Microsoft made it official that Windows 10 Redstone 2, currently under testing will be released as Windows 10 Creators update. Microsoft is putting a lot of emphasis on 3D, mixed reality in Creators update. As per Microsoft the Creators Update will enable anyone to create, share and experience in 3D and mixed reality, connect people faster to those they care about most and empower every gamer to be a broadcaster. With the Creators Update, Microsoft Edge will be the first browser to bring 3D to the web.

We would recommend you to Bookmark this page as we will keep it updated with new changes and features revealed in Insider builds.

You can read Windows 10 Mobile Creators update’s Full categorized changelog by clicking here.

Windows 10 Creators update Release Date:

Microsoft has officially confirmed that Windows 10 Creators update will be out for PCs on April 11 via Windows Update. You can however already install it in no less than three ways. Read more here.

Windows 10 Creators update Full Changelog (All new Changes)

We have compiled all official and unmentioned changes noticed in Insider Preview builds of Redstone 2 aka Creators update here.

Cool New Features

Night light:

With Creators Update you can set your PC to customize its lighting during Night time or what you define as Night in settings. Screens emits Blue light and colors become warmer when you switch Night light on. You can make settings for Night light by going to Settings > System > Display.

Night light improvements.

Compact Overlay window:

Ever want to continue watching a movie while switching app to check your email? Or keep an eye on your video chat even as you’re browsing the web? We do all the time! Some tasks don’t require the user’s full attention but is perfect to leave at the corner of the screen so we’re introducing a new compact overlay mode for UWA app developers. When an app window enters compact overlay mode it’ll be shown above other windows so it won’t get blocked. The best part is that compact overlay windows work just like normal windows in all other ways so app developers can tailor the experience with what they already know.

Picture-in-Picture in Windows 10.

Dynamic Lock:

Dynamic Lock automatically locks your Windows 10 PC when you’re not around based the proximity of a Bluetooth-paired phone. If your Bluetooth-paired phone is not found near your PC, Windows turns off the screen and locks the PC after 30 seconds. To enable Dynamic Lock, make sure your phone is paired to your PC via Bluetooth and go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and toggle Dynamic lock to “on”.

Dynamic Lock

Application Installation Control:

You now have the option to control what type of apps are allowed to install on your PC. This setting is available by going to Settings > Apps > Apps & features. You can choose to only allow installation of Store apps, choose to be warned when installing a non-Store app but allow their installation, or choose to allow installation of apps from anywhere.

App Install Control

When you choose either of the Store options, you’ll see a warning when attempting to install a non-Store app. The warning will direct you to the Store where you can download an alternate app if available. In some cases, when there’s already an equivalent app in the Store, the warning will provide link to that app. This is an opt-in feature, and the default setting is to allow installation of apps from anywhere. (Note: This went live with last week’s build.)

Xbox Gaming Features:

  • Built-in Beam streaming: Beam is the easiest and quickest way to stream gameplay, and it’s part of Creators Update for both your Windows 10 PC and Xbox One. You can start Beam broadcasts by pulling up the Game bar — Windows + G.

Broadvasting to Beam in Windows 10

  • New Games section in Settings: A new settings page has been added to Windows 10’s Settings app specifically for gaming: Gaming. This new section will be identifiable with the Xbox logo. We’re also beginning to consolidate some system and user settings for gaming in this unified location, where PC users are accustomed to accessing their settings. Starting today, you’ll find settings for Game bar, GameDVR, Game Mode, and broadcasting and streaming in this new Gaming area.

Games page in Settings

  • Game Mode: With Game Mode, it’s our goal to make Windows 10 the best Windows ever for gaming. Our vision is that Game Mode optimizes your Windows 10 PC for an improvement in game performance. To enable Game Mode, go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode toggle the feature on. Doing this will give you the ability to enable the feature for each UWP and Win32 title you play by pulling up the Game bar (Windows + G) and the clicking the Settings button. There you’ll be able to opt individual games into using Game Mode.

Game Mode in Windows 10

 Windows Game Bar improved full-screen support: We got a ton of feedback on Game Bar and we are continually adding more titles with this support. In this build, we’ve added support for 52 additional games in full-screen mode with Windows game bar. As always, just hit WIN + G to invoke Game Bar to capture a recording or screenshot.

Updated Gaming Settings icon: A lot of you sent in feedback on this. We listened and adjusted the Gaming icon in Settings to feel more inline with the other icons on the Settings home page.

Gaming Settings icon

Download themes for your PC from the Windows Store (PC):

You’ll be able to go directly from the themes setting page directly to the Windows Store to download new themes for your PC!

Themes in the Windows Store.

Automatically free up space (PC):

To save you an extra step when low on disk space, we’ve added a new option in Storage Settings to automatically get rid of the files you don’t need. Currently we support this for unused temporary files and items that have been in your recycle bin for 30 days. The option is off by default, but you can turn it on under System > Storage Settings and choose what it cleans up.

UI & Notifications Changes

Store app and game download progress in Action Center:

Newly downloaded apps and games from the Store will now show download progress inside of the Action Center! Perfect for checking the status of a large game download while doing something else.

Store download progress in Action Center.

