Windows 10 Creators Update: The Quickstart Guide

THE SECOND MAJOR UPDATE TO WINDOWS 10 HAS JUST DROPPED. WE TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.

WHEN WINDOWS 10 launched in July 2015, it was met with acclaim — and also a fair amount of relief — because it was a marked improvement over its predecessor, Windows 8. However, it still wasn’t a perfect operating system, and Microsoft appears to have acknowledged this by releasing two major updates for it: the first, the Anniversary Update, hit our PCs last year, and now the Creators Update is currently rolling out to PCs around the world as you read this.

Windows updates are rarely worth getting excited about, but the number of tweaks, fixes and new features that Microsoft has promised with this release makes it worth downloading. As the name suggests, Microsoft has focused on bolstering the creative aspects of Windows 10. However, if you have less creative juice flowing through you than a heap of rocks, the good news is that Microsoft has a rather liberal interpretation of what it means to be a ‘Creator’.

So it’s not just people who like to put stylus to Surface and create digital art — it also applies to people who play games and like to stream and share their gameplay with friends and strangers across the internet. Of course, there is also the usual array of less glamorous (and arguably more essential) security and usability tweaks to make Windows 10 an all-around better piece of software to use.

In this article, we’re looking at how you can download and install the Creators Update, why you would want to, what cool new features you’ll be getting and how to use them. Windows 10 still isn’t perfect, but with major free updates such as the Creators Update, it shows that Microsoft is committed to evolving and improving its operating system, which is definitely something worth celebrating.

GET THE CREATORS UPDATE

The Windows 10 Creators Update is a free download for every Windows 10 user. The good news is that this means, at some point in the future, your PC will let you know that the update is ready to be downloaded and installed. All you need to do is make sure your work (or any game progress) is saved, then let Windows Update do its thing.

However, to stop the millions of Windows 10 users all trying to download the rather hefty update all at once, and potentially breaking part of the internet, Microsoft is rolling out the update to PCs around the world in waves, and it’s been a bit coy about how long this rollout process will take. So you might get the Creators Update in the next few days, or you may have to wait weeks — even months — before it appears in Windows Update.

However, like the Good News Fairy that we are (think the Tooth Fairy, but with a beer belly and faded Half-Life 2 T-shirt), we have more glad tidings: there’s a way to manually update to the Creators Update yourself, so you don’t have to wait for the rollout.

To manually download Windows 10 Creators Update, head to the Windows 10 Update Assistant web page ( then click ‘Update now’.

The tool downloads, then checks for the latest version of Windows 10, which includes the Creators Update. Once downloaded, run it, then select ‘Update Now’. The tool does the rest for you. Your PC restarts a few times — so make sure you save your work first — and then your PC is updated with the Creators Update, while all your files and settings remain where they were.

That website also allows you to download an ISO image, which you can then use to update your current installation of Windows 10, or perform a clean install with the new Creators Update.

WHAT’S NEW?

With the update installed, what new features await you? Well, one of the most exciting additions is a new program called 3D Paint. We know what you’re thinking: who cares about a new version of Microsoft Paint? And who still cares about 3D? We were as surprised as you are, after meeting Microsoft to see Creators Update before it launched, to come away so impressed by this new app.

3D Paint, like its 2D counterpart (which remains its own separate program), grants simple tools for people to create their own artwork. What’s particularly impressive about 3D Paint is that the concept of creating models in a 3D space can be quite complicated, but 3D

[ MATT HANSON ]