Yet another Start menu change coming to W10

You’ll have to get used to a redesigned Start menu in a forthcoming update to Windows 10.

Microsoft has unveiled an early version of Redstone 4, the codename for the major update due in March next year (numbered Version 1803). It reveals more of the company’s new Fluent Design style, which adds depth and transparency effects to icons and folders.

The overall feel is more like the Aero design in Windows Vista and 7, rejecting the one-dimensional style of Windows 8.

One of the biggest changes is the ‘Reveal’ effect in the Start menu. This is a lighting effect that subtly changes the colour of parts of the menu when you hover your cursor over them.

Microsoft shows how it works at www.snipca.com/ 25793. As the cursor scrolls over a list of US cities, each one appears in a grey-tinted box. The benefit is that you know precisely what you are clicking. You can also see it in the screenshot above, with ‘Windows Central’ highlighted.

This may seem like a minor change, but it should nonetheless make the Start menu easier to navigate.

The Redstone 4 preview is available only to users signed up to Microsoft’s Skip Ahead scheme. This launched in August to give advanced users the chance to test the next update but one – in this case Redstone 4, which will follow the Fall Creators Update (numbered Version 1709, due on 17 October).

Letting users try unfinished tools earlier means Microsoft can test them for longer, hopefully making them more stable when they are released to the public. Some Fluent Design touches will be evident in the Fall Creators Update, such as in the redesigned Action Center, which shows notifications on the right side of your screen. •