What's new in Windows 10. Internet, performance, data sharing and multimedia

Microsoft has significantly improved the performance of its new Windows 10 OS. But this is not enough, no matter whether you use your PC at home or at work, you don’t want to be limited by a difficult-to-use interface, or a confusing search for OS functions.

If you use a small tablet or Windows 10 phone, you'll spend almost all of your time on your desktop. At first glance, when you start Windows 10, everything looks the same as before, with the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, the Windows key in the bottom left corner, and the system tray with a clock in the bottom right corner.

While first impressions can be deceiving, there have been some pretty significant changes to the Windows 10 desktop. Each change is an improvement or refinement of an existing component, or something completely new.

The ability to have multiple desktops on a computer is already a familiar feature of GNU/Linux, and many plugins have long existed to add this functionality to Windows.

However, with Windows 10, Microsoft included this much-coveted feature into its operating system natively. It launches from the system tray icon, which you can recognize by the two rectangular blocks, one in front of the other.

Running Multiple Desktops on Windows 10

When you click this icon, you'll see thumbnails of all your open windows, as well as a dark bar at the bottom of the screen, with an "add desktop" button in the center.

Add desktop button in Windows 10

When you have multiple desktops open, they will appear as small, lively thumbnails on a dark stripe.

Managing desktops in Windows 10

Right-clicking (press and hold) on the application thumbnail displays the Options menu, which has an option to move between desktops. In the final version of Windows 10, keyboard shortcuts will be used to move applications between desktops, and, as expected, the ability to drag and drop applications between different desktops will be possible.

You can close any desktop by clicking on its thumbnail on the “Close” icon, which appears when you hover your mouse over the icon.

Attention. Closing the desktop does not mean closing the applications running on it at the same time. When you close your desktop, any open applications are automatically moved to the nearest open desktop.

The multi-desktop feature can be very useful, especially in a business environment. For example, when working in your home office, you might have Internet Explorer and Outlook open on one desktop, Microsoft Word on another, and perhaps several virtual machines open for testing and screenshots on a third.

In addition, you can keep Odnoklassniki and Minesweeper open on one desktop, and open the work application on another (for the employer).

Returning to Windows 10 Start Menu.

One of the main criticisms of Windows 8 is the removal of the Start menu from the desktop, and its replacement with a full Start screen with an “all applications” view.

The Start menu was first introduced in Windows 95 and immediately received a lot of praise, and after improvements in Windows Vista and Windows 7, when the huge pop-up menu was no longer displayed under the All Programs link, it became worldwide popular. You'll be happy to hear that the Start menu makes a triumphant return in Windows 10 and has been improved once again.

Start menu in Windows 10

To be honest, the method of pinning application icons to the taskbar and launching files from the Jump List is a significantly faster way to launch any application in Windows.

So what's new in this redesigned Start menu, and what's improved on the old?

The first thing you'll notice is that tiles for universal apps can now be pinned to the right side of the menu. This is completely optional, if you're only going to use the Start menu on the desktop and don't need live tiles, you can skip this.

However, if you still want to keep some of the tiles, that's not a bad idea either. Live tiles can be useful if only because they contain a lot of useful information. For example, by pressing the Windows key, you'll immediately see the headers of your most recently received emails, as well as news and weather forecasts, all without having to open those apps or news sites.

In the Windows 7 Start menu, options for various PC locations such as Documents, PC File Explorer, Control Panel, Devices and Printers have been placed in the right pane. They have now moved to the top left of the Start menu, in the locations section.

Below it is a list of your most frequently used apps, followed by recently installed apps. The "all apps" button is now located in the lower left corner of the Start menu, and displays a list of all applications installed on your computer, much the same as in Windows 7.

In the final version of Windows 10, these views will be configured, just like in Windows 7, in a number of different ways. In addition, universal apps can simply be dragged from the “all apps” list directly into the tile area on the right side of the Start menu.

Note. It is expected, but not yet confirmed, that in the final version of Windows 10, you will be able to drag universal app tiles onto the desktop, where they will be pinned and used as live information widgets.

There are three additional buttons at the top of the Start menu. In the upper left corner is your avatar, by clicking on the options you can change your user account settings, log out or lock your computer. At the top right of the Start menu there is a power button: sleep, shutdown and restart, as well as a maximize button that will switch between full screen and windowed mode.

