Say goodbye to the Windows 95-era icons on your PC

What you need to know

• Microsoft plans to rejuvenate the Windows experience with its upcoming Sun Valley update.
• The update will include several visual improvements, including new icons.
• A recent post on Reddit shows off new designs for old icons.

Microsoft engineers are hard at work rejuvenating Windows 10. The upcoming Windows 10 Sun Valley (21H2) update will bring a refreshed design and visual uniformity to the operating system. It appears that among the changes will be a refreshed set of some rather old icons. Reddit user MegaMarian12350 spotted and shared an image of the refreshed icons.

The new icons are from Shell32.dll and include items such as the hibernation icon and the floppy disk icon. The icons in Windows 10 build 20H2 are pixelated beauties from decades ago. An obvious indication that the icons are old is the fact that the monitor shown in the hibernation icon is a gigantic square. The new icon for hibernation is a modern monitor.

The fact that Microsoft is updating these icons should be viewed optimistically. If Microsoft is bothering to change the icon for a floppy disk drive, it's likely paying close attention to making Windows 10 look modern across the board. It's safe to assume that Microsoft wouldn't revamp icons that almost no one sees and then leave more prominent old designs in plain sight.

The Sun Valley update will also refresh the Start Menu, Action Center, and legacy interfaces like the File Explorer. Copy dialogs and other pieces of the interface should also look more consistent after the update. Microsoft plans to make Windows 10 look modern, including rounded corners, refreshed apps, and a unified look.