<p style=”text-align: justify;”>Microsoft will begin rolling out to customers worldwide the Windows 10 Creators Update, also known as 1703 (as in March 2017), starting April 11, as per the rumours.
Windows 10 Creators Update Global Roll Out Begins on April 11
Windows 10 Creators Update
Microsoft confirmed the roll out start date in a blog post today, March 29. As was the case with the Anniversary Update which Microsoft started rolling out last August, the Creators Update release will be throttled and likely take several months.
The build number that Microsoft is expected to roll out to mainstream users beginning April 11 is 15063 (the build that shall not be called “RTM,” but which really is RTM, as in “release to mainstream”), along with a number of subsequent fixes and updates which will be installed along with the RTM code.
Those who are curious can get Creators Update now. I’ve asked when Creators Update will be available to MSDN subscribers and Volume License customers.
Windows 10 Creators Update
Microsoft has been testing the Creators Update — the successor to the Windows 10 Anniversary Update — for the last several months inside the company and with Windows Insider testers.
What the Creators Update offers:
The Creators Update includes a handful of new consumer-focused features.
A new Game Mode,
Beam game streaming,
Windows Mixed Reality support,
Edge browser – new ebook and tab-management capabilities
A new 3D Paint application
Windows 10 Creators Update
Microsoft demonstrated in late October 2016 a companion 3D mobile application that would allow users to capture 3D images on their phones and subsequently edit and even 3D-print them.
The Creators Update also includes several incremental security updates and features aimed mainly at business customers.
I’m thinking many business users will find the ability to defer and pause both feature and security updates more easily. And for longer periods of time to be one of the biggest and best features of the Creators Update.
Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education customers will be able to defer(delay) updates (such as Creators Update, Redstone 3, etc.) for up to 365 days and “quality” updates (bundled security updates and fixes) for up to 30 days.
Windows 10 Home users still will not have a new option to defer or pause either type of update. Thus, continuing to serve as yet another wave of testers for Windows 10.
With Creators Update, Microsoft is giving users more control over when their PCs and tablets will restart after updates are applied. Microsoft also is making its privacy and telemetry settings clearer in the Creators Update release.
The Creators Update will be a free update to those already running Windows 10.
Windows 10 Creators Update
There will be Windows 10 Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education versions of the Creators Update for PCs and tablets.
The smartphone version of Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update will come to phones “over time“. Creators Update also is coming to Xbox and the Surface Hub.
Microsoft officials still are not commenting in any way on the Cloud version of the Creators Update. This is a version of the product that can only run Windows Store apps and will be upgradeable to Windows 10 Pro.
Microsoft officials also announced today broader availability of the Surface Book with Performance base, Surface Studio, and Surface Dial, all of which the company introduced last October.
Surface Book with Performance base is available for pre-order starting today in Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong. Also in Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK and will be available for purchase on April 20. Surface Studio and Surface Dial are available for pre-order starting today in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand and will be available for purchase starting April 20.
Microsoft still has yet to announce timing or details about its expected Spring 2017 hardware launch. I’ve heard there won’t be a Surface Book 2 unveiling at this event. But we may see an incrementally improved Surface Pro 5 and possibly some other mystery hardware.
Windows 10 Redstone 3 update, which Microsoft is expected to release in the Fall of 2017.