Switching between applications in Windows 10.

It may seem obvious now, but switching between running apps in versions of Windows prior to Windows 10 was often hampered by the small size of app thumbnails.

The Flip 3D view, in Vista, provided large thumbnails, but was not popular with users. Therefore, in Windows 7, we returned to standard switching between open applications using the Alt-Tab keys.

However, in Windows 10 they solved this problem easier by simply increasing the size of the thumbnails. They are also live, so you can always see what is happening there at a given time.

Switch between apps in Windows 10

As you can see in the picture, the applications are correctly and completely labeled, making it easy to find the desired thumbnail. At least before, if you had several windows open in Explorer, switching between them and finding what you needed was a big problem.

Task view can also be controlled using gestures on the laptop's touchpad.

Four ways to snap to the Windows 10 desktop.

The introduction of the desktop snap option in Windows 7 was a brilliant idea. The ability to quickly snap two windows to the left and right side of the screen so you can move files around or compare two web pages or two documents and then move them further back to their original size is extremely useful.

However, it was always a pity that you could only work with two windows. After all, it’s quite common to simultaneously shuffle video and other files between different computer drives. The great news is that Instant snapping in Windows 10 has been improved to support four snapping methods.

Window snapping in Windows 10

You can still drag apps to the far left and right of the screen as before, and use the two-window snap. Additionally, you can drag apps to the four corners of the screen to snap them to the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right.

When you click on a window in Windows 10, the remaining space will show thumbnail images of the remaining open applications. If you select one, it will automatically fill the remaining space in a two-, three-, or four-window view. You can also click on one of the pinned or desktop applications and return there.

Search from the Windows 10 taskbar.

Regardless of whether you use the Windows 10 feature, you can change your search options directly from the taskbar by right-clicking on it and selecting the appropriate option, allowing you to search both on your PC and the Internet.

Search options in Windows 10

Search here works almost the same as in a web browser.

Note. For people using Windows 10 on a touch device, it's important that the desktop on-screen keyboard now supports full auto-correction and predictive text input. They were a feature and it's great that they can now be used on Windows 10.

Windows 10 File Explorer.

It should be noted that the file explorer in Windows 10 does not see many updates.

However, one interesting addition without a doubt is that by default (though you can change this) when you open an Explorer window, the main view is the new Quick Access Toolbar.

File Explorer in Windows 10

This new view shows information about recently used folders, locations, and files, allowing you to quickly access the documents, files, and locations you are currently working on.

Everything can be pinned to the Quick Access Toolbar, which replaces the Favorites toolbar in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Folders, local and network drives, and files are displayed here. An item pinned to the Quick Access Toolbar appears not only as a tree on the left side of the Explorer window, but also in the main window.

But by and large, the file explorer remains largely unchanged for now, although we can expect some refinements, such as improved touch support, perhaps an improved ribbon interface, and so on.

Windows 10 touch and touch gestures.

Whether you're using Windows 10 with a touchscreen or a laptop, you'll be using touch, of course, and this new OS has improved the touch ways you interact with your PC. Not all gestures for Windows 10 are perfect yet, but Microsoft is expected to continue to refine how gestures control the OS.

New touch gestures for laptops include, but are not limited to:

You can clear the desktop by swiping three fingers down on the sensor.

This gesture will automatically minimize all windows on the screen. To restore windows to their original places, you need to swipe up with three fingers on the sensor.

To open the taskbar in Windows 10 and see large thumbnail windows of your running apps, swipe up with three fingers on the trackpad, a gesture similar to restoring all minimized windows.

After that, to move among open applications, move your finger left and right on the touchpad, keep your fingers on the trackpad until you select the one you want. To open the desired application, lift your finger from the touchpad.

In general, touch gestures are constantly being improved, and more can be expected.

Single sign-on on Windows 10.

One of the important improvements Microsoft made in Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 is the ability to automatically sync your sites, usernames, and passwords across multiple computers using a single Microsoft account.

In Windows 10, they want to further expand this functionality by providing a new advanced single sign-on (SSO). Full details on this are still sketchy, but the goal is to make it easier to log into multiple services that require the same login and password.