Pick your own custom accent color (PC):

Speaking of accent colors, and for those who sent feedback asking for more than our default selection of accent colors, we’re happy to share that Build 15014 comes with a new custom color option to our Colors Settings. Go in and select any color that piques your interest! Use the color picker to explore and preview your options, or if you know specifically the color you want, click “more” and enter the RGB, HSV, or HEX color code. Try it out and share your thoughts! We’ve also made our new custom color picker available in Background Settings if you have “Solid Color” or “Picture” (type “Center” or “Fit”) selected.

Accent color picker

Merged Wi-Fi settings under “Wi-Fi services” section in Settings app (PC & Mobile):

We have combined some of the advanced Wi-Fi settings.  Wi-Fi Sense and Paid Wi-Fi Services have been merged into a single section entitled simply “Wi-Fi services” under Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi. While you may not see “Wi-Fi Sense” mentioned – the feature is still there. “Connect to suggested open hotspots” is one of the settings under “Wi-Fi services”.

New power slider on select Windows 10 Devices (PC):

In a continuation of our battery life work for the Windows 10 Creators Update, some of you will start seeing a new slider in the power flyout on the Taskbar.

New battery slider UI

Hide app list on Start:

We are releasing a new feature that enables you to collapse the app list in the Start menu. This has been a top feedback request from Windows Insiders. You can try it out by going to Settings > Personalization > Start and turning on “Hide app list in Start menu”.

Hide app list on Start

New Windows Update icon:

We have introduced a new Windows Update icon to match the rest of the new iconography in Windows 10. After installing this build, you will see the new icon when Windows Update notifications appear and via Action Center. You can also manage notifications from Windows Update via Settings > System > Notifications.

new_windowsupdate_icon_black

New Share icon: We’re introducing a new share icon. Apps that used the “share” font glyph in Segoe MDL2 assets should get the change automatically. You can read more about the change here.

New Share icon.

Updated Wi-Fi Settings page:

We continue to make Settings more similar across Windows devices. We have added a new setting to the Wi-Fi settings page. When you go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi on your PC, then turn Wi-Fi off, you can now select a time under “Turn Wi-Fi back on” to have it turn on automatically after the amount of time you choose. It’s set to Manually by default in this build.

Turn Wi-Fi back on

Inline progress bar for notifications (PC):

Based on your feedback, app developers can now send toast notifications with a progress indicator to show progress to the user, such as download progress, exercise progress, etc. As a highly related but separate feature, we now also support developers to update an existing notification through “data-binding”.

Inline progress bar notifications.

Scrollbar improvements for UWP (PC & Mobile):

We have made improvements to the XAML scrollbar for mouse to ensure it is available when you need it, while taking up less space and causing less undesirable flashing when you don’t. With these changes, the panning indicator now appears when you move a mouse over a scrolling region and the full scrollbar appears when you want to directly interact with it. This improvement will be visible in any app that uses the Windows 10 Creators Update SDK.

Scrollbar improvrments.

Rainbow Flag:

Microsoft’s continued dedication to diversity brings the rainbow flag to the emoji font and keyboard!

Rainbow flag emoji.

Microsoft Edge Changes

Prompt to enable Flash in Microsoft Edge (PC):

We have introduced click-to-run Flash prompt by default in Microsoft Edge, for better security and performance across the Web. We’ve added a new dialog in the URL bar to make it clearer when Flash content has been blocked. Just click the puzzle icon to allow Flash once or every time you return to the same site.

Improved reading experience with Microsoft Edge:

  • When reading a locally saved EPUB book in Microsoft Edge on PC, a book icon will now be used in the place of the previous generic in the tab bar.

  • If you switch pages while an EPUB book is being read aloud in Microsoft Edge, the reader will now jump to that new location in the book.
  • If you’ve changed the read aloud settings when reading an EPUB in Microsoft Edge, those settings will now be preserved for subsequently opened books.
  • You should no longer see “Initializing…” when attempting to download new builds.

Microsoft Edge can now read aloud:

Microsoft Edge will now read aloud* your e-books! Just press the “read aloud” button at the top-right corner after opening one of your e-books and listen to Microsoft Edge read you the book with focus on the line and the word being read along. This feature is also extended to all non-store EPUB files opened using Microsoft Edge.

Read aloud in Microsoft Edge.

*Supported languages: ar-EG, ca-ES, da-DK, de-DE, en-AU, en-CA, en-GB, en-IN, en-US, es-ES, es-MX, fi-FI, fr-CA, fr-FR, it-IT, ja-JP, nb-NO, nl-BE, nl-NL, pt-BR, pt-PT, sv-SE, tr-TR, zh-CN.

Microsoft Edge and emoji:

Microsoft Edge will now display full-color, updated emoji by default on websites that use emoji.

New emoji support in Microsoft Edge.

Purchase and read e-books in Windows 10 Creators Update (PC & Mobile):

Windows Insiders in the U.S. can now purchase e-books directly from the Windows Store and read them in Microsoft Edge.

Books in the Windows Store!

After purchasing your e-books – you will find those in your Books library, which is a new hub entry in Microsoft Edge right next to your favorites, history, downloads and reading list.

