Set your diary: Windows 10 Creators Update ‘due 11 April’

Windows 10 users now have a date when they might get the much anticipated Creators Update: 11 April.

The date comes from the website Mspoweruser, citing “sources who are close to Microsoft’s plans”. It expects the company to confirm the date by the end of March, or first week of April.

Microsoft is expected to roll out the update in ‘waves’, so not everyone will receive it on 11 April (should that be the date). This ‘staggered’ release will prevent downloads overloading its servers.

The rumoured date is a month earlier than previous reports, which had suggested 10 May, to coincide with Microsoft’s Build conference for software developers.

Delay updates

Excitement about the Creators Update has grown as each new preview version has been released. These show that many useful tools will be added to Windows 10.

On its website ( www.snipca. com/23854) Microsoft emphasises the “new creativity and gaming experiences” in the update, such as designing 3D objects and playing 4K games.

But other tools tucked away may prove more beneficial long term. These include the option to ‘snooze’ security updates on Patch Tuesdays for up to three days.

Also new are ‘Compact Overlay’ windows – sometimes called ‘picture-inpicture’ – which let you play videos in a small box on top of another program. This will prove particularly handy during Skype calls. Your Skype screen will remain visible in the corner of your desktop if you open other programs.

Most recently Microsoft announced ‘playable ads’, which lets you try a desktop app for three minutes, after which you can choose to download it. In its blog ( www.snipca.com/23855), Microsoft gives the example of playing a Solitaire game. At

the end of the three minutes you’re shown the message, ‘Want more? Install the game’ (see screenshot left).

Microsoft has already started working on the next major update for Windows 10, codenamed ‘Redstone 3’. Early versions of this are expected to be made available to users on the Windows Insider Program ( https://insider. windows.com) in late April or early May.

The final version of Redstone 3 is expected to contain even more new tools than than Creators Update, breaking Microsoft’s usual pattern of large updates in the spring/summer, followed by smaller ones in the autumn.