Single sign-on will of course work with a Microsoft account and in Windows Domain services such as Azure and Active Directory. But whether other companies providing various services, such as Google and Apple, will be included is still unknown.

The ultimate goal of CCO is to provide security, meaning that, for example, when you change your account and set up Microsoft payment information, you will be prompted to enter your username and/or password.

OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.

Microsoft fully supports the development strategy of its cloud services and products, including OneDrive and Office 365, which are critical to the company's prosperity.

The company has made great strides in recent years with its OneDrive cloud sync and backup service. This includes increasing the storage space available to consumers and businesses, increasing the maximum file size limit, and so on.

One of the best features of OneDrive in Windows 8.1 was the use of file stubs. You might have tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of files saved in your OneDrive account. On a desktop PC with a large hard drive, this is not a problem; you can store local copies of these files, but on a tablet or ultrabook, which usually have a very limited storage capacity, it is impossible to store a large volume of files. In Windows 8.1, stubs began to be used instead of real files. These stubs look like a file, are the correct file size, and so on, but they are not a file, but links to one in OneDrive.

When you run the stub, it assumes Internet access, downloads the file itself, and stores it locally, syncing with your PC until you right-click on it and tell Windows to make it available offline. This was an extremely smart idea, and Windows 10 added support for Microsoft OneDrive for business services.

Previously, to use OneDrive for Business, you had to download a separate sync module, which still exists separately. Windows 10 combines them into a single synchronization module so that both can be controlled from within the OS itself.

OneDrive for Business is not without its drawbacks, the main one being that after reinstalling the OS, you will have to sync all your files again, which does not happen in the consumer version of OneDrive.

Games and Xbox video streaming.

Gaming has always been an extremely important part of the PC, and recent research has shown that PC gaming companies are at the top of the list of priorities, ahead of consoles such as Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This is despite a seeming emphasis on smartphone gaming.

With Windows 8, Microsoft introduced new features to Xbox, although they were limited to a couple of apps and a few games that could be synced with an Xbox Live account.

Windows 10 takes gaming to the next level with a new graphics engine, DirectX 12 support and true cross-platform experience.

Cross-platform gaming on Windows 10

New features include the ability to play the same game simultaneously with a friend, both on your desktop and on your tablet and/or Xbox One console. However, by far the most standout feature for Windows 10 gaming is the ability to stream gameplay live from your Xbox console to a Windows 10 tablet or PC. This allows you to play your Xbox One games on virtually any Windows 10 device. because the graphics are streaming, and the device on which you play the game does not need much of its graphics power. This stream is reached by your home Wi-Fi network and will allow you to use the new generation of Xbox One controllers across multiple PC devices.

New apps in Windows 10.

As you might expect, the launch of the new operating system will come bundled with universal app updates available for your PC. Generally, updates will be available for all major apps, including Mail, People, Calendar, Photos, Videos, Music and more.

Microsoft isn't saying what new functionality these new apps will have or how they'll link to the new storage, the only thing Microsoft has said is that in addition to apps and games, "other types of digital content" will also be available.

However, one app they are talking about is the new Photos app, which will have two new very interesting features. The first of them is the auto-correction mode, which will be used for simple changes that do not spoil your photos: improving skin tone, color balance, contrast, brightness.

The new Albums feature will automatically aggregate your photos saved on your computer(s), phone, and OneDrive account in a single center, where they are automatically sorted and categorized based on the people they took, the location they were taken, and so on.

Microsoft HoloLens headset.

Microsoft's announcement of Windows 10 in January 2015 was completely overshadowed by the presentation of the HoloLens headset.

The HoloLens headset, the prototype of which is a natural and logical continuation of the Kinect sensor and a number of other Microsoft technologies that allow you to interact with the outside world.

HoloLens headset

HoloLens has two goals. First, the headset allows virtual objects to be overlaid on the real world, such as watching a video on the living room wall or posting social media networks on the refrigerator door.

Interact with the outside world via HoloLens

Second, the headset will allow you to interact with your physical environment and other people in new ways, such as chasing monsters in your own living room, creating a virtual Minecraft castle on your desk, or building a 3D printable model in the air.

In addition, the HoloLens demo showed people working on Windows 10 tablets who could see what the owner of the headset saw and then tell him what to do next, for example, look in the instructions for which pipes to unscrew or where to find the manifold in the engine .

