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Slashdot Asks: Windows 10 Creators Update Goes Live On April 11, Will You Upgrade?
Microsoft said today it will start rolling out Windows 10 Creators Update, the latest major update to its current desktop operating system, starting April 11. The company says Windows 10 Creators Update brings with it a range of new features. Some of the chief ones are:
1. Visual previews of tabs in Microsoft Edge.
2. Edge now has built-in support for ebooks.
3. Microsoft Paint now lets people create models in 3D.
4. Picture-in-Picture mode for videos. Essentially you can now have a small window with video playing on it placed on top of any other application.
5. Night Light: A baked in feature in Windows that will allow you to change the color and tone of display so that it doesn't pain your eyes to look at the screen at night.
6. Dynamic Lock: The feature first requires you to pair your phone or tablet with the computer. Once done, it will automatically log you out everytime you're away from desk (or technically speaking, the device is out of the computer's proximity).
7. Native support for surround sound.
8. Ability to scribble and make notes on Microsoft's Maps app.
9. Game mode: It "ensures" your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
10. Built-in support for mixed reality handsets.
Over the past two years, we have seen numerous instances where Microsoft has been pushing Windows 10 update to customers who have Windows 7 or 8 running on their machines. There are still hundreds of millions of customers who're yet to upgrade from Windows 7, arguing that they either prefer how Windows 7 looks and functions, or (in some cases, and) why fix something when nothing is broken. That said, would you consider upgrading your system to Windows 10 Creators Update?
1. Visual previews of tabs in Microsoft Edge.
2. Edge now has built-in support for ebooks.
3. Microsoft Paint now lets people create models in 3D.
4. Picture-in-Picture mode for videos. Essentially you can now have a small window with video playing on it placed on top of any other application.
5. Night Light: A baked in feature in Windows that will allow you to change the color and tone of display so that it doesn't pain your eyes to look at the screen at night.
6. Dynamic Lock: The feature first requires you to pair your phone or tablet with the computer. Once done, it will automatically log you out everytime you're away from desk (or technically speaking, the device is out of the computer's proximity).
7. Native support for surround sound.
8. Ability to scribble and make notes on Microsoft's Maps app.
9. Game mode: It "ensures" your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
10. Built-in support for mixed reality handsets.
Over the past two years, we have seen numerous instances where Microsoft has been pushing Windows 10 update to customers who have Windows 7 or 8 running on their machines. There are still hundreds of millions of customers who're yet to upgrade from Windows 7, arguing that they either prefer how Windows 7 looks and functions, or (in some cases, and) why fix something when nothing is broken. That said, would you consider upgrading your system to Windows 10 Creators Update?
Do you have a choice?
It'll deserve a BIG Thank You M$! - For deploying an update that needlessly shortens my SSD life while adding a ton of bloat, without really fixing any existing issues...
X11 that is. "Creator's Upsate"? Really? Well that name doesn't *sound* very creative. I'm just saiyan (like Goku).
Someone had to do it.
Okay, the Home edition still tries to prevent you from shutting off the crumy updates, and even the pro edition limits your ability to control the OS compared to Windows 7. What good is this decorative entertainment nonsense when the OS controls you. Hopefully people will wake up and get of Windows 10 before the next updates starts telling you what you are allowed to install. That is how bad this OS is. (See class action lawsuit over update mechanism)
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
I would deride them thoroughly for being so late to the party with a lot of this stuff, but it's good to hear they're doing... something. Something happened.
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
M$ is bad because M$!
Did you see {thing} they did(not) do? It is bad because they did(not) do it!
Does it really go live April 11? Or did they mean April 1?
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
since windows 10 regular users (more like betatesters) will be mandatory updated to this version, no mattter if it works or not :P
so as the only group that can actually answer that question (win7 here), no, im not upgrading to windows 10, ever
thats a question for 7 years down the line when support for windows 8 ends, like bane said, "come on slashdot, now its not the time for windows 10, THAT COMES LATER!!!!"
