Neowin is reporting that the next upgrade of Windows, known as Windows 10, will feature new animations similar to how OSX handles the opening of windowed applications. “When you open a new window, it flies out on to the screen from the icon and when you minimize it, it collapses back in to the icon on the taskbar; the windows kind of a ‘pop’ affect to them,” a report from Neowin states.
If you use Windows, you will note that there is already a slight animation where the window flies open and then shrinks and fades into the taskbar. It seems as this will be amplified and made more playful. Animations make a system feel smoother for most users, and you can see the trend in OSX, iOS, and very much so in Android L. Hopefully, Microsoft will let you enable and enable/disable them according to your preferences. Further, it will make Windows feel more ‘consumer-oriented’ rather than enterprise-focused.
Additionally, Microsoft is testing a new window for the network chooser. Currently, it opens up a charm bar/Modern UI interface when you click the network icon, just as Windows 8/8.1 handles it. But since we know that Charms bar will be going away for Desktop users, it is time to start developing a replacement. A lot of users complained that this was inconsistent with the rest of the desktop, and they did have a point (click on the battery icon or sound icon to compare). We are assuming it will remain as is for those in the Modern UI (tablets or RT).
Not much else is known nor are there any screenshots showcasing these two new improvements. These updates are expected to hit the next Windows 10 Technical Preview builds, which will likely be of the 986x (if you are keeping track, the current build is 9841).
Further reading: Microsoft, Windows 10, Windows 10 technical preview
