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Fluent Design, Microsoft's design language, is continuously evolving with each Windows release, but it has not been applied to every part of the operating system and Microsoft's apps. With Windows 11, Microsoft is reconsidering its approach to this design language and deploying it across all its applications and pages.
- Read more: Microsoft to bring stickers to Windows 11 soon.
The new design of Windows 11 has no impact on user performance.
As part of the Fluent Design language overhaul, Windows 11 introduces a new design element called Mica. Mica is a material that appears on the background of applications, behind all other content. It creates a frosted effect, blending with the user's theme and desktop background to create a highly personalized look. As users move windows across the screen, Mica adjusts automatically to create visual imagery using the background beneath the app. Additionally, the material helps users focus on current tasks by shifting to a neutral color when apps are inactive.
- Read more: Link to download Windows 11 Pro.
In Windows 11, Mica will be the most prominent design element and will be displayed across applications and the operating system itself. In Preview Builds, you can already see Mica in File Explorer, Settings, Microsoft Teams, and various other locations.
Acrylic material of Fluent Design creates a translucent blur effect with a hint of noise, visible behind app windows or the desktop background. Conversely, Mica is a frosted, non-transparent effect. It identifies the system's current theme and desktop to apply a similar color scheme to apps, enhancing visual clarity of the main content.
In a recent Q&A session, Microsoft explained that Mica material doesn't blur the desktop background for every frame. Instead, 'it only blurs part of the image' to provide better performance and experience compared to Acrylic.
The company added: 'Performance is truly our top priority, and we want to ensure that all these exciting new features (Mica effects and rounded corners) are super fast and don't impact the operating system. For example, Mica is specially designed for higher performance compared to things like Acrylic. For rounded corners, we've optimized display performance, so you won't notice any difference compared to square corners.'
Windows is in the process of implementing a major interface change for the Windows operating system and will require several updates to fully leverage the potential of the Fluent Design language.
- Read more: How to install Windows 11
