We've all heard the story: if you dig deep enough in Windows 10, you can find elements dating back to the days of Windows 3.x. But is it really so? In this article, we will find out how many user interface levels are present in Windows and when they were first introduced.
For this experiment, I selected the latest build of Windows 10 Insider Preview build 21301 (as of February 6, 2021).
So, right off the bat!
Level One: Fluent Design
We'll start with the latest and greatest Fluent Design. Announced in 2017 and introduced with Windows 10 Update 1803, Fluent Design is a major overhaul of Modern Design Language 2 (MDL2) to bring elements such as light, depth, motion, materiality, and scale. There is also a highlighting effect and an acrylic translucent background.
So far, most of the built-in UWP apps have been updated with Fluent elements, such as items like the Start menu, Action Center, and login screen.
Although Fluent Design received high marks, most enthusiasts considered this step too small and too late, since the new style is used only in a small part of the system.
Spoiler
Level 2: Metro
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