Microsoft adds more subtle refinements to Windows 10

Apr 21, 2015 09:37 GMT  ·  By

Windows 10 is not just about new features and performance improvements but also about visual and subtle tweaks that make the operating system itself more enjoyable and easy to use by everyone out there.

That’s why the company is now working to add new animations and transition effects on the desktop, so the Start menu no longer shows up all of a sudden when clicking the Start button.

These effects are already available in build 10056, and although some of them were previously introduced in older technical preview builds, they seem to be working more smoothly now, which could be a sign that we’re getting closer to the moment when Microsoft finally completes development of the OS.

Start menu and notification center effects

As you can see in the GIFs below, the Start menu indeed comes with a visual tweak when clicking the Start button, and so is the notification center when clicking its dedicated icon in the system tray.

The notification center slides in from the right side of the screen and takes up the entire screen, so for the moment, you can’t make it smaller. That could be an issue, especially when not having too many notifications, but since Windows 10 is still in development right now, it could all change before the operating system reaches RTM.

In addition, all these effects seem to perfectly fit the new UI of the Windows 10 desktop that includes a dark theme, which kind of makes the OS a better looking working environment overall.

Windows 10 is projected to launch in the summer of 2015 and AMD says that this could happen in July, while RTM should be reached in June. More information on the new OS will be provided at the BUILD developer conference later this month, when the company is also expected to introduce a new technical preview build for Windows insiders.