Microsoft is debuting a brand new dark theme for File Explorer with its upcoming Windows 10 feature update, codenamed Redstone 5 and scheduled for release in October. It's not often that you see File Explorer receive any new features or changes, the last notable one was when Microsoft added the Ribbon UI to it back in 2012{.nofollow}. So the introduction of a new dark theme for File Explorer is a pretty big deal — let's take a closer look and see how it is.
Jul 08, 2016 Follow Tutorial: Learn How to Enable Windows 10’s Hidden Dark Theme: As we all know Windows 10’s default theme contains.
Just like most apps on Windows 10, enabling the dark theme for File Explorer is done through the system-wide dark mode toggle within the Settings app on Windows 10. Once enabled, File Explorer seamlessly switches into dark mode, which blackens out the title bar and tabs, and gives the rest of the UI a dark gray tone, which is super easy on the eyes.
Even the context menus within the File Explorer and on the desktop have received dark mode treatment, which makes these legacy context menus appear more consistent alongside the modern context menus found in UWP apps when dark mode is enabled. It's pretty awesome and is something I've been asking for since Windows 10 first launched back in 2015.
It's not all good news
On the surface, dark mode within File Explorer is really cool. It looks good and functions well. However, when you start to dig a little deeper, things aren't so peachy. For example, other than the File Explorer itself, none of the popups or related dialogs have been themed to match the dark mode. That means when you copy and paste or view the properties of a file, you're thrown back into a UI that's blindingly white in nature.
I've also noticed a few bugs when dark mode is enabled, sometimes it doesn't fully enable in the File Explorer when opening it up, leaving for some elements remaining white while the rest of it is dark. There's also a minor UI issue going back from legacy Control Panel to File Explorer, which will see white flashes when switching between folders and sidebar dividers remain white instead of switching back to dark.
And then there are other Explorer windows such as the legacy Control Panel itself, which appear to be half themed with some UI elements featuring dark mode and others not. I know Microsoft is slowly phasing out the Control Panel and related legacy Explorer windows, but they aren't gone yet. So it's important they at least look finished.
Of course, there's still several weeks of development time left before this update is finalized, so these issues could still be ironed out before then. However, Microsoft has announced that its dark mode in File Explorer is pretty much done at this point, so expecting any considerable changes to how it behaves across different windows is likely not going to happen for this release.
Other than those small issues, the dark mode in File Explorer looks excellent, and is exactly what I've been hoping for within Windows 10. When you aren't surfaced with a white popup dialog, the dark mode UI looks and feels complete, and it's great to see Microsoft focusing on at least trying to make its light/dark modes consistent across apps, even if they are legacy.
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Last week, Microsoft started testing a brand new light theme with Insiders that's expected to ship in April 2019 with the 19H1 release. Although it's not finished, this early implementation of the light theme is a great start and an excellent addition for those who love options.
The new light theme in Windows 10 19H1 turns not only themes your apps, but the Windows Shell too. This includes the taskbar, Start Menu, Action Center, notifications, touch keyboard, and context menus (in some places) which gives the light theme a much more consistent feel.
Like dark mode however, it isn't entirely consistent. There are still some areas of the OS that are themed dark, such as Cortana and My People. Jungo windriver windows 10. Since it's still early days however, we should expect to see Microsoft theme those areas as well to match the rest of the OS design when light mode is enabled.
Many icons on the taskbar will switch their icons from white to black if the developer has provided the assets for it, which makes your open apps easier to see on the lighter taskbar. If a developer hasn't provided the assets for light theme, Windows will automatically put those icons into a colored box to ensure you can see them.
Here's a cool detail. Windows will put the icons for Win32 programs from the Store in colored boxes when using light theme to ensure their icons are still easily visible (see Slack and Spotify) pic.twitter.com/mGQz26fz1J
— Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) November 15, 2018This only appears to happen with apps from the Microsoft Store, however, and now with Win32 programs downloaded from the web. This means that if you use an app with a white icon from the internet, you will have a hard time seeing that app open in the taskbar unless the developer provides a light theme version of their icon.
The other issue with the light theme right now is that Fluent Design reveal and translucency effects are a little harder to see within the Windows Shell right now. I assume this is just down to tweaking things a bit, but I'd love for the reveal effect to be darker when light theme is enabled so that you can see it like you can when dark mode is enabled.
Overall, this first version of light theme for Windows 10 is great. It's clean, fresh take on the Windows 10 UI that I'm sure many people are going to enjoy. There are a few teething issues right now, but nothing out of the ordinary for a pre-release feature that's still months away from being finalized. We can't wait to see how this improves.
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Getting hands-onWant to try Surface Duo OS? Here's how on Windows 10.
In this guide, we'll show you the steps to download and install the Surface Duo emulator to start developing for the dual-screen device to get a feeling of the new experience.