Leaked Windows 10 update sees a new look for the OS

(Image credit: Microsoft)

published 15 April 2021

We’ve had our first glances of the next update to the Windows 10 operating system that’s due to drop sometime later this year. In posts that have now been deleted on the Windows Tips app and a Tweet, rounded corners are seen on the Windows Terminal app and the WiFi settings app.

The next big Windows update, codenamed “Sun Valley” is due in the second half of 2021 and has been touted to offer a sweeping visual rejuvenation of the Windows experience, according to various Microsoft posts.

Windows Latest, that first reported the story managed to grab photos of the newly redesigned operating system, says that screenshots and mockups such as these aren’t a guarantee. However, due to the number of different sources involved, the new softer-edged Windows design is likely to be coming our way.

For us, the return to a friendlier Windows 7 style is definitely a good thing for the platform. Though we’re sure rounded edges won’t be the only change coming to the new update, it’s certainly a positive sign.

Windows has undergone some big design changes since its launch in 1985, notably the update from 3.1 to 95, in 1995, to XP in 2001 and more recently the release of 8 in 2012. Windows 10 was launched in 2015, meaning it has been nearly six-year since the platform had a major refresh. Instead, Windows 10 moved to a series of smaller updates, in a similar method to the regular Mac OSX updates. While a Windows 11 is unlikely anytime soon, the Sun Valley update could be the biggest in some time.

As T3's Editor-in-Chief, Mat Gallagher has his finger on the pulse for the latest advances in technology. He has written about technology since 2003 and after stints in Beijing, Hong Kong and Chicago is now based in the UK. He’s a true lover of gadgets, but especially anything that involves cameras, Apple, electric cars, musical instruments or travel.