  • Interactive reading experience: To navigate through an e-book, you can use the table of contents or seek bar at the bottom of the browser. You can search for words or phrases and ask Cortana to define specific words and view embedded video and audio content. And of course, pick up where you left of and leave bookmarks on the most interesting pages. You can even read your books when offline.
  • Learning tools: You can widen text spacing to improve reading fluency and benefit from typography tailored to reading efficiency.
  • Customize for you: Microsoft Edge is built for reading digital content on Windows 10 devices. You can make the reading experiences yours by changing the font and text size, themes, navigation control and more.
  • EPUB support: In addition to PDF files and books purchased via the Store – you can read any unprotected e-book in the EPUB file format with Microsoft Edge.

Sharing your tabs:

We’ve added the ability to share a set of tabs you’ve set aside. Just click the “Tabs you’ve set aside” button, and under the “…” menu select the option to “Share tabs” with many apps installed on your PC.

Import data:

We’re making it even easier to bring your data over from another browser when you switch to Microsoft Edge. The new “Import from another browser” button in Settings allows you to bring your favorites, browsing history, saved passwords, and other data from another browser you have installed, in one simple step.

Import settings in Microsoft Edge.

 Running faster:

You can now choose to “Run” a download link without first saving it, and we’ve added a “Save As” option to the existing “Save” link.

Run dialog in Microsoft Edge.

Web Notes improvements (PC):

We’ve updated Web Notes to now leverage the familiar Windows Ink experience you’ve come to know in Photos and Maps, amongst other places. Tap the pen or highlighter in Web Notes, and you will now see the full set of Windows Ink colors, as well as the new slider released for Windows Ink.

Web Notes improvements in Microsoft Edge.

Apps for Websites:

Clicking links to websites that support web-to-app linking will now open that page in the respective app.

Cortana Changes

Cortana can help you pick up where you left off (PC):

If you have multiple PCs, you probably know how cumbersome it can be to find everything you need to resume work after switching between PCs. Cortana can now help with that! When you switch computers, Cortana will display quick links in the Action Center to help you easily get back into the Microsoft Edge websites and SharePoint (or other cloud-based) documents you used most recently. For example, if you were working on a PowerPoint deck on your laptop, when you later return to your desktop, a link to that deck appears in Action Center. Or perhaps you’re browsing recipes in Microsoft Edge on your PC downstairs, and grab your laptop to go bake up a storm in the kitchen—Cortana will be there for you and have a link to that recipe ready to go. In adding this feature, we’ve also updated Cortana to take advantage of notification grouping, described earlier, so you can more easily differentiate between the types of messages.

Bigger text in notifications for Cortana (PC):

Cortana’s voice in notifications and Action Center just got an update to get a consistent visual treatment throughout the OS. This means it is now a bit larger and now uses the accent color.

Cortana on the taskbar

New Cortana animation in OOBE (PC):

We know how much you love animations, so we wanted to share with you our updated Cortana persona that you’ll see when you land on the Cortana page in OOBE:

Native Apps updates & New Features

Photos app update: With the latest Photos app update on your PC, the Photos app on your PC is now more beautiful and easier to navigate!

  • Photos now has a horizontal navigation bar that makes it easier to view memories by Albums and Folders.
  • Let your photo collection shine! We’ve got a new, light viewing mode for your pics. You can always go back to the dark theme in settings.
  • When viewing photos in full screen, we’ve added new animations in and out of the Collection view, making it easier to keep track of where you are browsing.
  • See individual photos more quickly with your mouse—and now we support full screen.

New UI in Photos app update

  •  Plus, the Photos app is now available on your Xbox One! Show off a slideshow of all your OneDrive photos in your living room. Simply make sure you are signed in with your Microsoft account to see all your OneDrive photos on the big screen.
  • Refining your precision touchpad experience: Based on the feedback we have received, we have made some adjustments to our gesture and click detection on precision touchpads. This includes enhancing detection and disambiguation of left and right clicks, making two finger taps and clicks a bit easier, reducing false positives in our two-finger tap detection and improving our pinch to zoom detection. We have also made algorithm changes in an effort to reduce inadvertent zooming when panning. If you have a precision touchpad on your device, please take the opportunity try out with this build and let us know how it feels with these changes.

Simplified, more familiar camera interface (PC & Mobile): The Camera app received a big update this week for Insiders. We’ve redesigned the Camera interface for ease and accessibility. Check out some of our new features:

  • Enjoy taking photos, videos, and panoramas with our higher-contrast capture buttons.
  • Set a photo timer right from the camera dashboard with our new toggle control.
  • Get to Settings faster! Now, launch into Settings directly from the camera UI.
  • Access your camera roll with one hand from its new spot on the screen.
  • Zoom more easily with the new zoom slider.
  • Make sure you nailed the shot, with a more noticeable capture animation.
  • Change between front- and rear-facing cameras with a more prominent button control.
  • On PC, use the spacebar as a shortcut to take pictures.

camera-app-update

  • You can now experience the magic of living images on your Surface, now enabled on Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 3, and Surface 3! With living images, extend your still captures with a snippet of video. These are created automatically whenever your shots feature motion—just navigate to Settings and turn on Capture living images.
  • And this release features a variety of performance improvements to enhance your experience. We’ve added faster shot-to-shot support, improved feedback for saving large videos to SD cards, and improved camera startup time, among other improvements.

