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Legal users will be invited to download the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update starting from October 17
The fourth free upgrade to Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system has been announced. It will be available for download, starting October 17—and consolidates some of the new features and improvements that the company has been previewing for some months now.
If you disregard the incremental tweaks, there are possibly 3-4 additional features of which the biggest is the inclusion of a new platform for what Microsoft calls Mixed Reality—a combo of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. The October availability of the update is being synced with the launch of VR/AR headsets by hardware partners like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo etc which are expected to cost the equivalent of $ 300 (around Rs 20,000 to $500 (Rs 33,000). Admittedly, this is like comparing apples and oranges. But this feature that Windows first unveiled in March this year and demonstrated this week, at ongoing IFA tech show in Berlin, may have to compete with upcoming AR systems from Google/Android and soon from Apple/iOS, that are embedded into smart phones and don't need extra hardware. Read The Week story about AR on phones here
One useful new feature will be "Files on Demand, which will work for Windows users who have also signed up for the free cloud storage in One Drive. Now you will be able to work interchangeably on files at desktop or drive with a single click.. which means Windows platforms with minimum onboard storage can do all their work on the desktop and preserve their work in One Drive.
The Fall Creators upgrade is also expected to keep a promise Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made to bring its eye tracking software to Windows 10... enabling users with severe physical disabilities to control the screen with eyes alone. Read The Week story here.
Another promised addition is Windows I, the upgraded stylus writing technology. After the Fall update you will be able to draw in a PDF files—for example signing a document.
Cortana, the Windows smart assistant is likely to see integration with other smart ladies—like Amazon's Alexa... which only proves the old adage: 'If you can't fight 'em, join 'em!'
Microsoft has already rolled out alerts to Windows 10 users, inviting them to book their updates.
