Microsoft Windows update: Major new redesign coming this year, company confirms

A timeline unveiled at the company's Ignite conference shows that two major software upgrades are coming in 2017

Microsoft appears to be on the verge of ditching several classic features

A timeline outlining the evolution of Windows 10 has confirmed that two major updates are in the pipeline for 2017.

The company is known to be working on a drastically different-looking user interface for the operating system, known as Project Neon, which is likely to arrive with the second update.

The timeline, which doesn’t reveal any specific dates, was spotted by onMSFT at Microsoft’s Ignite conference in Australia.

(onMSFT (onMSFT)

However, the Creators update – the first of the two – is currently being tested by Windows Insiders and looks set to land in April.

The graphic shows that Microsoft plans to release the second update to consumers towards the end of the year, before a stage dubbed ‘production’ kicks off in 2018.

A leaked screenshot gave us a glimpse of Project Neon earlier this month, and Microsoft appears to be on the verge of ditching several classic features.

The update could kill off window borders and the title bar, alter the appearance of the minimise, restore/maximise and close buttons and remove all colour from the taskbar.

They’re significant changes, but the resulting look is much cleaner and more modern.