The Windows 10 Creators Update–also known as Redstone 2–is due to hit PCs in Spring 2017. Like other updates to Windows 10, it’s free, and includes a host of new features.
The big features that were announced at Microsoft’s October 26, 2016 event, though we’ve also included a list of smaller features they didn’t mention, but we know are coming. You can play with many of these features today by joining the Windows Insider Preview program, while others will hit the Insider Previews later on.
3D for Everyone
Microsoft is making a big bet on 3D with the Creators update. This is the company that bought Minecraft, after all.
A new Paint 3D application allows you to work with and create 3D models. You can scan an object with a smartphone using the “Windows Capture 3D Experience” and then insert it into a Paint 3D scene and modify it. Microsoft showed this off using a Windows Phone, but said it envisioned this being possible on any device–in other words, iPhone and Android users should be able to do this, too.
The Microsoft Edge browser now supports 3D content. It can be used to upload and download 3D models from a community website, including models exported from Minecraft and SketchUp. Windows can then print any type of 3D model to a 3D printer, which means Minecraft players can bring their creations into the real world.
Microsoft PowerPoint gains 3D models and cinematic 3D animations for transitions like Morph, so those 3D models can be incorporated into presentations. Microsoft will be adding more 3D features to Office applications like Word and Excel over the next year.
Mainstream Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Headsets
Mixed Reality–which includes Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Holographic computing according to Microsoft–is another big focus of Microsoft’s. This works hand in hand with the 3D support. Microsoft’s own HoloLens headset, for example, is a mixed reality headset. It allows you to see through the headset to the real world, and digital images are superimposed on that image of the real world.
With HoloLens, you’ll be able to download a 3D model from Edge or create one in Paint 3D and virtually place it somewhere in the real world.
You’ll be able to create a custom space in virtual reality and decorate it with your own furniture and apps, like you would another room. Apps can be placed on shelves. There’s also a new application called HoloTour, which lets you explore locations around the world using a virtual reality or augmented reality headset.
Most excitingly, though: Microsoft is partnering with Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to create mainstream mixed reality headsets. They’ll work without any additional tracking hardware that needs to be placed in the room. “Zero need for a separate room. Zero need for a complicated setup”, as Microsoft put it. These headsets will include cameras so they’re capable of mixed reality–think Pokémon Go, but in a headset. Best of all, headset prices will start at $299, so they’ll be much more affordable than Microsoft’s own $3000 HoloLens hardware. They’re also much cheaper than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual reality headsets, which start at $599 and $799, respectively.
Game Broadcasting for Windows 10 and Xbox One
Microsoft’s Game DVR feature, which already can record a video of your gameplay in the background and upload it to social services, is gaining a “Broadcast” button. It’ll be able to stream your gameplay to Xbox Live in real time, and your Xbox Live friends will receive a notification that you’re broadcasting. This will be built into both the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. It’s powered by Beam, a service Microsoft purchased in August.
However, this feature can only stream to Microsoft’s own Xbox Live service. It’ll likely be popular on the Xbox One, but alternatives like Twitch and YouTube are very popular on PC, and Microsoft’s built-in feature doesn’t support them.
Contact Prioritization with Windows MyPeople
As part of a plan to “place people at the center of Windows”, Microsoft is adding a “Windows MyPeople” feature to Windows 10. You’ll be able to drag and drop people to an area to the right side of your taskbar, giving you quicker, more convenient access to the few key people you regularly communicate with.
These people are prioritized when you use the “Share” feature in Windows, making it faster to share stuff with your close friends and family.
Microsoft is also integrating Mail, Skype, Xbox Live, Skype for Business, and SMS messages with the Windows MyPeople feature, making it easier to prioritize and organize messages from these people, no matter what app they use to send the message. These people can also send “shoulder taps”, which are animated emojis that pop up from your taskbar.
Other New Features
The Creators update includes a variety of other important features, many of which Microsoft didn’t announce at the event. Here’s what we already know about:
- OneDrive File Placeholders: Windows 8.1 introduced “placeholder” files for OneDrive–files that appeared in File Explorer but were actually stored in the cloud and only downloaded when you needed them. Microsoft removed this feature in Windows 10, but an “on-demand sync” feature looks likely to arrive in Windows 10 to replace it.
- Blue Light: Windows 10 is getting a “Blue Light” feature, which works similarly to the venerable f.lux utility. Many operating systems have been adding this feature lately, including iOS with Night Shift and Android with Night Mode.
- Skype SMS Forwarding: Skype now supports SMS forwarding, allowing you to send and receive text messages from your computer, similar to iMessage on macOS. Unfortunately, this only works if you’re also using the Skype Preview app on a Windows 10 Phone.
- Improved Upgrading: When you uninstall built-in apps like Mail and Maps, they won’t automatically be reinstalled when you upgrade Windows. Windows will now respect your choice. You can always reinstall those apps from the Store, if you want them.
- A New Windows Defender Interface: Microsoft will be overhauling Windows Defender’s interface in the Creators Update, replacing the old desktop application with a modern “Universal Windows Platform” app that looks more at home on Windows 10.
- Gaming Tournaments: The Xbox app is gaining support for custom tournaments. Create a tournament and your friends can join it, playing on either Xbox One or Windows 10 PC if an Xbox Live-enabled game runs on both platforms.
- File Explorer Notifications: File Explorer is gaining a new “product education feature” that provides information about Windows features in your file manager. You can disable these notifications though, if you like.
- Microsoft Edge Improvements: Microsoft Edge now allows you to “snooze” tabs. Snooze a tab and it will close temporarily. Later, Cortana will pop up with a reminder telling you to check out that website again. It’s a way to remember websites for later without keeping the tabs open forever. Edge will also allow you to export your favorites to an HTML file.
- Improved PIN Login: When signing in with a numerical PIN, you don’t have to worry about pressing the Num Lock key. The PIN field will behave as if the Num Lock key is always enabled. No more fighting with Num Lock!
- Wi-Fi Control Improvements: When you disable Wi-Fi, you can configure it to automatically turn on in one hour, in four hours, or in one day. By default, it will be kept disabled until you manually re-enable it.
- Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10 Updates: The Windows Subsystem for Linux now supports Ubuntu 16.04. In the Anniversary Update, it only supports Ubuntu 14.04. Windows applications can also be launched from the Bash shell, too, making it more flexible.
- Action Center Improvements: Quick Action icons for quickly controlling settings have been improved. In addition, you’ll find volume and brightness sliders directly in the Action Center, making it easier to adjust these settings.
- More Interface Color Options: The Personalization screen now has a color picker, allowing you to choose any interface and window titlebar color. On the earlier versions of Windows 10, you can just select from a handful of available colors.
- “Pick Up Where I Left Off”, or “Flow”: Microsoft is working on a new Cortana feature that will prompt you to synchronize apps between your devices–for example, it could offer to open the tabs you have open on your phone when you sit down at a PC. It’s similar in concept to Apple’s Continuity feature, which works between iOS and macOS.
This is just a small preview of what you’ll see when the Creators Update becomes stable. We’ll keep watching the Insider Preview builds and updating this post as Microsoft adds more new features.