• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Microsoft Tests Colorful New System Icons for Windows 10

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,274 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Microsoft is testing a user-interface refresh with an upcoming update to Windows 10. Released for testing with Insider Preview Build 21343, the refresh includes new system icons that are of a significantly different design scheme from the ones you have now. System folders (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, etc.,) now come with color-coded icons resembling something from a Windows-knockoff Linux desktop environment. The graphics of the icons appear simpler, and this simplicity probably has something to do with the emergence of remote-desktop/virtual-desktop, where simpler graphics are easier on the network bandwidth, particularly on the side of the VDI server. The current system icons of Windows 10 are evolved from those of previous Windows versions.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
5,413 (1.42/day)
Location
Everywhere all the time all at once
System Name The Little One
Processor i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard AZW SEI
Cooling Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory 64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s) Iris XE
Storage WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s) 2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s) Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply 65w brick
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores PDQ
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
234 (0.15/day)
Personally I don't like 3d skewed icons, the newest ones shown here are much better. Flat and straight facing.
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
7,190 (3.86/day)
System Name Bragging Rights
Processor Atom Z3735F 1.33GHz
Motherboard It has no markings but it's green
Cooling No, it's a 2.2W processor
Memory 2GB DDR3L-1333
Video Card(s) Gen7 Intel HD (4EU @ 311MHz)
Storage 32GB eMMC and 128GB Sandisk Extreme U3
Display(s) 10" IPS 1280x800 60Hz
Case Veddha T2
Audio Device(s) Apparently, yes
Power Supply Samsung 18W 5V fast-charger
Mouse MX Anywhere 2
Keyboard Logitech MX Keys (not Cherry MX at all)
VR HMD Samsung Oddyssey, not that I'd plug it into this though....
Software W10 21H1, barely
Benchmark Scores I once clocked a Celeron-300A to 564MHz on an Abit BE6 and it scored over 9000.
Hey Microsoft, how about not making pointless little changes to artwork that nobody cares about, and you first of all finish the underlying OS?

The Windows 95-style Control Panel, which was supposed to be replaced by the Windows 8 settings app nine years ago is still required because you haven't bothered actually making some of the core OS functionality ready for this millennium yet. Multiple times over the last 9 years I have kept reading how the next update/version will finally complete the interface and retire the old Control Panel to stop this schizophrenic dual-interface duplicate/conflicting madness that started with Windows 8 and you keep letting me (and everyone else) down. What's the point of moving features to the settings app, only to have them as a link back to the Windows 9x interface? That's not a re-code, that's just adding another layer of shit on top of something that is already shit.

LIPSTICK.

ON.

A.

PIG.


So yeah, finish making the W10 OS first, and then worry about pointless fettling with icon art. The Feature Creep is getting ridiculous when parts of the OS are still clearly the same tired code that I was using in the WindowsNT days.
 

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
17,866 (3.00/day)
Location
Quantum Well UK
System Name Quantumville™
Processor Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply Corsair AX1600i
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard Yes
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
They're purdy, I like 'em.
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
1,633 (0.64/day)
Location
Tanagra
System Name Budget Box
Processor Xeon E5-2667v2
Motherboard ASUS P9X79 Pro
Cooling Some cheap tower cooler, I dunno
Memory 32GB 1866-DDR3 ECC
Video Card(s) XFX RX 5600XT
Storage WD NVME 1GB
Display(s) ASUS Pro Art 27"
Case Antec P7 Neo
They look fine to me, though I wish they would offer a thinner UI as an option for non-touch users. The thickness is just a lot of wasted space to accommodate using your finger for some actions, and touch-centric apps have never really taken off on Windows. Considering all the 16:9 displays out there, that thickness takes away from the content for what you're actually trying to get done.
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
1,159 (0.28/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 3700x
Motherboard asus ROG Strix B-350I Gaming
Cooling Deepcool LS520 SE
Memory crucial ballistix 32Gb DDR4
Video Card(s) RTX 3070 FE
Storage WD sn550 1To/WD ssd sata 1To /WD black sn750 1To/Seagate 2To/WD book 4 To back-up
Display(s) LG GL850
Case Dan A4 H2O
Audio Device(s) sennheiser HD58X
Power Supply Corsair SF600
Mouse MX master 3
Keyboard Master Key Mx
Software win 11 pro
Hey Microsoft, how about not making pointless little changes to artwork that nobody cares about, and you first of all finish the underlying OS?

