Microsoft unveils Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

New features of the codenamed Redstone 3 update include user interface change part of what Microsoft calls Fluent Design System and Timeline functions as well as OneDrive Files On-Demand. There will also be changes to the Cortana personal assistant.

Microsoft just announced the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the new refresh for its Windows 10 operating system. Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president of the Windows and devices group, revealed the update during Day Two of Microsoft's Build developer conference on Thursday. The refresh follows Microsoft's first Creators Update, which started rolling out to Windows machines last month, reports cnbc.

Myerson highlighted several new features coming to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. A new feature called "Timeline" will provide users with "a visual timeline that displays what you what you were doing [and] when," which allows users to quickly pick up on an existing project. That means you can start work on a computer, for example, and then pick up where you left off if you switch machines.

The personal assistant Cortana will also understand what you're working on across different machines, whether it's a phone or your computer. "Imagine logging off your PC and having the doc you were editing pop up on your phone," Myerson said. "Cortana asks if you want to pick up where you left off in your app, doc or website. It's like having your PC and your phone finish each other's sentences." This feature, again, lets you work on a document on a smartphone while riding the train to work, for example, and then pick up right where you left off when you boot up your computer at work.

Other changes include tweaks to OneDrive for on-demand file access and a new clipboard that allows you to copy content on one device and paste it on another. Fles will be stored in the cloud and available to you without being synced on your local device. An older version of this feature appeared in Windows 8.1, and people have been asking for it since. Dropbox and Google Drive are incorporating a similar feature, too. Interestingly enough, this works with files in the Desktop and Documents folder, so it isn’t just limited to files in the OneDrive folder. When you try to open a file that isn’t stored on your PC, Windows will download it and open it for you. This is implemented at a low level in the operating system and works with any application, even command line ones. 

Myerson added that the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will also look different, thanks to what Microsoft is calling a "Fluent Design System" that will create a common user interface across devices. The Fall Creators Update will be available later this year, we would assume in the Fall but already learned its November 2017.