see more of the icons over the coming months, and considering that Microsoft hasn't made any real changes to Windows 10's main icons since 2015, the updates can't come fast enough.

Microsoft presides over a sprawling ecosystem that spans different devices and platforms today, and it wants to create a more consistent design that connects everything together more cohesively.

The new iconography will emphasise depth and colour, introducing additional cues that will help make the icons more recognisable, especially when scanning apps on the taskbar or Start menu.

The hope is that the colour will also help tie together the design language across platforms, including Windows 10, Android, iOS, and Mac.

However, it's important that the icons remain familiar, and the new icons still leverage Microsoft's Fluent Design System so users don't feel like they have to adapt to something completely new.

Moving forward, the updates should help Windows 10 feel more modern, and bring it more in line with what you already see in Office.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.