ui redesign

Windows 11’s Start menu redesign is the latest Microsoft UI makeover to generate a polarized reaction from users: praised by some for integrating a single, scrollable app surface and deeper Phone Link/AI hooks, but slammed by others for being oversized, tightly controlled, and surprisingly...

Microsoft has quietly begun turning on a dramatically redesigned Start menu for Windows 11 as part of the 25H2/24H2 servicing wave — a single, vertically scrollable launcher that promotes the full All apps list to the main surface, adds Category/Grid/List views for app discovery, and surfaces a...

Microsoft’s phased, servicing‑update rollout of a redesigned Start menu for Windows 11 has quietly reached a much larger audience in recent weeks, arriving as part of the platform’s cumulative updates and optional servicing packages and accompanied by an explicit explanation from Microsoft about...

Microsoft is rolling Copilot’s distinct visual language into Edge, testing a Copilot-inspired redesign in Canary and Dev that reshapes the new tab page, settings, and context menus and brings rounded corners, new colors, and fonts to the browser chrome. Background Microsoft announced a strategic...

Microsoft appears to be bringing the venerable Windows Run dialog into the modern era, with a visual refresh and feature tweaks that signal a quiet but meaningful shift in how the company treats legacy UI surfaces in Windows 11. A newly surfaced design — described in reports as a “Modern Run”...

Microsoft’s latest servicing wave for Windows landed with an unusual double-act: a cosmetic change to how updates are presented that fans online are calling the “best rebrand of the decade,” and an equally meaningful behind‑the‑scenes patch roll that fixes a widely reported shutdown/restart...

Microsoft’s abrupt reshaping of Microsoft 365 subscription tiers — folding Copilot into consumer plans, raising renewal prices, and failing to clearly disclose a non‑AI “Classic” alternative — has sparked a regulatory showdown in Australia, a public apology from Microsoft and a refund offer to...

A baffling regression in Microsoft’s optional October 28, 2025 Windows 11 preview (KB5067036) can leave Task Manager processes running after the window is closed, allowing multiple invisible copies of taskmgr.exe to accumulate and quietly consume memory and CPU — a problem reproduced across...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 update reimagines the Start menu into a single, vertically scrollable launcher that exposes the full “All apps” list on the main surface, adds three distinct viewing modes (Category, Grid and List), and gives users explicit controls to mute or remove the Recommended...

Microsoft's latest preview update for Windows 11 — KB5067036 — delivers the most significant Start menu overhaul since the OS launched, promoting a single, scrollable, and more adaptive Start experience that Microsoft says will make app discovery faster and more intuitive for both tablet and...

Microsoft’s latest Insider flight, Windows 11 Build 27965 (Canary Channel), delivers the most substantial Start menu overhaul since Windows 11’s debut — a single, scrollable Start surface with new browsing modes, a responsive layout that adapts to screen size, and deeper Phone Link integration —...

Microsoft’s Microsoft 365 icons have been quietly — but deliberately — redesigned, swapping the blocky, geometric look that defined the 2018 refresh for softer, folded shapes and richer gradients that align visually with the company’s Copilot branding and its broader AI-first positioning...

Microsoft has quietly — but deliberately — given the 10 core Microsoft 365 app icons their first major visual overhaul since 2018, aligning the suite’s visual language with Copilot and a broader push toward an “AI-first” productivity experience across Windows, web, and mobile. Overview The icon...

Microsoft’s latest Insider activity shows a subtle but telling change: the long‑standing green progress indicator in the File Explorer copy/move dialog has been replaced with a blue variant when the system is in Dark Mode, and several legacy file‑operation dialogs are now honoring the OS dark...

If you opened Microsoft Teams this morning and discovered channels that used to live in your team have vanished—or the Teams button and channel lists simply aren’t where they used to be—don’t panic. This is a common, usually reversible issue that has two broad roots: deliberate UI changes...

Microsoft’s Copilot app for Windows has received a staged Insider update that adds conversational, semantic file search on Copilot+ PCs and a redesigned Copilot home that surfaces recent apps, files and conversations — all packaged in Copilot app builds starting with version 1.25082.132.0 and...

Microsoft has started rolling out a meaningful update to the Copilot app for Windows Insiders that brings semantic file search (on Copilot+ PCs) and a redesigned Copilot homepage with quicker access to recent apps, files, and Vision-driven guidance — a staged release that promises faster, more...

Microsoft has begun rolling out an update to the Copilot app on Windows that brings semantic file search to Copilot+ PCs and a redesigned Copilot homepage to Insiders, delivering tighter, AI-driven file discovery and faster access to recent apps, files, and guided help directly inside the...

Paul Thurrott is rethinking Thurrott.com from the ground up: a retooled Windows 11 Field Guide tied to Windows release cadence, a new travel-focused podcast, consolidated and free weekly newsletters, and a planned overhaul of the site’s membership and UI systems — changes that aim to simplify...

Microsoft has quietly begun to close one of Windows 11’s most visible UX gaps: several long‑neglected file‑operation dialogs are now receiving dark‑theme treatments in recent Insider and Release Preview builds, a staged change that marks the most concrete progress toward a truly system‑wide dark...