New W10 Update, Spring '17

What’s New in Windows 10’s Creators Update, Arriving Spring 2017

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.

We originally wrote this article after Microsoft’s big October 26, 2016 event. We’ve updated it with features that have appeared as of Windows Insider Preview build 14986, released in December.

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 included with Windows 10 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.

Windows now comes with a “View 3D Preview” app that allows everyone to open 3D models, view, rotate around, and zoom in. Currently, it supports .fbx and .3mf file types.

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.

These headsets won’t need a very expensive PC, either. The minimum specifications are much lower than what an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive requires. These headsets will even work with Intel integrated graphics, as long as you have the Kaby Lake series of Intel graphics or newer. Here are the minimum specs Microsoft announced:

• CPU: Intel Mobile Core i5 (e.g. 7200U) Dual-Core with Hyperthreading equivalent
• GPU: Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 620 (GT2) equivalent or greater DX12 API Capable GPU
• RAM: 8GB+ Dual Channel required for integrated graphics
• HDMI: HDMI 1.4 with 2880  x 1440 @ 60 Hz
  HDMI 2.0 or DP 1.3+ with 2880 x 1440 @ 90 Hz
• Storage: 100GB+ SSD (Preferred) / HDD
• Bluetooth: 4.0 and above for accessories.

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 redesigning the current Share feature, replacing the old sidebar design introduced in Windows 8 with a new pop-up Share interface.

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.

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.

Other PC Gaming Improvements

Augmented reality and broadcasting aren’t the only gaming improvement arriving with Windows 10.

Microsoft is partnering with Dolby to bring Doly Atmos positional sound to PC and Xbox One. You don’t even need hardware that supports Atmos—Windows 10 will allow you to create virtual Dolby Atmos positional sound with “virtually any pair of headphones”. Microsoft’s blog post uses Overwatch as an example, promising a tactical advantage when you can more easily hear where other characters are in the game world.

Games you download from the Windows Store now contain bundled display drivers, ensuring people who choose to buy games from the Store will always have the minimum required driver for the game to perform well.

The Game Bar supports 19 more full-screen games, including Fallout 4, Dark Souls 3, Overwatch, Starcraft II, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Terraria.

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.

Other features include Windows Display Driver Model 2.2 (WDDM 2.2), which is reportedly tailored for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality scenarios. Windows 10’s Creators Update will also feature high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut support for PC games and media.

Much of this was announced at a PC Gaming WinHEC session.

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.

Edge can now read EPUB format eBooks right in the web browser, too. Click an EPUB file and it will be displayed in Edge, just like how PDF files are currently displayed in Edge today.

Microsoft’s new web browser will now prefer HTML5 content when available, blocking Flash by default. You’ll be able to choose whether you want Flash to load or not. Avoiding Flash will improve battery life, security, and browsing performance. This decision follows similar announcements from Google, Mozilla, and Apple.

New Cortana Features

Microsoft’s virtual assistant knows some new voice commands in the Creator’s Update. Cortana can now turn off your computer, restart your PC, lock your screen, or put it to sleep with just a voice command. It can also raise or lower your system volume. Cortana now supports voice playback controls for the iHeartRadio and TuneIn apps. You can also ask Cortana what song is playing, and it will tell you.

Cortana is also gaining a new full-screen mode. When your PC is unlocked and idle, you can say “Hey Cortana” and Cortana will appear in a full-screen interface, allowing you to read the screen from across the room. To try this, enable “Hey Cortana”, don’t use your PC’s mouse or keyboard for at least teen seconds, and then say “Hey Cortana”.

Microsoft is also 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.

Geeky Stuff

Only the geekiest of Windows users will notice these new features:

• A Location Bar in the Registry Editor: The Registry Editor finally includes a location bar, allowing you to easily copy-paste addresses rather than being forced to painstakingly navigate to them.
• 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 now be launched from the Bash shell, too, making it more flexible.
• PowerShell Is the Default: PowerShell is now the default shell. When you right-click the Start button, you’ll see options to open PowerShell instead of Command Prompt. When you hold Shift and right-click in a folder or click the File menu in File Explorer, you’ll see an option to open PowerShell instead of Command Prompt.
• Symbolic Link Improvements: You can now create symlinks without elevating the Command Prompt to Administrator. That also means that developers, software tools, and projects can now take advantage of this useful feature without requiring Administrator access.
• Hyper-V Display Scaling: A new “Zoom” option in the View menu allows you to set your preferred display scaling for Hyper-V virtual machines, overriding your default display scaling settings. You can set it to either 100%, 125%, 150%, or 200%.
• Improved High DPI Support for Desktop Apps: If you have a high-DPI display, fewer desktop apps will appear blurry. In particular, Microsoft has made the Device Manager and other Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap ins look better. Microsoft has previously written about its difficulties in improving high-DPI support, so it’s good to know these are finally improving.
• Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Improvements: Improvements to Windows Defender ATP will allow network administrators to better detect new threats on their organization’s PCs. ATP’s sensors can now detect threats that just persist in memory or the Windows kernel.