Is windows still free?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
1. Visual previews of tabs in Microsoft Edge.
I don't use Edge.
2. Edge now has built-in support for ebooks.
See #1.
3. Microsoft Paint now lets people create models in 3D.
If it's anything like Paint was for graphics then most likely I'd use something more robust instead of Paint to make 3d stuff. Assuming I have 3D stuff to make in the first place.
4. Picture-in-Picture mode for videos. Essentially you can now have a small window with video playing on it placed on top of any other application.
That sounds annoying.
5. Night Light: A baked in feature in Windows that will allow you to change the color and tone of display so that it doesn't pain your eyes to look at the screen at night.
Honestly not sure about this one. My eyes are fine looking at the screen at night.
6. Dynamic Lock: The feature first requires you to pair your phone or tablet with the computer. Once done, it will automatically log you out everytime you're away from desk (or technically speaking, the device is out of the computer's proximity).
Just what I always wanted for my computer, another attack vector for breaking in.
7. Native support for surround sound.
That's nice, don't have surround sound but I seriously think that's a nice feature.
8. Ability to scribble and make notes on Microsoft's Maps app.
I don't use Maps and in fact if I could uninstall it I did or would if I could.
9. Game mode: It "ensures" your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
I found it annoying when Windows unexpectedly loaded up things like a session record when I fired up Minecraft one day because "gaming experience". Do not annoy me further please.
10. Built-in support for mixed reality handsets.
Like surround sound this is nice but not something I use.
Over all I have little incentive to update Windows, more incentive to reformat and use another operating system on my only Windows machine left in my collection. The reality however is they will most likely force this update on me one way or another so if it bugs me to much I'll have no more Windows machines "just for certain games" because the operating system those games relies on is far to annoying for me to continue to in that market when better alternatives I'm already running on a gaming laptop I have running Linux are available.
Where's that meme picture...
None of these features sound good. None of them.
crazy dynamite monkey
Not until they totally remove the spyware they infested it with.
So no, but I'll enjoy the reporting of the usual doom and mayhem it will generate.
Irrelevant news and morons using moderation to mod down what they disagree on. 2018 resolution: so long.
I'll stay with Windows 7 for a while longer. But I won't be installing Windows 10 willingly, if ever.
Microsoft: "We let you choose how much spying we do on your activities!"
Users: "Uh...please don't spy on us at all. Like, none."
Microsoft: "OK, here's some revised settings that don't let you actually turn data collection off! One is called 'Basic'!"
Users: "..."
No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
and maybe not after April 18th, either.
I swear Microsoft always seems to not only not support old versions but actively creates issues to force you to upgrade. On windows 7 just on March 15th they pushed a "security update" to 2010 Microsoft office that basically makes any file with macros in it crash unexpectedly many times a day. I had to roll back the updates on every computer in our office and disable windows updates because we rely heavily on macros. It's so frustrating that things can work fine and they break it. Now we have to think about upgrading to the lastest operating system and Microsoft office which both already changed the way VBA works so transitioning and keeping our existing macros running is going to take many months of work.
That's as stupid as buying iPhone apps from iTunes or making a voice call from FaceTime.
#DeleteFacebook
The more relevant question is: will I be upgraded?
But not today, or April 11. We have Windows 7 at work, and Windows 10 at the college where I teach. Windows 10 has exactly 0 compelling new features for me. Sadly, our department at work will be upgrading sometime before the fall semester. Can't wait to see what specialized software I run is going to break!
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
I guess it isn't terribly creative, but complaining about Paint's name is like complaining about Notepad... it'd be more confusing if they renamed it.
Why log me out and not just 'Lock this computer'? This is as stupid as no-choice reboots to install updates.
If my laptop will even finish its current update. For the last while now I turn it on and it starts spinning saying configuring updates 100% complete seemingly indefinitely, it doesn't get to 100% it starts there. (I left it for nearly an hour once and it was still 100% complete) so I kill the power, it turns on again says configuration failed and I'm good to go. The laptop is pretty fucked though and its battery doesn't work. I only use it for videos or streaming xbox otherwise I might look into sorting it out.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
None of the changes mentioned in the summary are of any interest to me. The most exciting feature of the "Creators Update" is the ability to create symlinks without elevation... Woo-hoo!
http://www.ghacks.net/2016/12/...