camera-app-update2

Sticky Notes update (PC): 

  • We’ve expanded our support for Insights to many more languages and regions, with even more to come in further updates, stay tuned! Specifically, with this version:
    • We’ve added flight detection for Germany (Germany), in more English locales (Canada, Great Britain, India, Arabia), Spanish (Spain & Mexico), French (France, Canada), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), and Portuguese (Brazil).
    • We’ve added email & URL recognition for every locale (except Chinese (simplified or traditional), Korean, or Japanese, which we’re still working on).
    • We’ve added phone number recognition to all English, German, Spanish, French and Italian locales.
    • We’ve added address recognition support for English (Great Britain) and Spanish (United States).
    • We’ve added time recognition (prompting to create a Cortana reminder) to English (Great Britain), English (Australia) and English (India).
    • We’ve added stock recognition (for example, $MSFT) to English (Australia), English (Canada), English (India), German (Germany), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), French (France), French (Canada), Japanese (Japan) and Portuguese (Brazil).
  • If Insights in Sticky Notes isn’t turned on automatically for you, tap “…” > Settings gear > “Enable insights”. Note: The language and region used to detect Insights in Sticky Notes is based off of the active keyboard. We’re currently investigating some issues where Insights may not show up as expected if you switch keyboards while typing in Sticky Notes.
  • We’ve fixed some issues with Undo and Redo (CTRL + Z/CTRL + Y) while typing, so they’ll now do so more reliably.
  • We’ve improved the performance of text input while typing.
  • It’s now easier than ever to get the latest Sticky Notes app updates. When our next update is available, we’ll show an in-app prompt so all you have to do is click ‘Update’.
  • We’ve also done a whole lot of UI/UX polishing and performance improvements that we hope you enjoy.

We’re been making a bunch of improvements based on your feedback, and have more to come, so let us know what you’d like to see next! In recent versions of Sticky Notes, we’ve added support for many of your favorite keyboard shortcuts, including CTRL + B (bold), CTRL + I (italic), CTRL + N (new note) and CTRL + D (delete note), added a new context menu for easy copy/paste, reduced the minimum note size for typists, as well as generally improved our reliability and performance.

PC & Apps Update Experience improvements

Improving your PC upgrade experience:

  • One of the ongoing feedback items we’ve heard is how the apps that come preinstalled with Windows will reinstall after each upgrade – particularly noticeable for our Insiders that receive multiple flights per month. We’ve heard your feedback, and when your PC updates it will check for apps that have been uninstalled, and it will preserve that state once the update has completed. This means if you uninstall any of the apps included in Windows 10 such as the Mail app or Maps app, they will not get reinstalled after you update to a newer build going forward.
  • If an IT-Pro has de-provisioned an app from your OS image (and you haven’t reinstalled it yourself), that provisioning status will now be preserved after upgrade, and the app will not reinstall. We appreciate everyone who shared feedback with us about this – if you have any other feedback about your upgrade experience, please don’t hesitate to log it – we’re listening.

Improving app and update downloads in Windows 10 with Delivery Optimization:

Starting today, Windows Insiders that have Delivery Optimization enabled will be able to download new Insider Preview builds, OS updates, and app updates from other PCs on their local network as well as from other PCs on the Internet. We introduced Delivery Optimization with the Windows 10 November Update giving users the ability to get updates from PCs on a local network and are now enabling the ability to get updates from PCs on the Internet. When enabled, your PC may also send parts of apps or updates that you have downloaded using Delivery Optimization to other PCs. To check your settings for Delivery Optimization, go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced options and choosing “Choose how updates are delivered.”

Delivery Optimization in Settings.

Expanding the Active Hours default range:

We’ve heard the feedback that you like the control Active Hours provides over when your PC restarts for updates, however feel that that the default 12 hour range on PC is too limited. We want to accommodate various enterprise environments and schedules including those where employees have double shifts, so we’ve changed this range for PCs on Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions to 18 hours. This means Insiders using these editions can now set active hours up to 18 hours from the selected start time (same as Mobile). We’ve added text to the active hours dialog so users always know what the default range is when choosing their times. We’ve also added the ability for the default range to be configured via new group and MDM policies (configurable up to 18 hours). New text will be displayed on the active hours dialog to indicate when the default range is configured via the policy. PCs using Home edition will continue to have a default range of 12 hours.

Expanded Active Hours

Touchpad experience improvements

Customizing your precision touchpad experience (PC):

We announced that we’d been working on refining your touchpad experience. This week, we’re taking that one step further. When you go into Settings > Devices > Touchpad, you will now find a section called “Other gestures”. In this section, you now have basic customization options for your three and four finger gestures. For taps, you can select between Cortana, Action Center, play/pause or middle mouse button, and for left/right swipes, you can select between switching apps or switching virtual desktops. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Updated Touchpad settings.

However, we know that some of our Insiders prefer even more control over their experience, so for those Insiders (and power users) we have added a new Advanced Gestures Configuration page. The page can be accessed via a link at the bottom of Touchpad settings page.

