Microsoft has begun to develop the next big feature called Windows 11 22H2, which is expected to be unveiled in the fall of 2021. As part of the Windows 11 22H2 version, Microsoft is planning to improve the existing interface of the operating system by bringing the Mica+Fluent design style to more applications that use different frameworks.
As you may know, Fluent Design is a part of the design language of Windows 11 and Windows 10. Its design language is light effects and materials, thus getting rid of the flat appearance developed from Windows 8 to the present. Its various special effects such as Acrylic are also very welcome to be used as a semi-transparent material style for menus, dialog backgrounds, or entire application windows.
With the introduction of Windows 11, Microsoft is adding a new design material to its smooth design language series. This material is called Mica, which is a semi-transparent blur effect that allows the desktop wallpaper to show a frosted glass-like outline through the application window. In a way, it looks similar to the blur effect of acrylic or Windows 7’s Aero Glass.
Like acrylic, the transparency effect of mica will be automatically reduced or even stopped in power-saving mode or when the device is slow/outdated. Although it is a translucent effect, mica is a subtle change. It only samples the desktop wallpaper once to create its visual effect, so it performs more smoothly than the acrylic material.
Currently, Windows 11 Mica cannot be used with all modern applications, but this may change soon. Based on the new reference material found in the Windows 11 preview version (Build 22509 or higher), Microsoft is planning to extend Mica to modern applications and even traditional applications FrameHostTitlebar.
Microsoft now seems to be testing the MicaBackdropInApplicationFrameHostTitlebar logo, which was found in newer builds. As the name suggests, this logo adds the Windows 11 mica effect to the title bar of applications such as Feedback Center. This may be a good thing because users will get some additional UI improvements without having to download updates from the Microsoft Store.
Interestingly, in the Win32 API of the Windows 11 Build 22523 SDK, users found new and strange tabbed design materials. It seems that the Microsoft development team is also experimenting with another design material called Tabbed, which seems to be an extension of mica or a variant of mica.
As you can see from the screenshot of the System Background Wall Type above, the Tabbed design material seems to be a dark version of the existing Mica.
