14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has started the rollout of the eye-candy Mica effect in Microsoft Office, though for the time being, it looks like the whole thing is happening in stages.
More specifically, reddit user Win11Observer has, well, observed that Microsoft Word has been quietly updated with Mica not a long time ago.
At this point, however, it looks like Microsoft Word is the only Office app that has the new design feature, as it doesn’t seem to be available in other apps like Excel and PowerPoint.
The broad availability hasn’t been reached just yet, and Mica in Microsoft Word isn’t available for everybody – it’s also missing on my Windows 11 devices where Office is installed, so there’s a chance that Microsoft is slowly shipping this update (or maybe the company is just experimenting with Mica in Word for the time being).
The Mica refresh
Mica has become one of the most eye-catching features of Windows 11, with Microsoft bringing the feature not only to the operating system itself but also to other apps available for users.
At the same time, the software giant is also encouraging developers to update their apps with support for Mica.
Here’s how the company describes this visual effect:
“Mica is an opaque, dynamic material that incorporates theme and desktop wallpaper to paint the background of long-lived windows such as apps and settings. You can apply Mica to your application backdrop to delight users and create visual hierarchy, aiding productivity, by increasing clarity about which window is in focus. Mica is specifically designed for app performance as it only samples the desktop wallpaper once to create its visualization.”
At this point, it’s not yet known when Mica could become available for everyone running Office, so if it’s not there for you right now, there’s little you can do.