Microsoft shows cleaner-looking Windows 10 Start Menu, confirms Live Tiles are here to stay

It’s no secret that Microsoft has been on a mission to give Windows 10 a new look. We’ve seen new icons roll out across the operating system, as well as the Light Mode introduced in the Windows 10 May 2019 Update. But, there could be bigger things ahead. Indeed, Microsoft recently teased a cleaner looking Windows 10 Start Menu, which appears to be heavily designed by Fluent Design and the new modern Windows icons (via PCWorld.)

As seen in the featured image above, this new Start Menu isn’t much different from the current version of Windows 10 when it comes to layout and overall format. It does, however, look to be more uniform, with less randomly colored backgrounds on the app tiles. Overall, it is cleaner with more uniform colors throughout, allowing the icons to blend in nicely with the acrylic effects delivered by Fluent Design.

This Start Menu was originally discussed by Microsoft during today’s Windows Insider webcast. You can see a still of it in action by watching the webcast on-demand here, at around the 46-minute mark. “The idea is to visually unify the Start menu, [from] a somewhat chaotic color, to something a bit more uniform,” said Mike LaJoie, the person in charge of icon design at Microsoft.

Rumors have previously said that Windows 10’s Live Tiles might be dead in the future, but judging from what Microsoft PM Brandon LeBlanc said during the webcast, the Live Tiles are here to stay. As the image of the Start Menu is still, we can’t tell if they’re present in this new Start Menu. However, LeBlanc mentioned that “Those with Live Tiles will still be able to use them.” It could be that users will continue to have full control over Live Tiles and be able to turn them off and on as needed.

Do you think that this new Start Menu is more clean and efficient? Let us know in the comments below.