John Healy's Tech Blog

We’ll explain why Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update is worth your time in our review. Here’s what’s different this time around: There’s new hardware, too.

PC World today shared the news that Microsoft is rolling out the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update review: This could be Microsoft’s biggest Windows yet.” As in past Updates (which install like entire new editions of Windows 10, as large downloads with extended install times), there’s a way for early adopters to grab the Update now, while most of us will get it over time like other monthly Windows updates.

Update: The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is now available, and can be manually downloaded/upgraded via the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant. Otherwise, Microsoft will automatically push the FCU to all PCs in a series of waves that should last for a few weeks. 

Microsoft’s Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is what every sequel shoots for: bigger, better, more ambitious than the original. As it rolls out in phases starting Tuesday (see Microsoft’s blog post for details), our review focuses on Windows’ big, risky bet on mixed reality, plus smarter investments in the pen, creative 3D apps, Edge, and even speech. A ton of practical, everyday additions won us over, including OneDrive placeholders and much longer battery life while watching movies.

See the full article for what’s new and what’s changed.

PC World has separate articles for various aspects of the Update. For example, “Hands on with Windows 10’s Story Remix, the new tool to make your photos pop” covers the new Remix app.

Microsoft’s Story Remix was expected to be one of the highlights of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, and it lives up to that promise, combining the existing, excellent Photos app with a video and slideshow editor that adds transitions, music, and even fantastic 3D animations.

It’s worth noting, though, that Story Remix and Photos exist (for now) within a sort of odd, yin-yang duality where both apps co-exist. If you choose to open or edit a file within Photos via File Explorer, Windows will open the “traditional” Photos interface. But if you simply launch the Photos app, the Story Remix interface will open. Interestingly, there also seems to be no way to transition between the two interfaces within the app itself.

There’a also a separate slideshow: “The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update’s best new features.”

W10 Fall Creators Update

Have you installed the Windows 10 Creators Update on your PC yet? In my lab, I’ve installed the Creators Update on a variety of Windows 10 PCs, from cheap or midrange to powerful quad core models and from 7 year old to 2016 models.

This PC World article “The 11 most intriguing Fall Creators Update features in Windows 10 Build 16215” covers Microsoft’s ongoing rollout of new features this year for Windows 10.

… Microsoft just revealed a service pack’s worth of additions as part of Windows 10 Build 16215: dictation, predictive typing, a “Find My Pen” mode, full-screen Microsoft Edge, and tons more.

Essentially, Microsoft appears to be bringing some of what’s best about Windows 10 Mobile (which received a few bug fixes) to the Windows 10 desktop, improving the way in which Windows uses pens and camera input, and adding literally dozens of small refinements across the board, including elements of Microsoft’s new Acrylic UI.

Why this matters: Build 16215 points toward a Fall Creators Update that will bring a lot of welcome improvements and flesh out features that have remained minimal so far. Microsoft’s blog post lists dozens of changes, so we’ve picked 11 especially cool features you definitely need to know about.

Read the full article for the highlights of the latest release.

Update June 29, 2017: PC World posted this slideshow of “The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update’s best new features.”

The feature-packed Windows 10 Creators Update hasn’t even hit every PC yet but Microsoft’s already taken the wraps off of its successor.

Microsoft unveiled the uninspiringly named Windows 10 Fall Creators Update during Build 2017, and it will most likely hit Windows 10 PCs (including Windows 10 S devices) this September. Here’s a look at the most noteworthy new goodies you’ll find in the next massive Windows 10 iteration, including a potentially wonderful new feature just revealed by Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16232.