14 DAY TRIAL // Screenshots that got leaked in the last few months suggested that Microsoft was working on dark themes for Windows 10 and Office 2016, a tweak that was supposed to appeal to lots of customers who usually turned to third-party themes in order to change the default Windows look.
Even though the company hasn’t said anything about it, there seems to be a very easy way to try out a dark theme in the new Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9926, but right now, this tweak is only limited to the new beta store app.
Basically, this is also the very first confirmation that Microsoft is indeed considering the possibility of adding dark themes to Windows 10, but it’s not yet clear whether the same visual tweak could be implemented for the whole Windows desktop or just for built-in apps.
Light and dark themes for the new store
Windows 10 build 9926 comes with a new store allowing users to try out a completely overhauled UI that’s expected to debut with the new operating system later this year.
But in addition to all the changes, there’s also a hidden secret dark theme which can be easily activated by simply pressing CTRL + T when running the new store.
As Brad Sams of Neowin writes, this behavior is limited to the store app right now and no other Metro tools seem to have it in build 9926. This could obviously change in the upcoming Windows 10 builds, and according to sources, a new one is expected to launch in the coming weeks.
As far as the desktop is concerned, the dark theme would clearly come in handy to many users, but there’s no doubt that third-party themes will continue to be very popular on Windows 10, especially thanks to the return of the Start menu.
Other visual tweaks are also expected in future Windows 10 builds, including transparency for the Start menu and other new animations when working on the desktop.