I don't believe this one is a mandatory upgrade - Anniversary Edition wasn't, for example, and this is the same level of upgrade.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I am almost positive I will be upgrading.
Not because I want to, but because Microsoft will "upgrade" my machine behind my back, whether I want to upgrade or not.
God help us all, if they ever get a zero day on Linux, because then a lot more machines will end up "upgraded" to Windows 10...
For the picture in picture mode, you can just set VLC for "Always On Top". I don't know why this was never made an option for every Window. There are various hacks to make it available for all windows but it really should be something that's available by default.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Always on top,
Remove windows decorations.
Not really a "hack" it's pretty much by default.
The summary is a bit unfair in listing a subset of the new features.
Plenty of articles popped last month on the subject.
I'm upgrading, but then again, I'm not a paranoid, delusional basement dweller who thinks they should stick with one OS (for the record, I run everything from Linux to Windows and a few things in between, like Apple's stuff - whatever is appropriate for the hardware).
Also, as somebody who has run 2nd generation SSDs for 8+ years without powering them down, I'm not to worried about Microsoft "needlessly shortening my SSD life" with an update, LOL. I don't have an urgent need to hyperbolize everything or insist people stop liking what I don't like.
I actually rather like Windows 10, have had no problems with it.
CREATORS CREATORS CREATORS CREATORS CREATORS!!!!! duuuuhhhhhh.....
God I so do not miss proprietary shit-ware.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
9. Game mode: It "ensures" your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
Fascinating a "game mode" would be needed to keep system processes from interfering with the operation of games.
Preoccupying CPU caches with Microsoft P2P networks to facilitate forced updates and constant data collection must be taxing on otherwise idle W10 systems regardless number of available cores.
Yes, upgrade from MS Windows to Linux! Use that most of the time, run Windows only in a VM and only if you have to. If it's absolutely necessary, have a computer that boots into Windows - but the more dust said computer collects, the better for you and for the entire world.
Elsewhere on Slashdot is a story about why Flash died. Too bad it wasn't talking about Windows instead. I had no love for Flash either; but if I got to choose which one of them would be pushing up daisies, Flash blocking browser extensions would still be a thing.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
Why is Windows 10 considered an upgrade to anything save, oh, Bob or GEM?
do I have a choice?
I actually just this week stocked up on some Skylake parts, as to avoid a forced upgrade that comes with Kaby Lake. The key issue for me would be: Does the UI still look like the afterbirth from Win 3.1?
By all accounts, the answer is yes. It is utterly beyond me how such a terrible eye-straining flat UI could be launched in this decade.
So just because you use Chrome, everyone does? I don't, for my use cases Chrome sucks donkey balls, so I use Firefox (and Edge in edge cases).
Good for you. Some people surely do. You are most certainly not a shining paragon of computer usage.
So? Is any given software allowed to exist only once in that little universe of yours? Is the purpose of an application used a primary key in the data base in your head?
You forget all the environments where real security is not a must, but locking the computer when away for lunch/making tea/going for a piss still makes sense and avoids pranks by coworkers.
Depends. Maybe this update brings a real time Dolby Surround encoder or something like that.
Speak for yourself, kiddo. I use Bing Maps because it is 10 times faster than Google Maps.
Windows XP is still widely used, even though it was released over 15 years ago. Windows 7 is the most used version of Windows and is over 7 years old. Mixed reality can become a thing in a few years, and this way Microsoft avoids the chicken and egg problem.
Dude, grow up, seriously.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
The main thing mentioned that I care about is the new screen dimmer, but I've been using f.lux for years.
"Dynamic Lock" could be very handy (auto-lock when you walk away) and I've been looking into something to do that, but I'm looking at it for a scenario of PCs in exam rooms so pairing all of them to doctors' phones isn't really a viable option.
