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Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Microsoft has released the new Fall Creators Update, the latest in major upgrades for Windows 10. Many of the additions this time around are fairly small; the visitor's twice-yearly cadence for features requires frequent small-scale updates as opposed to major changes. Nevertheless, there are some improvements and new capabilities worth discussing.

Kickoff of all, Windows 10 now supports mixed reality, which is the company's combined name for augmented reality and virtual reality. It's not a great word for marketing–"mixed reality" doesn't really convey the nature of the platform, because it doesn't define what'south being mixed–only it's what Microsoft and some other vendors are running with.

There are a range of mixed reality solutions from Samsung, Acer, Dell, and HP. Nosotros'd look for a multi-headset comparison between Oculus and the HTC Vive earlier leaping on board. VR is still in its early days, and so it's non articulate how much back up nosotros'll encounter for it in the future, but Microsoft is putting an emphasis on rolling out platform support. There's likewise a new mixed reality viewer option; it uses your PC'south camera and can overlay augmented reality options, assuming you have a PC 2-in-1 or tablet with a rear-facing photographic camera.

I have questions near this photo. Sure, we've all wanted to feed a kid or six to an elasmobranch fish, just what'due south actually going on here?

Edge likewise gets a major set of updates in Windows 10 FCU. The new version of the browser can comment books, import bookmarks from Chrome, pin websites to the taskbar, edit favorite URLs, and supports a fullscreen F11 mode. This will undoubtedly make the relative handful of people using Edge very happy. Will information technology help Windows win any market share for its browser? I wouldn't bet on it.

OneDrive placeholder files are now back, arguably making the service much more seamless and useful. In the past, Microsoft offered placeholder files in OneDrive that would only download when you clicked on them. This was a useful manner to make data available on storage devices without hiding information technology in a separate application, and we're glad to run across Microsoft re-adding the characteristic.

Other noteworthy additions include "Discover My Pen," a downright creepy spyware capability that allows Microsoft to tell you lot where yous were the last fourth dimension you used your pen. This may be genuinely useful to a small number of people, and utterly useless to the majority (and by majority, I mean the majority of people with Surface Pens in the commencement place). If the last place yous used your pen was your ain home, adept luck finding it. Just it'due south squeamish for Microsoft to make it so credible that it tracks the location of your devices and monitors your usage of peripherals. For troubleshooting, natch.

In improver, the calculator now includes a currency converter, you can recover PINs and passwords from the lock screen, dictation and image descriptions are now available via a new Dictation option, eye control and additional GPU performance data can exist monitored (nosotros've previously covered this), and Game Mode is now integrated.

Amusingly, Windows x still refuses to offering me the Creators Update on my own PC, for reasons I've never managed to diagnose. But I figure I'll be upgrading my personal rig in the not-too-distant-future. The GPU monitoring and other low-level changes are appealing, just Microsoft has packed in plenty features that almost folks should notice an update or tweak that improves the overall OS. Instructions on how to manually install the Autumn Creators Update are hither.

Now read: Windows 10: The Best Hidden Features, Tips, and Tricks