Microsoft announces Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is the next major update that Microsoft is planning to release in September. That's not a mistake, Microsoft is reusing the same "Creators Update" naming for this next update, and it will include a new focus on bringing Windows experiences to iOS and Android devices.

Microsoft is detailing its Fall Creators Update on stage at Build this morning, and the company is demonstrating four key new additions:

TimelinePick Up Where You Left OffClipboardOneDrive Files On-Demand

Timeline is a new feature that improves the Task View area to provide a list of apps and workspaces that you were using previously or on other devices. Think of it like a time machine for resuming old sessions. Timeline also combines with a new Pick Up Where You Left Off feature to let you resume sessions and apps on multiple devices.

This new pick up feature is particularly useful on mobile devices, where Microsoft hopes app developers will start to link their desktop apps to resume experiences on devices like an iPhone or Android handset. Microsoft is also creating a cloud clipboard that will roam across Windows, iOS, and Android to let people copy content from a PC and paste it on a phone. It's very similar to Apple's Universal Clipboard.

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Microsoft is also including OneDrive Files On-Demand with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. It's not a full return of placeholders, but it will let you easily fetch files from OneDrive without having to sync them or download entire folders.

A new Fluent Design, previously codenamed Project Neon, will be part of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Microsoft has started converting some of its apps to Fluent Design, and it's the company's effort to move beyond its previous Metro user interface. Microsoft isn't revealing all the features in the Fall Creators Update today, so expect to see more surprise additions before its expected release in September.