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:

• 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 currently only works if you’re also using the Skype Preview app on a Windows 10 Phone.
• 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.
• Unified Update Platform: A new “Unified Update Platform” makes Windows Update faster when searching for available updates. Microsoft expects the size of a new major update like the Anniversary Update or Creators Update should be about 35% smaller, leading to faster downloads and reduced data usage.

• A New Windows Defender Interface: Microsoft has overhauled 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.
• 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!
• Windows Remembers Which Built-in Apps You Don’t Want: 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 title bar color. On the earlier versions of Windows 10, you can just select from a handful of available colors.
• Start Menu Customization: A new option at Settings > Personalization > Start allows you to hide the All Apps list, which always appears at the left side of the Start menu in the Anniversary Update.
• A Virtual Touchpad: Windows 10 already contains an on-screen keyboard, and it’s getting an on-screen touchpad. Press and hold on the taskbar and you’ll be able to select “Show touchpad button”. You’ll then get a touchpad button next to your touch keyboard button. Microsoft says you can use the virtual touchpad on a tablet to control the mouse cursor on a connected external display, for example. You don’t need a mouse, or even a physical touchpad.

• Office Hub: There’s a new version of the “Get Office” app, which originally just pointed you at the Office 365 website. Get Office 2.0, also known as “Office Hub”, is much more capable. This app still guides you through how to sign up to Office 365, but it also provides direct download links for Office applications, a list of Office documents you’ve recently used, and other useful features.
• Photos App Improvements: Keeping with the “Creators Update” theme, Microsoft is improving the Photos app. You can now use a stylus or your finger on a touchscreen to draw directly on your photos or videos. Write on a video and what you’ve scribbled will appear when you get to that place in the video. The Photos app offers a new set of filters and redesigned editing interface for better photo editing, too. Microsoft is also releasing a Photos app for the Xbox One, so you can view those same photos in your living room. There’s also a new light theme for the app, so you don’t have to use the old dark theme if you’d prefer a brighter look.
• Sticky Notes Insights: The Sticky Notes app offers more “Insights”. For example, it can detect stocks, flights numbers, email addresses, web addresses, phone numbers, and times and automatically provide more information. This now works for many more languages. Sticky Notes also received various performance, reliability, and interface improvements.

We’ll keep watching the Insider Preview builds and updating this post as Microsoft adds more new features.

The Future: Redstone 3

We know about some other features that Microsoft is working on, but which won’t be ready for the Creators Update. These features are slated for “Redstone 3”, the next update after the Creators Update (which is codenamed “Redstone 2”).

• x86 Emulation for Windows on ARM: This will allow Windows on ARM to run traditional Windows x86 software. Microsoft could then launch a new version of Windows RT on ARM hardware, one that actually supported the desktop software Windows users want to run. Windows Phones with Continuum would also be able to run traditional Windows desktop software. Microsoft has showed off a video of Windows 10 on ARM running desktop applications like Photoshop.
• Project NEON: According to Windows Central, Microsoft is working on a new design language, known as “Project NEON”. It’s designed as an updated look for Windows 10’s new applications, one that will also work well in holographic and augmented reality. A source described the new design as “Very fluid, lots of motion and nice transitions.”
• Home Hub: Home Hub is designed to take on Amazon Echo and Google Home. It’s not hardware—just software. Home Hub will provide a shared “Welcome Screen” and “Family Desktop” designed for family PCs so people don’t have to juggle different accounts. Cortana will always be listening on the welcome screen. In other words, Microsoft wants you to have a shared PC with a screen instead of an Amazon Echo or Google Home. It will be always listening, just Amazon and Google’s devices, so you can shout a question or command across the room. Expect PC manufacturers to design streamlined all-in-one PCs to compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home. This feature should partially arrive in Redstone 3, with improvements arriving in Redstone 4 afterwards.
• Windows Defender Application Guard for Microsoft Edge: This feature may or may not be ready for the Creators Update, and is just for Enterprise editions of Windows. When an employee browsers to a website that an organization doesn’t trust, Application Guard uses Hyper-V virtualization to create a new Windows operating system instance at the hardware level, running the website in Microsoft Edge in a separate instance of Windows. Even if the browser were exploited, the main Windows operating system would still be safe.

Redstone 3 will contain other new features, too. We’ll learn more about that in the future.