Not mentioned in the summary, but possibly important to readers here:
Improvements to control over updates, such as being able to prevent driver updates.
Improvements to privacy settings - Maybe not so relevant if you're using O&O ShutUp, but nice to have. Apparently includes the ability to see (and clear) the info that MS has, along with a reduction of the info sent when you're using "Basic" telemetry settings.
An upgrade to Windows Subsystem for Linux (will be bumped to Ubuntu 16.04 from the current 14.04) and better integration with Windows apps.
A navigation bar in the registry, which could actually be really handy.
If you use OneDrive on both a desktop with tons of storage (and everything local) and a laptop with an SSD smaller than what's in your OneDrive, now there will apparently be better behavior for files not local on the smaller system. Currently, you basically just modify in OneDrive Settings which folders are available on each system.
fencepost
just a little off
According to "Barnacules Nerdgasm" on Youtube, who previously worked on Windows at Microsoft, people he know who are still inside have told him that "telemetry" (I.e. spying) will get harder to disable in future updates. Whether all of these will be in this next update or in a future one is hard to say.
He commented to his own video with this:
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
1. will allow to completely disable telemetry (or won't include it at all)
2. will not have any mention of UWP/Metro (right now it's even built into Explorer)
3. will allow to control updates and Windows Defender
4. will return Classic Control Panel along with all removed options like Glass, Classic UI, etc.
5. Will introduce Service packs back.
Until then Windows 7 is more than good for me.
Picture in Picture mode isn't quite exactly what you're thinking, I don't think. I believe it allows *developers* to do this easier, or something? link with a bit more information
Worst case scenario, you would block them at your router (assuming that you control the network).
The update will likely crash (as occurred with the last major update), and require a manual download and installation.
But now that you mention it, RemixOS sounds better all the time.
> So just because you use Chrome, everyone does? I don't, for my use cases Chrome sucks donkey balls, so I use Firefox (and Edge in edge cases).
No, but with roughly 96% of people using browers other than Edge, I definitely do represent the vast majority of users in this particular case. New features for a browser that barely anybody uses is not a big new exciting feature.
> Good for you. Some people surely do. You are most certainly not a shining paragon of computer usage.
I really doubt that the typical Windows user cares about doign 3D modeling in mspaint, even if they *do* use mspaint.
> So? Is any given software allowed to exist only once in that little universe of yours? Is the purpose of an application used a primary key in the data base in your head?
If free apps have provided the functionality for ages, then it's not worth touting as a big new important feature.
> You forget all the environments where real security is not a must, but locking the computer when away for lunch/making tea/going for a piss still makes sense and avoids pranks by coworkers.
30 seconds after the bluetooth signal dies (so let's say 60 seconds after you physically walk away from your computer) is plenty of time for a coworker to play their pranks.
> Depends. Maybe this update brings a real time Dolby Surround encoder or something like that.
Give us built-in support for heapdhone surround and I'll be excited. With the exception of home theater use, surroundsound on PC is pretty much completely dead. Klipsch even discontinued the ProMedia 5.1 in favour of just the 2.1. I suspect that this is because everybody who cared about surroundsound on PCs either moved to headphones (gamers, mostly) or home theatres (where you're feeding a receiver over HDMI or spdif), so bringing surround back for headphone users would be pretty nice. There don't seem to really be any existing apps or drivers that offer a good universally compatible headphone surround experience.
General Dolby Surround encoding may not be very useful. Any device that supports dolby is going to support PCM surround (excepting over toslink due to bandwidth limitations) which is what Windows currently outputs, and you can already bitstream Dolby Surround for media playback.
> Speak for yourself, kiddo. I use Bing Maps because it is 10 times faster than Google Maps.
Bing Maps has sub-par address matching capabilities, and a market share that rounds off to 0%, although that's for share of site embedding since it's a lot harder to measure user usage share. New features that benefit Bing Maps aren't likely to excite users when few of them use Bing Maps.