Advanced Gesture Configuration settings page

The Advanced Gestures Configuration page has more configuration options, including hooking gestures up for next/previous song, creating/deleting virtual desktops, or snapping windows. In addition to these new options, we’ve also updated the Touchpad settings to include reference diagrams to remind you of what to expect when you swipe with three or four fingers in a particular direction.

Refining the customization experience for precision touchpad (PC):

We’ve hooked up our keyboard shortcut picker, so now if you choose that option on the Advanced gestures page, you’ll be presented a recorder so you can capture your favorite key combo –  perhaps WIN + Alt + D or WIN + F to start with? Secondly, we’ve added a Change audio and volume option to the set of basic swipe gestures you can pick from. Finally, we’ve updated the reset button to now has a progress circle and display a check mark when it is finished. We’ve also heard your feedback from the last flight, and fixed a few issues including that the reset button wasn’t clearing the settings listed on the advanced gestures page, that the 4-fingure gesture graphic was visible on devices that only supported 3-contact points, and that some of the advanced gestures options weren’t working as expected. If you have any more feedback for us, please let us know!

Windows Ink & Drawing

Windows Ink Improvements (PC):

Pen dropdowns in Windows Ink Workspace will let you change both color and width without having to open it twice. After you make all the adjustments to your favorite pen, start drawing right away and we will dismiss the dropdown for you.protactor

  • We are also introducing Stencils. Windows Ink protractor tool combines functions of both protractor and compass into one – now you can draw an arc or a complete circle of an arbitrary size with little effort. A familiar two-finger pinch gesture resizes the protractor to the desired size and a degree readout follows your pen, mouse, or finger as you draw along the side of the protractor displaying arc degrees. In this preview build, ruler also got a small update – its degree readout shows a numerical value of the angle, making drawing angles even easier.
  • Inking in Photos: With version 16.1017.10000.0 of the Photos app just released for Insiders in the Fast ring, you can now harness the power of Windows Ink with your photos! Not only that, but when you save the ink, it replays what you drew, so you can share it as a still image or a video. Add funny comments or accessorize your friends – the sky’s the limit! To start inking, pick one of your favorite photos, and then tap the Draw option. You’ll now enter the familiar Windows Ink toolbar experience, where you can select a pen, pencil, and one new addition: a calligraphy pen! Once you finish inking, press the save button and the ink will dry, thus becoming part of the photo. This version of the Photos app also comes with an updated the cropping experience, and we’ve added a whole slew of new filters. Draw on photos with updated Photos app!

Now you can draw along the protractor and have the degree visual remain visible until you start drawing again. We’ve also updated the degree visual to be more clear – black text on a white background, as opposed to the previous black text on a red background.

Windows Ink Workspace Improvements (PC):

  • We increased the number of Recently Used apps shown in the Windows Ink Workspace to 6, and added a link to quickly access your pen settings.inking and resizing the protractor at the same time would result in Sketchpad crashing.
  • We’ve updated the “Pen & Windows Ink” Settings for pen users to now include a link to the handwriting training tool – simply click on “Get to know my handwriting” to launch it. We’ve also improved how we learn from your handwriting samples – try it out and let us know what you think!

Ease of Access & Narrator Improvements

Narrator improvements:

This build includes a number of improvements to Narrator including multiple fixes to continuous reading when used in tables and on web pages, a fix for the Caps Lock + W reading experience so dialogs and other elements are read correctly again, and a fix so that reading hint text does not interrupt the reading of information by Narrator but comes after the main information is read. And Narrator now properly indicates when it is exiting.

Context Awareness in Narrator (PC)

As you navigate around, you can be notified about different groups or other areas you move to, such as groups in the Office ribbon. To configure the amount of context you hear, cycle through options with ALT + Caps Lock + /. To change whether the context is read before the item with focus or after, use CTRL + Caps Lock + /. To check the context at any point. Press Caps Lock + D twice.

Form field navigation in Narrator:

We are excited to announce that this build introduces form field navigation to Narrator. 

In Scan Mode, you can now use the following commands to jump to form fields:

  • F and Shift + F: Jump to next/previous form field
  • C and Shift + C: Jump to next/previous combo box
  • E and Shift + E: Jump to next/previous edit box
  • X and Shift + X: Jump to next/previous check box
  • R and Shift + R: Jump to next/previous radio button
  • B and Shift + B: Jump to next/previous button

Basically, the letter moves forward and Shift + letter moves in reverse.

Form Fields have been added to Narrator’s Search and Select feature which is available at any time by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Search and Select allows you to list items such as buttons, links, headings and other elements available in an app, webpage or document.

A new view is now available for form fields. The active view can be changed by pressing Caps Lock and using the up and down arrows to navigate the list of views on the keyboard, or single finger up/down flicks with touch.

Announcing braille support in Narrator:

We love getting feedback from our visually-impaired Insiders and implementing features to support your needs. It’s so important that we keep our diverse customers in mind as we co-create with you.  Today, we are excited to announce braille support for Narrator . This experience is currently in beta. So try it out and give us feedback! In order to use braille with Narrator, you will need to do the following:

  • Ensure Narrator is running. Then go to Settings > Ease of Access (WIN + U) and under the Narrator settings, activate the “Download Braille” button. You will be prompted to install braille support.
  • Under Settings > Ease of Access, activate the “Enable braille” button and add a braille display. Note that USB and serial connections for the display are supported.
  • Under Settings > Ease of Access, choose the language and braille table you want to use.

