Microsoft announces Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Most Windows 10 users still haven't received the Creators Update, but that hasn't stopped Redmond from thinking about its next major update. With Build 2017 in full swing, Microsoft revealed Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which will bring a brand-new visual structure, tools to optimize the workflow between your PC and iOS or Android devices, a new OneDrive sync mode, and a Cortana-assisted dynamic task manager.

Build 2017 has just one day left, but the amount of material Microsoft shared with developers, media, and users alike is impressive. We already know Redmond's plans for the education market, with Windows 10 S and the Surface Laptop at the forefront, but Windows 10 is much more than that. Following the pattern of two major updates per year, Microsoft inevitably talks about "what's next" in Windows 10, and its official name is Fall Creators Update. That title might seem a bit misleading because the creative aspect was already addressed with the first Creators Update, and one of the most important tasks of the next update will be to recognize the fact that users no longer see Windows as the only option when it comes to work and play.

Timeline and the new workflow

At this point, the new trinity of features comes into play: Timeline, Pick Up Where You Left Off, and the cloud clipboard. Timeline represents a complete transformation for the task view. It will allow us to go back in our sessions, visualize everything we've done in the past, and continue from there as if we had never stopped. Technically, it's not a backup system, so any comparison with Apple's Time Machine will always be incomplete, but there's a bigger difference: Timeline won't only work with files, but will extend to apps and web pages. The best part is that Timeline also reaches Android and iOS, backed by Pick Up Where You Left Off, Cortana, and the cloud clipboard. Want to take a note on your iPhone and send it immediately to your Windows 10 PC to continue later? With the Fall Creators Update, you'll be able to do that and much more.

Fluent Design and OneDrive On-Demand

To wrap up, something that deserves a special section in the update is Fluent Design. What is that? You might remember Project Neon, which we talked about last January. Fluent Design is simply the confirmation of Neon, and a definitive leap to leave behind (almost) everything that is Metro UI. Transparency and depth, wide spaces and fluidity without sacrificing touch dynamics, greater integration with augmented reality, and a marked use of the stylus are what this new interface proposes, and we'll see it advance gradually in our systems. The last tidbit is OneDrive On-Demand, which partly restores the much-demanded "placeholders", offering in exchange much more precise and personalized sync control. There's still much more to explore from the Fall Creators Update, and all arrows point to September. We'll be watching.

Official announcement: