The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Feature Focus
by Brett Howse on November 10, 2017 8:00 AM EST
Windows 10 has finally settled into a groove. We are just over two years from the initial release of Windows 10. Part of the promise of Windows 10 was Windows as a service, or in other words, continual updates to Windows rather than monolithic version releases every couple of years. However, the haphazard schedule of feature updates was not pleasing to one stable customer of Microsoft’s. Businesses don’t love surprises, and they need time to plan ahead, and test, in order to deliver the vision that Microsoft has envisioned for Windows 10 going forward, so 2017 is the first year we get to see the new spring and fall updates, first with the Creators Update on April 11, 2017, and now the Fall Creators Update which became widely available on October 17, 2017.
The biannual release schedule still might be too aggressive for a lot of enterprises, but it’s a balancing act for Microsoft to keep the features coming for consumers, security updates coming for enterprise, and of course, keeping Windows 10 fresh in the eyes of everyone. Hopefully this new schedule works out though, since it’s nice to see fewer, smaller updates, rather than annual massive updates which may cause even more challenges.
| Windows 10 Version History | |||||
| Version | Version Number | Release Date | |||
| Windows 10 Original Release | 1507 | July 29, 2015 | |||
| November Update | 1511 | November 10, 2015 | |||
| Anniversary Update | 1607 | August 2, 2016 | |||
| Creators Update | 1703 | April 5, 2017 | |||
| Fall Creators Update | 1709 | October 17, 2017 | |||
And a smaller update is arguably what we’ve had for both of the 2017 releases for Windows, and that’s certainly not a bad thing. That’s not to take away from the many small changes and fixes under the hood, but more a fact that Windows 10 is solid, and stable, and updates only need to further smooth out some of the rough spots, and add a few new ideas for people to utilize. Windows 10 is now well known, with an official monthly active user base of over 500 million devices. It’s a solid number, despite being well under initial targets at launch.
With the Fall Creators Update, Microsoft has added quite a few new features, including some that missed out on the April update. They’ve taken the first step towards an improved OS and app design language since Windows 10 first launched, they’ve added more accessibility, more security, and finally added one of the top feature requests since Windows 10 launched. Let’s dig into the changes.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
95 Comments
View All Comments
prophet001 - Monday, November 13, 2017 - link
Oh that's rich. Google trying to shut off another manufacturer's spyware.rofl
pjcamp - Monday, November 13, 2017 - link
How the hell do you spy on a machine with the power off?BurntMyBacon - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 - link
I think that was referring to a system with power connected, but in the "power off" state. The Intel Management Engine would still draw some power, so it wouldn't really be considered fully powered off. It just hasn't initialized the boot code from UEFI / BIOS / Etc. If I recall correctly, the Intel Management Engine doesn't require boot code to bring it up, but it can be reconfigured by the boot code. This is where coreboot could become useful if you want to disable the engine.Shiitaki - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link
It's not that hard to bypass the ME engine, just add an external network card.Ratman6161 - Friday, November 10, 2017 - link
"Microsoft should block ALL applications by default "People love to make sweeping comments like that without thinking through the consequences. Block ALL? Sure. So what does your average home user do then? With everything blocked you have to give them some mechanism to unblock the things they need or want. Unfortunately 99.99% will have no idea....and will click "yes" or "OK" or whatever. OR they won't have any clue what to do and will only know they wanted something and it doesn't work. Then the people who can't figure out how to get to their google docs etc will be on here flaming about the Microsoft Conspiracy to prevent them from using third party products.
Hurr Durr - Saturday, November 11, 2017 - link
This psycho was running around comments not long ago screaming how he "hack-proofed" WinXP and "challenged hackers and various intelligence services around the world" to crack it. Make your conclusions.Bullwinkle-J-Moose - Saturday, December 23, 2017 - link
Which Psycho is that Hurr Durr?I recall running around claiming that they couldn't "wreck" my box but I never said they couldn't "hack" my box
I would NEVER use XP for banking or passwords because even a read only system can be "hacked" but not permanently wrecked
This box is for testing the best of the best malware on the planet and it has often been "hacked"
However, a simple reboot restores it to pristine and fully functional condition by wiping away any malware, so stop trolling with your fake news
Samus - Sunday, November 12, 2017 - link
I trust Microsoft diagnostic submissions a hell of a lot more than amazon, Facebook, or google. As a whole I trust Microsoft and Apple over just about any other tech company because they are the only two that have business models not revolving around ad revenue. That’s partially why Bing failed...it didn’t invade your privacy enough.ddriver - Monday, November 13, 2017 - link
LOL and WOW, how dumb are you. Their business model revolves around milking people in every possible way they can as hard as they can. What an idiocy it is to assume they go though the effort to create an OS that is spyware at its core and they will not monetize on the acquired information just because they have other sources of revenue.prophet001 - Monday, November 13, 2017 - link
They did this in the wake of the sheeple devouring Google's and Apple's creations and paradigms.If you can't beat em, join me.
Microsoft was one of the last bastions of personal privacy in an OS but ya'll told them, through your adoption practices, "hey it's cool. take my stuff" and so they did.