The Windows 95-style Control Panel, which was supposed to be replaced by the Windows 8 settings app nine years ago is still required because you haven't bothered actually making some of the core OS functionality ready for this millennium yet. Multiple times over the last 9 years I have kept reading how the next update/version will finally complete the interface and retire the old Control Panel to stop this schizophrenic dual-interface duplicate/conflicting madness that started with Windows 8 and you keep letting me (and everyone else) down. What's the point of moving features to the settings app, only to have them as a link back to the Windows 9x interface? That's not a re-code, that's just adding another layer of shit on top of something that is already shit.

LIPSTICK.

ON.

A.

PIG.


So yeah, finish making the W10 OS first, and then worry about pointless fettling with icon art. The Feature Creep is getting ridiculous when parts of the OS are still clearly the same tired code that I was using in the WindowsNT days.
It's not the same team handling those task. Just because a team is slacking off doesn't mean that the other teams should stop working ;)
 
Joined
Nov 7, 2016
Messages
158 (0.06/day)
Processor 5950X
Motherboard Dark Hero
Cooling Custom Loop
Memory Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz CL16
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3080 Vision
Storage 980 Pro 500GB, 970 Evo Plus 500GB, Crucial MX500 2TB, Crucial MX500 2TB, Samsung 850 Evo 500GB
Display(s) Gigabyte G34WQC
Case Cooler Master C700M
Audio Device(s) Bose
Power Supply AX850
Mouse Razer DeathAdder Chroma
Keyboard MSI GK80
Software W10 Pro
Benchmark Scores CPU-Z Single-Thread: 688 Multi-Thread: 11940
I was thinking to myself a days ago, how comes Microsoft keeps persisting with the boring yellow folders' icons. Painted the folders in different colors in the first steps in the right direction. They should ultimately create a new kind folders, which look modern.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
2,720 (1.19/day)
Location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
System Name System V
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Asus Prime X570-P
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212 // a bunch of 120 mm Xigmatek 1500 RPM fans (2 ins, 3 outs)
Memory 2x8GB Ballistix Sport LT 3200 MHz (BLS8G4D32AESCK.M8FE) (CL16-18-18-36)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte AORUS Radeon RX 580 8 GB
Storage SHFS37A240G / DT01ACA200 / WD20EZRX / MKNSSDTR256GB-3DL / LG BH16NS40 / ST10000VN0008
Display(s) LG 22MP55 IPS Display
Case NZXT Source 210
Audio Device(s) Logitech G430 Headset
Power Supply Corsair CX650M
Mouse Microsoft Trackball Optical 1.0
Keyboard HP Vectra VE keyboard (Part # D4950-63004)
Software Whatever build of Windows 11 is being served in Dev channel at the time.
Benchmark Scores Corona 1.3: 3120620 r/s Cinebench R20: 3355 FireStrike: 12490 TimeSpy: 4624
Hey Microsoft, how about not making pointless little changes to artwork that nobody cares about, and you first of all finish the underlying OS?
Multiple teams, buddy. Design doesn't handle code.

Multiple times over the last 9 years I have kept reading how the next update/version will finally complete the interface and retire the old Control Panel to stop this schizophrenic dual-interface duplicate/conflicting madness that started with Windows 8 and you keep letting me (and everyone else) down.
I wonder where you read that, because it was never announced in Insider comm channels. At best, they've been slowly moving things, but nowhere did they say "We're moving everything next milestone". And I've been running Insider builds for years.

And besides, if they move everything people are gonna complain that the change was too sudden. No one is ever happy.

The Feature Creep is getting ridiculous when parts of the OS are still clearly the same tired code that I was using in the WindowsNT days.
I can agree with that, though. Then again, multiple teams handling different aspects of the OS.
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
17 (0.01/day)
Hey Microsoft, how about not making pointless little changes to artwork that nobody cares about, and you first of all finish the underlying OS?

The Windows 95-style Control Panel, which was supposed to be replaced by the Windows 8 settings app nine years ago is still required because you haven't bothered actually making some of the core OS functionality ready for this millennium yet. Multiple times over the last 9 years I have kept reading how the next update/version will finally complete the interface and retire the old Control Panel to stop this schizophrenic dual-interface duplicate/conflicting madness that started with Windows 8 and you keep letting me (and everyone else) down. What's the point of moving features to the settings app, only to have them as a link back to the Windows 9x interface? That's not a re-code, that's just adding another layer of shit on top of something that is already shit.

