Microsoft revealed today that the Windows 10 Creators Update will begin rolling out to customers via Windows Update on April 11.
“The Creators Update is designed to spark and unleash creativity, bringing 3D and mixed reality to everyone and enabling every gamer to be a broadcaster,” Microsoft corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi said in a prepared statement. “Beyond creativity, it brings new features to Microsoft Edge, additional security capabilities and privacy tools, and so much more.”
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In a briefing earlier this week, Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman reiterated the three primary themes that Microsoft communicated when it first announced the Creators Update in late October: 3D and mixed reality, gaming, and Microsoft Edge.
“This is the third major update to Windows 10,” he told me. “And the key features in this update will help light up creativity.”
I’ve provided a more detailed list of what’s expected in this release in my post Windows 10 Creators Update Preview. But at a high level, Microsoft is pushing the following changes in this release:
3D and mixed reality. With the Creators Update, Windows 10 gains a new Paint 3D app for creating 3D objects (with sharing via Remix3D.com), plus the plumbing necessary to enable Windows Mixed Reality: Compatible headsets from a variety of hardware makers are due later in 2017 and will start at just $299.
Gaming. The Creators Update brings a number of gaming-related enhancements, including Game Mode, which will make games run more efficiently. From a creator’s perspective, Beam compatibility will let any gamer broadcast their gaming sessions and interact with viewers in unique ways.
Microsoft Edge. While not specifically focused at creators, the improvements coming in Microsoft Edge are still notable: Microsoft’s web browser is picking up major security and performance improvements, plus new tab management and e-book functionality.
In addition to these big bucket features, Microsoft is also highlighting smaller but still important improvements like Night Light, which reduces the blue light emitted from your PC’s display, Mini View for picture-in-picture video display, and Remote Lock, which uses proximity sensing to lock your PC when you step away with a compatible device. Also, a new Windows Defender Security Center dashboard will provide better visibility into the security, health, and online safety of your PC, Microsoft says.
Given the problems Microsoft had rolling out the Anniversary Update last summer, the firm is taking a more cautious stand with this update. It says it is in “constant learn mode,” and will, as always, stage the rollout over time, gauging its success as it goes.
“It will start slow and scale out as we meet our metrics,” Mr. Woodman told me. “The objective here is customer satisfaction, not time to scale.”
Delmont
<p>The Defender updates are really good. Much better detail.</p>