Braille settings.

Note detailed documentation about braille display key mappings will be made available in the Narrator User Guide closer to when the Windows 10 Creators Update is released.

NOTE: There are coexistence issues with braille support and third party screen readers. Until the documentation is available, we recommend that braille be enabled for Narrator only on PCs that do not also have a third-party screen reader configured to use a braille display.

 New mono audio option in Ease of Access settings:
Visually impaired users use a screen reader application to read the PC screen content and information to them, and frequently use headphones or earbuds to hear the computer when in meetings or having conversations with others. When doing so, they generally use only one earbud to hear the PC in one ear so the other ear is free to hear conversations and sounds around them. That can cause them to not hear sounds that may be directed to the other earbud. In order to change the sound to be mono mode and so all audio is directed to both ears, they used to need a physical earphone adapter. You can now switch your audio to mono straight from the new Audio section under Settings > Ease of Access > Other options.

Usability, Login & connectivity improvements

Making pin login easier:

Ever tried to enter your pin, only to discover the numbers you’ve been typing are nowhere to be seen because Num Lock was off? We’re happy to announce that that will no longer happen! With this build, regardless of your Num Lock state, numbers will be input if you’re typing into the pin password field. Let us know what you think!\

Authentication changes affecting connectivity to NAS devices and home file servers:

After updating to the latest Insider Preview builds, you may have noticed that shared devices on your home network have disappeared from your home network folder. You may have also noticed your mapped network drives are not available. If you change your network to “private” or “enterprise”, it should start working again. For more information on this behavior change, see this Microsoft Security Bulletin.

Improved discovery for Troubleshooters:
Troubleshooters can find and fix many common problems for you. With Build 15019, we bring the latest piece of our ongoing effort to converge Control Panel into Settings and are happy to let you know that the Troubleshooters section of Control Panel has been migrated into Settings. We also flattened the hierarchy to make them easier to find, and added more solutions, too! Head to Settings > Update & security > Troubleshoot to see the complete list.Troubleshoot settings page.
Continuing our progress towards a more inclusive OOBE:
You all gave us a TON of feedback on the new first experience over the past few weeks. The Windows Out-Of-Box-Experience (OOBE) Team offers their thanks and continues their work to reimagine how people set up their PCs for the first time. Building off what was first introduced in Build 15002, this build brings even more improvements to make setting up a PC more inclusive!
  • Privacy: The new privacy settings in the set up experience (OOBE) that Terry talked about in this blog post are now included in this build.

Privacy in OOBE.

Wi-Fi Captive Portal:

The Wi-Fi connectivity experience in OOBE has been updated to support “captive portal” Wi-Fi networks. When connecting to such a Wi-Fi hotspot, OOBE will navigate to a lightweight browser experience allowing you to complete the connection and reach the internet. We’ve also included some updates allowing you to configure some basic properties for the Wi-Fi network during OOBE.

MSA Sign-in/Sign-up:

The Microsoft Account (MSA) Sign-in and Sign-up flows in OOBE are now updated to the new design for the Windows 10 Creators Update. Users will see that these experiences are paginated and simplified will help in reducing the overall cognitive load and in improving accessibility in the MSA sign-in/sign-up experiences.

MSA in OOBE.

Windows Hello enrollment:

Users can now enroll into Windows Hello using the new design implementation for the Windows 10 Creators Update with Cortana voiceover and support for speech input.

Miscellaneous new features & changes

New Bluetooth APIs (PC & Mobile):

This is the first build you can try out the new APIs that enable GATT Server, Bluetooth LE Peripheral role and unpaired Bluetooth LE device connectivity. We will be flighting an updated SDK tomorrow, please look for 15003 or greater SDK.  For more information, the Windows developer blog will have post tomorrow on GATT Server once the SDK flights. UPDATE – the blog post is live!

Improved translations: For Insiders who speak non-English languages, we wanted to let you know that we have heard your feedback on our translations and have been actively making improvements. With this build you should see improvements – particularly in OOBE and for some of our newer settings, but across the system as well. We encourage you to take a look around the system, and if you spot anything translation that doesn’t quite seem on point, please log feedback using the steps here.

Introducing Collections in Feedback Hub: A few months ago, we asked you what was one of your biggest pieces of feedback about the Feedback Hub. You said, “too many duplicate pieces of feedback!”. We love working with you to create a better experience for everyone using the Feedback Hub, so today we are so happy to announce Collections. Collections are now live in Feedback Hub starting with app version 1.1612.10251.0.

Collection icon for Feedback Hub.

A Collection groups together feedback for similar problems and suggestions into single items that bring together all the voices who expressed that sentiment in one place. All of your individual voices will be amplified when your feedback and upvotes are joined together into collections, and you’ll be able to see just how big your voice can become. Same as with individual feedback, you’ll be able to upvote Collections, upload screenshots to show the engineering team a problem you’re seeing or a suggestion you have, and comment on the feedback with others.