LIPSTICK.

ON.

A.

PIG.


So yeah, finish making the W10 OS first, and then worry about pointless fettling with icon art. The Feature Creep is getting ridiculous when parts of the OS are still clearly the same tired code that I was using in the WindowsNT days.
You understand that designers don't code, right?
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,209 (1.71/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
I like these...
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
5,581 (3.00/day)
Location
Poland
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
Cooling Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
Memory 2x16 GB Crucial Ballistix 3600 CL16 Rev E @ 3800 CL16
Video Card(s) RTX3080 Ti FE
Storage SX8200 Pro 1 TB, Plextor M6Pro 256 GB, WD Blue 2TB
Display(s) LG 34GN850P-B
Case SilverStone Primera PM01 RGB
Audio Device(s) SoundBlaster G6 | Fidelio X2 | Sennheiser 6XX
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse Endgame Gear XM1R
Keyboard Wooting Two HE
Classic MS, focused on introducing new icons.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
Messages
148 (0.07/day)
Its about time! much welcomed. I am so tired of seeing the decades old Manila Folder.
Agreed. And why make them look like folders at all. They should just change them to random shapes and colors.. maybe even symbols. The more haphazard and inconsistent the design the better.

Ohh... had another great idea. Remove the folder names too while they are at it (those look ugly).
 
D

Deleted member 205776

Guest
Meh, no thanks. Those icons look absolutely trash juxtaposed with that primitive explorer.
 
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
2,593 (2.20/day)
Location
Slovenia
Processor i5-6600K
Motherboard Asus Z170A
Cooling some cheap Cooler Master Hyper 103 or similar
Memory 16GB DDR4-2400
Video Card(s) IGP
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Display(s) 2x Oldell 24" 1920x1200
Case Bitfenix Nova white windowless non-mesh
Audio Device(s) E-mu 1212m PCI
Power Supply Seasonic G-360
Mouse Logitech Marble trackball, never had a mouse
Keyboard Key Tronic KT2000, no Win key because 1994
Software Oldwin
You understand that designers don't code, right?
I also understand that end users aren't beta testers. But no matter how well I understand that, it still doesn't make it true.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
2,720 (1.19/day)
Location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
System Name System V
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Asus Prime X570-P
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212 // a bunch of 120 mm Xigmatek 1500 RPM fans (2 ins, 3 outs)
Memory 2x8GB Ballistix Sport LT 3200 MHz (BLS8G4D32AESCK.M8FE) (CL16-18-18-36)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte AORUS Radeon RX 580 8 GB
Storage SHFS37A240G / DT01ACA200 / WD20EZRX / MKNSSDTR256GB-3DL / LG BH16NS40 / ST10000VN0008
Display(s) LG 22MP55 IPS Display
Case NZXT Source 210
Audio Device(s) Logitech G430 Headset
Power Supply Corsair CX650M
Mouse Microsoft Trackball Optical 1.0
Keyboard HP Vectra VE keyboard (Part # D4950-63004)
Software Whatever build of Windows 11 is being served in Dev channel at the time.
Benchmark Scores Corona 1.3: 3120620 r/s Cinebench R20: 3355 FireStrike: 12490 TimeSpy: 4624
I also understand that end users aren't beta testers. But no matter how well I understand that, it still doesn't make it true.

No software is bug-free. Specially not when said piece of software is literally millions of lines of code big.

And people with issues will always be way louder than the rest that runs Windows (or whatever other software you can think of) just fine.

Myself, I've been running insider builds since basically the Windows 10 launch and so far I can say that I've encountered issues rarely enough that I could count them with the fingers of one hand.

On top of that, Windows isn't Mac, where there are just a handful of different hardware configurations. There are literally millions of different configurations. And then you have to start considering whether the driver for each hardware piece is written correctly or if it's fully compatible with whatever you're running, plus whatever else may be running in kernel-mode not fucking something up, and user-installed crap.

EDIT: You could remove a lot of legacy code and clean up a bit, I suppose, but we should start thinking of getting rid of all the purely 32-bit stuff for that matter. And discarding nearly half the devices around the world that require some sort of legacy support.
 
