Windows 10 Redstone 3 will introduce a new design language, codenamed Project NEON

Microsoft is set to released the Windows 10 Creators Update early next year. The software giant introduced quite a major upgrade to the design of Windows with Windows 10 (known as “MDL2”), but it’s reportedly working on an incremental upgrade. Meet Project NEON, Windows 10’s upcoming design language which will ship with Windows 10 “Redstone 3” later next year. The report comes from Windows Central, which claims that Microsoft has been working on Project NEON for about a year internally.

Windows 10, at its core, will likely be the same once Project NEON is introduced. But what Microsoft plans to do is make a design language which just works, across all devices, and offers a similar experience. This includes the PC, Mobile, and more importantly, the HoloLens. Project NEON will feature a fluid user interface that sports smooth motions and transitions throughout all of the UI components.

Project NEON will also focus on fixing inconsistencies that are found on most Windows 10 apps, including the ones from Microsoft. Windows Central reports that Project NEON will provide “developers with clear and consistent guidelines when designing their apps” — but details regarding that are pretty scarce at the moment.

Windows 10 Redstone 3’s main focus seems to be on unifying the operating system across all devices, especially the HoloLens. The company will surely have a lot of obstacles making this work perfectly, considering the fact that HoloLens is an entirely different set of interactions when compared to a PC or even a mobile device.

At the moment, Windows 10 Redstone 3 is expected to arrive in the early Fall of 2017. Windows Insiders will likely get the first glimpse of Project NEON around May/June 2017, but there’s a good chance of some NEON elements showing up on some of Microsoft’s own apps with the Windows 10 Creators Update even before that.