Thank you for your feedback, Insiders. Because of you, the Feedback Hub is becoming better for ALL customers.

Windows Defender Improvements: Windows Defender Security Center has added a notification icon to the notification area so you can see your protection status at a glance. You can also easily launch the app from the notification icon. Windows Defender Antivirus notifications also now lead to Windows Defender Security Center when clicked. Also: Windows Defender Security Center can now be launched directly from the Settings app and the “App and Browser” page is now functional.

New Defender icon in notification area

Native support for USB Audio 2.0: We now have native support for USB Audio 2.0 devices with an inbox class driver! This is an early version of the driver that does not have all features enabled, for e.g.: only playback (render) is supported with this version. Recording (capture) support is scheduled to arrive in later iterations. We encourage you to play with the driver and let us know what you think (using the Feedback app). If you already have third party drivers for your USB Audio 2.0 device installed, follow instructions in this blog post to switch to using the inbox class driver.

New features for Powerusers:

  • Service hosts are split into separate processes on PCs with 3.5 GB+ of RAM: If your PC has 3.5+ GB of memory, you may notice an increased number of processes in Task Manager. While this change may look concerning at first glance, many will be excited to find out the motivation behind this change. As the number of preinstalled services grew, they began to get grouped into processes known as service hosts (svchost.exe’s) with Windows 2000. Note that the recommended RAM for PC’s for this release was 256 MB, while the minimum RAM was 64MB. Because of the dramatic increase in available memory over the years, the memory-saving advantage of service hosts has diminished. Accordingly, ungrouping services on memory-rich (3.5+ GB of RAM) PCs running Windows now offers us the opportunity to do the following:

    1. Increase reliability: When one service in a service host fails, all services in the service host fail. In other words, the service host process is terminated resulting in termination of all running services within that process. Individual service failure actions are then run. As you may have noticed in Task Manager before, service hosts can contain a lot of services:                                                                                              services_1
    2. Increase transparency: Task Manager will now give you a better view into what is going on behind the scenes. You can now see how much CPU, Memory, Disk & Network individual services are consuming.
      services_2
      To see the name of the service, click on the left-most arrow such that the Display name drops down. Alternatively, right-click on the header and select ‘Command Line’ to add the Command Line column. Service names will be listed in the format ‘svchost.exe -k <svchost name> -s <service name>.’
    3. Reduce servicing costs: Following reports of instability, service engineers, IT admins, and Microsoft engineers can rapidly pinpoint issues to the exact service and fix it.
    4. Increase security: Process isolation and individual permission sets for services will increase security.

Improved high-DPI support for ITPros: With Build 15002, we shared our new option to override a GDI-based app’s high DPI scaling with our own System (Enhanced) scaling. With Build 15019, we’re happy to let you know that this System (Enhanced) application compatibility setting will now also available to be enabled or disabled via the Windows ADK for IT Professionals, so you can make adjustments to a broad audience of PCs.

  • [ADDED] Knowing where you are in the registry: For our power users, we have added something special in this build – Registry Editor (regedit) now has an address bar! This enables you to easily see your current registry key path, and copy it if needed. You can also paste or type in paths, and pressing enter will take you to that location. You can use Alt + D to set focus to the address bar.
  • Address bar in Regedit

  • Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Updates: WSL will install Ubuntu version 16.04 (Xenial) instead of Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) in an upcoming release. This change will apply to Insiders installing new instances (lxrun.exe /install or first run of bash.exe). Existing instances with Trusty will not be upgraded automatically. Users can upgrade their Trusty image to Xenial using the do-release-upgrade command. Full WSL release notes can be found here.

Controlling external monitors from tablets just got easier (PC): You can now drive content on a second display from your tablet without ever having to attach a mouse. The virtual touchpad lets you do more with a tablet and a second screen – just connect to another monitor, PC, or TV, go to Action Center and tap on the “Project” Quick Action to extend your screen. Use it just like you would a physical touchpad to control content on the connected screen. To enable it, press and hold on the taskbar and select “Show touchpad button”. A touchpad icon will now appear in the notification area (just like Windows Ink Workspace does), and tapping on it will bring it up the virtual touchpad.

Virtual touchpad

You’ve seen the work we’ve been doing for precision touchpad customization with the last few builds, and the virtual touchpad is no exception. While the virtual touchpad is open, go to Settings > Devices > Touchpad and you’ll be able to tweak the touchpad settings to your preferences.

