Windows 10 is the leader when it comes to innovation in desktop operating systems. Consider, for example, that the voice-activated digital assistant Cortana showed up year before Apple added Siri to mac-OS, that only Windows Hello lets you log in to your computer with your face, and that only Windows offers full touch-screen support. With the just-released Creators Update, Microsoft builds on that lead. The update isn't a drastic overhaul; rather it improves the system's media and gaming capabilities. Even with all its forward-looking features, however, the OS remains familiar to longtime users. Windows 10 joins mac-OS as an Editors' Choice desktop operating system.
What's New in Creators Update?
Before digging into all the details of the OS, here's a cheat sheet of what's new in Creators Update:
- Paint 3D: Lets nonprofessionals create and decorate 3D models and share them on Remix.com. It also supports 3D printing.
- Book Store and Edge Web Browser Updates: Offers new tab management and viewing capabilities, ebook support (books are available from the Windows app store), and more (and more powerful) extensions.
- Gaming: Game mode shifts system resources away from other tasks and to your game. You can also broadcast your game session with integrated Beam and the Game Bar. Night Light: Like Apple's Night Shift, this reduces blue light emission so as not to interfere with your sleep cycles.
- Cortana: Offers suggested Reminders (based on Outllook email). Pick Up Where I Left Off notifies you of recent documents and webpages when you return. Now helps with initial system setup.
- Privacy Dashboard: After all the outcry about Microsoft collecting usage data, the update brings relevant settings to the forefront and lets you clear data it's collected. There are also clearer privacy options at setup.
- Security: The Windows Defender Security has been updated, there's now a Device Health Advisor, and you can log in and out with a mobile phone.
Creators Update continues with Microsoft's strategy of offering the operating system as a service, meaning it's continually updated via the cloud. The updates are free if you already have a Windows 10 license. Last summer's Anniversary Update added digital ink support, lock-screen Cortana and music controls, better security, and improvements to the interface and Edge web browser. Many of the updates were prompted by the vast amounts of user feedback, and features occasionally show up in between the major updates. One previously announced capability, however, the My People unified communication feature, didn't make it into Creators Update and has been postponed to the next major update.
Windows Is Back on Track
Even before the Creators Update, Microsoft's flagship software has proven a much bigger success than its ill-fated predecessor, Windows 8: Windows 10 already claims over 25 percent of the desktop operating system share, with more than 400 million copies installed—that's a faster adoption rate than any previous version of Windows. By comparison, all versions of Apple's operating system account for less than 7 percent of worldwide computers, according to data from
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The newest Windows still runs the vast majority of the millions of Windows programs in the wild. Yes, that means it still uses the much-derided Registry to maintain configuration settings, but on today's fast hardware, it's no longer such an issue. In fact, Microsoft recommends against using any third-party registry-optimizing software for Windows 10.
How to Get Windows 10
If you're running Windows 10, getting Creators Update is a simple matter of running Windows Update, accessible from the Settings app. If you don't see it, you can head to Microsoft's
Windows Download page to force the issue, or even download a disc image ISO to create startup media for a clean installation. Microsoft has
changed the update interface so that it's less likely to interrupt you while you need the PC.
If you didn't move up from Windows 7 or 8 during the year it was a free upgrade, you can still get Windows 10, but you have to pay. You can get the software via download or on USB sticks for the same prices as previous Windows versions; that is, $119.99 list for Home and $199.99 for Pro. Your data and programs come along for the ride when you update from previous versions, though it's always a good idea to
back up before an OS upgrade.
Windows 10's minimum system requirements are surprisingly low: a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of hard drive space. The 64-bit version of Windows 10 increases the RAM requirement to 2GB and the disk space to 20GB. You'll also need a DirectX 9-capable graphics card and a display with at least 800-by-600 resolution. You can find out whether your system is up to snuff by reading
Can My PC Run Windows 10?
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