Latest Windows 10 preview jazzes up sign-in screen with ‘acrylic’ effect

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Microsoft is pretty much done with the Windows 10 October 2018 Update – save for some minor tinkering – but work continues apace on the following update, due in the first half of next year, with a fresh preview build emerging that brings the Fluent Design interface to the operating system’s sign-in screen.

To be specific, build 18237, which has been pushed out to ‘skip ahead’ testers, adds the acrylic effect to the background of said sign-in screen. Essentially, this means the background is blurred, to put the focus on the foreground and the box you use to actually log in, which makes sense.

It’s a somewhat minor change, but it’s interesting to see the influence of Fluent Design creep slowly across the entire operating system, as Microsoft introduces more and more elements here and there, for a more modern overall look.

Companion app

The other change made is only pertinent to those testers with Android phones. The Android application which used to be called Microsoft Apps has been renamed Your Phone Companion, to reflect the fact that it hooks up with the Your Phone app on the PC.

That Your Phone feature is something Microsoft has been pushing of late, with the very recent introduction of the ability to send texts direct from your PC.

Microsoft also notes that the Your Phone Companion Android app still has the ability to highlight other apps produced by Microsoft, except that you’ll now find it by tapping on Top Microsoft Apps (which will give you the top 20 recommended applications from the software giant).

Otherwise, there’s the usual bunch of minor tweaks to Windows 10, various bug fixes, and of course known issues for testers to be aware of, all of which are detailed in Microsoft’s blog post introducing the new build.

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