Microsoft extends Windows 11 Mica to more apps and title bar

One of the attractive features of Windows 11 is its Mica material/theme, which makes some application windows and title bars translucent. This new mica material looks great and Microsoft has confirmed that modern PCs should have no problem handling the effect, unlike the acrylic effect in Fluent Design.

Mica usually appears in dark mode and it aligns the background color of Windows applications with that of the desktop and creates a translucent and modern “color hierarchy”. The company claims that the Mica Effect does not cause any performance issues and can differentiate between multiple open instances of the same or multiple apps.

Microsoft has already updated major apps like Chromium Edge, Movies & TV, MS Paint, Snipping Tool, Photos, Calculator and other apps with mica effect. As part of an upcoming Windows 11 update (could be a feature update or cumulative), Microsoft plans to expand Mica processing to more applications.

For example, in the preview version, Microsoft quietly updated Mica’s title bar with some UWP apps on the title bar, such as the Tips and Feedback Hub. Microsoft may consider Mica as the “Aero Glass theme” and Mica may be the default design feature for all UWP programs.

Unlike Mica, Windows Aero Glass was more resource intensive, but it also looked great and ran smoothly on modern PCs.

Microsoft Word gets a Mica background
Microsoft is also working on a new design for Office desktop applications including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Notepad. The redesign is being rolled out with the Windows 11 release, and it looks like Office apps are finally getting support for Mica, which will be implemented in the background.

Microsoft announced a redesign of the Office UI based on user feedback, but the Mica background effect was not added to the apps. Today’s update, which is geared toward production channel users, allows for a more natural and cohesive Mica design for all.

This new Office user interface also follows Fluent Design to create “an intuitive, consistent and familiar user interface” and matches the look of Windows 11.

As we mentioned above, Mica Elements will not come at the cost of performance and you can expect additional performance improvements from WinUI in 2022.