Microsoft's design rules push Windows 'beyond mere rectangles'

Microsoft's Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 might have an ironically uncreative name, but the upgrade itself is flush with artistic potential and useful features. It will give users a timeline to manage complex work sessions, APIs that tie all of Microsoft's services together and, notably, a new design paradigm intended to radically overhaul the flat rectangle user interface it's known for. Microsoft's Fluent Design System focuses on five core tenets to help developers build more creative and engaging user interfaces: Depth, Material, Light, Scale and Motion. These philosophies are intended to draw a line in the sand between Microsoft's stiff, old design and a new future of interactive user experiences. "It's time to move beyond mere rectangles confined to a plane," Microsoft's Joe Belfiore declared as he introduced the design language at Build.