  • Controlling the Display Scaling of your Virtual Machines (PC): We’ve heard your feedback that Hyper-V Virtual Machines sometimes aren’t scaled as you’d expect, so we’ve added a new Zoom option in the View menu, where you can override the default scaling and set it to 100, 125, 150 or 200 – whichever matches your preference. Along the way, we also fixed an issue where certain VMs wouldn’t display the remote desktop connection bar after entering full screen mode. We are still refining the experience so there might be some rough edges. For example, although we added zoom levels to handle high DPI more gracefully, when zooming you won’t be able to see the VM’s whole screen without scrolling.
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux: Today we are happy to announce two large updates to WSL!
    • Official Ubuntu 16.04 support. Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial) is installed for all new Bash on Ubuntu on Windows instances starting in build 14951.  This replaces Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty).  Existing user instances will not be upgraded automatically.  Users on the Windows Insider program can upgrade manually from 14.04 to 16.04 using the do-release-upgrade command.
    • Windows / WSL interoperability. Users can now launch Windows binaries directly from a WSL command prompt.  This is the number one request from our users on the WSL User Voice page.  More information can be found on the WSL Blog and the WSL MSDN page. Other changes and more information can be found on the WSL Release Notes page.
  • Improving Product Education: As part of an effort to explore new ways of educating our customers on features in Windows 10 – we are testing out new notifications within File Explorer. They’re designed to help customers by providing quick, easy information about things they can do or new features they can try to have a better experience with Windows 10. If you want to opt out of these notifications, you can do so by unchecking ‘Show sync provider notifications’ from the Options menu in the File Explorer View tab.

    New notifications in File Explorer for product education

Enhancing the Address Bar in Registry Editor (PC): We were really excited to hear how excited you were about the new address bar in Registry Editor, and based on your feedback, we’ve already incorporated two new features:

  1. You can now use CTRL + L to set focus to the address bar – while we already supported ALT + D, we recognize that some people prefer this keyboard shortcut instead, so now you have the option to use either one
  2. You can now use shorthand notation for HKEY names – you told us that when sharing registry paths you always use shorthand notation (HKCU) instead of typing out the full HKEY name (i.e. HKEY_CURRENT_USER), so we should support them in the address bar, and you know what? We agree! You can now just use “HKCR”, “HKCU”, “HKLM”, and “HKU” instead of typing or pasting the respective full name “HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT”, “HKEY_CURRENT_USER”, “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE”, or “HKEY_USERS” into the address bar.

Improving Your Hyper-V VM experience (PC): Following the new VM scaling options mentioned in last week’s build, we’ve fixed an issue where depending on the zoom level selected, the VM window might not be created large enough to avoid scrollbars, despite their being enough space for it. We also updated the logic so that when you pick a particular zoom level, that zoom level preference will be preserved for the next VM connection. Along the way, we fixed an issue where the title bar of a maximized VM window would be occluded when taskbar had been set to on top.

Resize your Virtual Machine Connection in Hyper-V: You can now quickly resize VMConnect by dragging the corners of the window and the guest operating system will automatically adjust to the new resolution. This requires that you are logged into the guest operating system and running in Enhanced session mode.

Bringing 3D to Everyone via the Paint 3D Preview app: Starting with this build and going forward, the Paint 3D Preview app is now included as part of Windows 10. Opening Paint from Start will now take you to the Paint 3D Preview app. Please try it out and let us know what you think we should improve or add next! Currently, Paint 3D Preview is only available in English (aka, regardless of your display language, the text will be in English) – support for other languages will be coming soon. Remix 3D Preview, the community counterpart to Paint 3D Preview, is expanding to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland for Windows Insiders today! Remix 3D Preview is currently only available in English but we will continue to expand our region and language support. You can check it out at Remix3D.com and from within the Paint 3D Preview app.

  • PowerShell in the Shell: In an effort to bring the best command line experiences to the forefront for all power users, PowerShell is now the defacto command shell from File Explorer. It replaces Command Prompt (aka, “cmd.exe”) in the WIN + X menu, in File Explorer’s File menu, and in the context menu that appears when you shift-right-click the whitespace in File Explorer. Typing “cmd” (or “powershell”) in File Explorer’s address bar will remain a quick way to launch the command shell at that location. For those who prefer to use Command Prompt, you can opt out of the WIN + X change by opening Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, and turning “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X” to “Off”.Fun fact! It’s PowerShell’s 10 year anniversary this week. Hop over to Channel 9 to see some of the videos we’ve been sharing about it. If you’re looking to learn more about unleashing the “power” in PowerShell, this page is a great resource.
  • Improved Typing Experience with Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IMEs): This build includes many improvements in this space – here are some of the highlights:
    • Improved Chinese IME reliability. In particular, we fixed an issue where the IME might crash due to an incompletely downloaded or corrupted dictionary file
    • Improved Conversion Accuracy for the Japanese IME. We also fixed various issues, in particular, when conversion was used mixed with prediction, and an UX issue when trying to change phrase segmentation.
    • Improved resource usage when typing with the Japanese IME. In particular, we fixed an issue that could result in unexpected graphic glitches after using the IME for an extended period of time.

Depreciated new features:

  • Snooze in Microsoft Edge: We know you all love when we get creative with you, so we have added an experimental “Snooze” action on a tab in Microsoft Edge which provides you with a way to set a Cortana reminder on the website you are viewing. People often keep tabs open in their browser indefinitely as a “to do” list, and do not close those tabs until the action associated with that website is complete. This feature lets you put a site into a Cortana reminder that will show up as a notification and in Action Center, allowing you to quickly open that site in Microsoft Edge when you’re ready to get back to it.

Windows 10 Mobile Creators update Official Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itc5ihHDAnY

 

Read full coverage of Redstone 2 aka Creators update below:

[display-posts tag=”Creators-update” posts_per_page=”30″ image_size=”thumbnail”]