Is nice! And looks in line with the development of Windows 11. Microsoft has released a new visual update for Office apps that gets the productivity suite ready for the new OS.
Though if we are being honest, this new user interface is also available for those running Windows 10.
Redmond released the first Windows 11 Insider preview build to Dev channel users today, officially bringing the new operating system in the hands of testers. Along with the upcoming OS, the company has also introduced refreshes to the Office suite of applications.
Apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio get a new coat of paint — and what a coat of paint this is!
Microsoft detailed all these changes in the announcement post, talking about how the Office apps now feature rounded corners. Unsurprising, when you consider this element is perhaps the most noticeable change in the Windows 11 user interface.
As the software titan explains:
“This Office visual refresh is based on feedback from customers who asked for a more natural and consistent experience within and between your applications, specifically on Windows. With this update, we deliver an intuitive, coherent, and familiar user interface, using the Fluent Design principles, across all your applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio. We aligned this visual refresh with the design of Windows 11 to provide seamless experiences on your PC.”
There is now a neutral color palette in the apps, which also feature automatic theme switching based on the system theme. The Quick Access toolbar is also now hidden by default to offer a cleaner UI.
Fluent Design is front and center here, as you would expect.
The company goes over how the ribbon and the document canvas have been the two main areas of focus. The refresh itself is based on feedback from customers who asked for a more natural and consistent experience within and between applications.
Goes without saying that this overhaul of Office is still in its early days, so if you get in on this, you could still come across visual glitches here and there.
The new design will be enabled for Beta channel users by default, and can actually be switched off from the Coming Soon pane at the top of the applications. Users running Office Insider version 2107 build 14228.20000 or newer on both the operating systems can look forward to this refresh.