> Windows XP is still widely used, even though it was released over 15 years ago. Windows 7 is the most used version of Windows and is over 7 years old. Mixed reality can become a thing in a few years, and this way Microsoft avoids the chicken and egg problem.
WinXP has a ~2% share in North America (and not much higher if you include the whole world), but I understand what you're getting at. The problem is that mixed reality is very far from being practical, let alone mass market. That isn't going to happen by the time Win10 is as old as 7 is today. I'm skeptical it will even happen by the time Win10 is as old as XP is today. VR? Sure, that's a much easier problem to solve.
Sure, but implementing always-on-top is trivial from a developer standpoint, and then the user can just stick the window in the corner of the screen, so it's still not a big deal. I can see people using it, even if it's not for me, but people can get the same thing now in most of the apps it'd be useful for.
The people who need quality patches that have undergone thorough regression testing will likely pay for it.
"Windows Update Premium Subscription" should delay patches for all products until they are verified correct, and allow the user to schedule the patch runs.
$200/year, and many would likely pay it.
For everyday users, they really need to dump Windows 10 Home Edition, replace it with Windows 10 Pro, then just call it Windows 10.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
How about leaving Paint alone (2D editing) and create something else instead of cramming 3D editing into Paint?
#DeleteFacebook
I only use it at work. I use Linux at home, and my family uses Win7.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Eventually Microsoft will shovel the Creators' update onto all Windows 10 computers.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
My one Windows 10 PC, a laptop, just received an automatic update and is now in the Spinning Wheel of Death. The one nice thing about the Spinning Wheel of Death is that it prevents it from booting up and receiving more shitty updates from Microsoft. What a P.O.S. My Windows 7 machines employ active measures to prevent them from being infected with Windows 10.
Oh no ... every time I saw the word "major", I have to pray and hope that the update won't ruin my box (especially the coexisting linux installation).
who hasn't had experience with Windows in over a decade.
That's surprisingly spot-on, but overall missing the point, because the same goes for the CLI and whatever tools are provided. protip: you don't have to provide a tool to turn off $feature.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
Not that I wouldn't necessarily want it, but since I have the Windows Update service permanently disabled because it's so incredibly and ridiculously obnoxious and "poorly designed" (for which that phrase alone in this context gives the idea of software design a bad name), I don't think I'll ever get prompted for it.
I'm still holding out for the day when MS manages to extract their metaphorical head from their ass for just long enough to comprehend that being as obtrusive as humanly possible with pushing updates is a MONUMENTALLY STUPID business decision, if you want people to actually take updates. Gotta stop drooling on the floor before you can walk, gotta walk before you can run, gotta run before you can pitch an "upgrade" as an actual upgrade, etc.
Fair enough, I agree it's not a big deal. It doesn't quite just look like a normal window though, it's got some different styling so it's less "intrusive" or whatever the marketing speak for it is. ;)
9. Game mode: It "ensures" your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
Ensures how? throttling my background tabs? How will it affect streaming?
ArsTechnica has a brief review of Creator's Edition. Concerning Game Mode:
Game Mode is intended to boost gaming performance by a few percent. The idea is straightforward enough: when a game is using Game Mode, Windows plays around with thread affinities to dedicate processor cores to games, shuffling background tasks to other cores...
Game Mode is available for both regular Win32 games, and for UWP games sold through the Windows Store. In the case of the latter, Microsoft intends to offer an API so that games can automatically enable the mode. For the former, the user will have to opt in explicitly.
How much difference does it make in practice? Frankly, I'm not seeing any real difference in the games I've used—to the extent that I'm not even sure Game Mode is functioning.
So, kinda meh. A lot surely depends on the game, and what else you got going on in your system, but I wouldn't expect a night-to-day difference.
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
None of those 'upgrades' is enough to get me to download it.