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
3,470 (0.55/day)
Location
Northern Ontario Canada
Processor Ryzen 5700x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aero G R1.1 BiosF5g
Cooling Noctua NH-C12P SE14 w/ NF-A15 HS-PWM Fan 1500rpm
Memory Micron DDR4-3200 2x32GB D.S. D.R. (CT2K32G4DFD832A)
Video Card(s) AMD RX 6800 - Asus Tuf
Storage Kingston KC3000 1TB & 2TB & 4TB Corsair LPX
Display(s) LG 27UL550-W (27" 4k)
Case Be Quiet Pure Base 600 (no window)
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220-VB
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex V Gold Pro 850W ATX Ver2.52
Mouse Mionix Naos Pro
Keyboard Corsair Strafe with browns
Software W10 22H2 Pro x64
MS did you add true 10-bit color support to windows/2D desktop yet?
 
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
417 (0.17/day)
Processor Ryzen 5700X
Motherboard Gigabyte B550 Arous Elite V2
Cooling Thermalright PA120
Memory Kingston FURY Renegade 3600Mhz @ 3733 tight timings
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 6800
Storage 36TB
Display(s) Samsung QN90A
Case be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900
Audio Device(s) Khadas Tone Pro 2, HD660s, KSC75, JBL 305 MK1
Power Supply Coolermaster V850 Gold V2
Mouse Roccat Burst Pro
Keyboard Dogshit with Otemu Brown
Software W10 LTSC 2021
BIG NO

this kind of thing makes me mad, there is several things to improve but they decide to keep adding stuff instead of fixing and tweaking whats already there


those icons are ugly
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
2,720 (1.19/day)
Location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
System Name System V
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Asus Prime X570-P
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212 // a bunch of 120 mm Xigmatek 1500 RPM fans (2 ins, 3 outs)
Memory 2x8GB Ballistix Sport LT 3200 MHz (BLS8G4D32AESCK.M8FE) (CL16-18-18-36)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte AORUS Radeon RX 580 8 GB
Storage SHFS37A240G / DT01ACA200 / WD20EZRX / MKNSSDTR256GB-3DL / LG BH16NS40 / ST10000VN0008
Display(s) LG 22MP55 IPS Display
Case NZXT Source 210
Audio Device(s) Logitech G430 Headset
Power Supply Corsair CX650M
Mouse Microsoft Trackball Optical 1.0
Keyboard HP Vectra VE keyboard (Part # D4950-63004)
Software Whatever build of Windows 11 is being served in Dev channel at the time.
Benchmark Scores Corona 1.3: 3120620 r/s Cinebench R20: 3355 FireStrike: 12490 TimeSpy: 4624
MS did you add true 10-bit color support to windows/2D desktop yet?

I think that's supported but it's kinda a mess? Or at least, the interface itself isn't meant to be used in 10-bit color modes (I have read complaints of everything looking washed out, that sort of stuff). Kinda makes sense, since 90% of the world uses 8-bit panels at best (or worse, like 6-bit+FRC), but it's annoying if you have the hardware for it.

Other people also have thrown around the idea that the code that handles color management (WDDM, DWM and/or whatever else) would need a rewrite or something (which might affect drivers too), but that's just an idea some have had. Can't say if it holds or not.

Also, the two main GPU vendors used to limit high-color modes to professional models, I think? (Nvidia with Quadros, AMD with FirePro/Radeon Pro/whatever)
EDIT: AMD doesn't support it unless you're using Dual-Link DVI or DisplayPort, they don't mention HDMI :confused:
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 7, 2019
Messages
821 (0.48/day)
I get the need to modernize the icons to be more "app-icon" like, but I do hope they keep an option for the old ones, somewhat like how one is still able to pick different icon pack defaults. There's a few new ones I like, but a old ones I'd rather keep. I also hope the new folder icons for pictures/movies can still display a small preview image of what's in the folder.
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
963 (0.23/day)
System Name Poor Man's PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 7500F
Motherboard MSI B650M Mortar WiFi
Cooling ID Cooling SE 206 XT
Memory 32GB GSkill Flare X5 DDR5 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 6800 XT
Storage XPG Gammix S70 Blade 2TB + 8 TB WD Ultrastar DC HC320
Display(s) Mi Gaming Curved 3440x1440 144Hz
Case Cougar MG120-G
Audio Device(s) MPow Air Wireless + Mi Soundbar
Power Supply Enermax Revolution DF 650W Gold
Mouse Logitech MX Anywhere 3
Keyboard Logitech Pro X + Kailh box heavy pale blue switch + Durock stabilizers
VR HMD Meta Quest 2
Benchmark Scores Who need bench when everything already fast?
Top