Microsoft Win11 UX supports "Mica Alt" new materials for tabbed instances

CTOnews.com The visuals in the Windows 11 user interface (UI) and its various apps are provided by three materials: Acrylic, Mica and Smoke. Microsoft recently added a new material called Mica Alt.

As whistleblower FireCube points out, the new MicaAlt material is often used for tabbed instances, and Microsoft's guidance documentation confirms this. Microsoft talks about this in the application layering section of its guide:

Use Mica Alt for app layering

Mica Alt is a replacement for Mica, serving as a base layer in the application hierarchy with the same functionality, such as inactive and active states and subtle personalization. Mica Alt is encouraged as a base layer for applications when there is a need to contrast between title bar elements and command areas of the application (e.g. navigation, menus).

A common scenario for using Mica Alt is when creating an application with a tabbed title bar.

CTOnews.com has learned that in terms of requirements, Microsoft says the new MicaAlt material is available for "apps that use Windows App SDK 1.1 or later."