So, when the update comes my way in a few more months, with fewer rough edges after the microsoft personel apha tested it, the insiders beta-1 tested it and the home users beta-2 tested it, I'll be glad to be a beta-3 tester for the enterprise guys ;-)
More seriously, yes, i''l get it, but will not go out of my way to get it on April, or may, or june, or july, or...
Besides, I use a mac, this is in Bootcamp anyhow.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
Windows 7 will be my last version of Windows on any computer that I own.
MS tactics is forcing upgrades to win 10 would have been enough to put me off. However, bundling spyware and adware right in with the OS guaranteed that I would never have win 10. Right now, my employer has win 7 on our work computers but they will probably have little choice but to move to 10. My personal use on windows is pretty much just gaming and a few specialised applications which I can live without.
Linux has long been my main OS at home and I wouldn't even boot into windows monthly now. Most of my games run perfectly on Linux. While I like a couple of the MS Office applications, open source alternatives that run on Linux do just about everything that I could ever want.
I lot of friends and relatives are moving to Linux or dumping their desktop OS and moving to Android tablets because that have used Win 10 on their laptops and absolutely hated it. People are often horrified to learn that Windows 10 is spying on them. Windows is not going to die but it is losing market share.
So obviously, no, I won't be updating. Don't need that level of over the shoulder regardless of the presented bennies.
The answer is no.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
How the heck does adding an option to Edge or feature to Paint qualify as an operating system update? The surround sound thing probably is tied to the OS, and the headset thing might be, too. Other than that, these are just software updates to things that people just don't need. For God's sake, deliver the OS and the apps separately. Give the apps away in the app store or, if they're really worth a damn, charge a few bucks for them....however ya want. MS knows how to do this....Office, Minecraft, etc. If people jump onto an app and it becomes the "next big thing", then GREAT! MS should spend some effort making it available to Macs and Linux users, too, and profit away. Just stop confusing updates to these applications as critical updates for the operating system. The average user out there probably isn't paying enough attention to know the difference, and making these updates appear important really just confuses the users when truly critical updates to the OS do get delivered.
I like how half your arguments are "nobody uses it so why improve it?" Did you not perhaps think that improving the product might be a reason for people to start using it?
Edge having a builtin ereader in particular is rather interesting. You can get addons to do it in Chrome (and presumably FF and others) but I don't think any other browser has such a thing native yet.
Paint having 3D capabilities? Sure that won't help most people but consider say.. small game developers. Those that don't have the skills or knowledge to go crazy with something like Maya or 3dsmax. For comparison in the 2D space, just try doing a simple line drawing in Photoshop or GIMP. Its bloody near impossible because those apps are so focused on "professional" features.
If this new 3D modeling mode in Paint can fill in the role of "dead simple but does the job for dead simple tasks" like it does for 2D, then it could be a great boon to folk who just need a basic model but aren't the artsy type.
If you improve a feature that nobody uses, one possible outcome is that more people will use it, justifying the effort. Another possible outcome is that nobody benefits from the effort. I would rather Microsoft put their effort into improving things that would benefit larger numbers of people.
I never knew there were win10 fanboys (re: getting marked down).
Marking someone Troll because they hurt your feelings in not a correct usage of moderation points. If only you had explained why what I said was 'untrue', or refuted it you might have some impact, but from someone who had to rescue their 80+y/o mom from a "Welcome to Windows 10" who thought MS had forced the move to win10 without even asking her.
Of course that *is* what happened to many when they tried to get out of that fake screen. If it was really an "Upgrade", why would MS feel a need to deceive people to opt in to the conversion?
Upgrades are things people want, not something you have to trick them into installing.
9. Game mode: It "ensures" your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
If this mode doesn't disable telemetry so you can keep your ping down and bandwidth optimal, then it's worthless.
Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
my PC is a workhorse. Due to MS-Office it has to be Windows. I don't really care for 7, 8 or 10. The OS the foundation for the applications.
I do not need any of the fancy stuff - just a robust platform. So I stay on 7 until no longer supported.
And by then I hope that WINE is good enought to run MS Office under Linux - or better M$ has a Linux version - yes I would even pay for it