When you move your head in this virtual world, the overlaid objects remain the same, giving them a full sense of reality, and each can be interacted with using your hand and gestures (though you can't actually touch or grab... yet!).

Reviewers who have had the opportunity to use HoloLens have described it as extremely realistic and even "magical," where virtual objects don't appear on a screen less than an inch from your eyes, but are projected directly onto a real object in the entire room.

As Microsoft said, HoloLens will be released within the “Windows 10 time frame,” that is, in the next couple of years. Pricing has not yet been announced, and the success of the product will depend on the quality and availability of the application.

It's clear that new and updated features in Windows 10 will be constantly coming, and Microsoft is clearly trying to make sure that we can work more, faster and easier on its OS, whether at home, in college, or at work.

It was extremely inconvenient. It seemed that Microsoft had risked conducting a reckless experiment on us and itself. As it seemed to me then, it turned out completely unsuccessfully. I quickly abandoned the “eight”, as did the vast majority of those around me. We could only hope that the next operating system would eliminate all the shortcomings, and it would be the success of XP.

According to WinBeta.org, in June 2015, Windows 7 held 61% of the global desktop operating system market. Windows 8 accounted for only 13%.

But it’s too early to aim at the great glory of the thirteen-year-old “grandfather,” although I dare to predict that the young man will shoot. All the makings are there: fast loading, excellent performance, classic convenience, promising cross-platform functionality and a number of fresh useful features. After six months of testing the “ten”, I fell in love with it. I definitely recommend trying Windows 10 immediately after release. And in order to make the transition as smooth as possible, I suggest you learn about the most eye-catching innovations in the popular work environment.

Start

Microsoft stopped playing hide and seek with users and returned the Start button to its rightful place. Although there were some deviations from the canons: “live” tiles were added, which is why the size of the menu increased significantly. On laptops it can take up - off the top of my head - 70–80% of the screen area. It's a bit much. But it’s not all bad, because the panel is highly customizable: unnecessary elements are removed, necessary ones are dragged and grouped for convenience, and the overall size is adjusted by dragging the mouse (as in regular windows).

But that's not all. Looking into the operating system settings, you can stumble upon the “Personalization” section. Among other things, there are several options for “Start” here.

It turns out that with a few simple steps you can adjust the “Start” of Windows 10 as closely as possible to the “seven” look. Moreover, everything looks much more modern and stylish.

Settings

Did the Start personalization window seem a little unusual to you? And all because the Redmond people have radically changed the form in which most system settings are presented. Although the essence remains the same: nine categories include dozens of bookmarks, which contain hundreds of options, switches and sliders.

At first, it was too unusual and difficult for me to wander among the settings, even though they were well structured and wonderfully presented. But here the search came in handy. With its help, finding the required parameters is much faster.

Lost and didn't find something? The good old “Control Panel” has not gone away. Press Win + X and use the usual method.

By the way, the combination Win + I is responsible for calling up the settings. I already mentioned this in the article about Windows 10. An alternative option is to click the icon on the notification panel.

Notification panel

The notification panel accumulates all the service and auxiliary information of your work environment. Here you will find messages about available updates, scheduled reboots, existing problems and a wealth of various data from the Microsoft services you use. A convenient thing, whatever one may say.

There are also quick action buttons: adjusting the display brightness, connecting to wireless devices, turning on Internet quiet mode, starting a VPN connection. This is useful.

But let's return to the tips and repeat: their benefits are more obvious when using a Microsoft account.

Integration of Microsoft services

While getting acquainted with Windows 10 TP, it seemed to me that to work in the system it is necessary to have a Microsoft account, and a combination of login and password must be entered every time the operating system is loaded. I shared it with readers, who pointed out my mistake: you can also use local profiles. The right to choose remains yours. But a registered account is still better. Why? For example, OneDrive is already integrated into the Top Ten, which makes working with the cloud much easier. Undoubtedly, over time, developers will begin to bring even closer together the services and platforms on which Windows 10 runs. You will hardly notice the transition from a computer to a tablet or mobile phone. Full data synchronization between devices connected to the same profile will even allow you to see what your friends are playing on their Xbox. In the future, it will be possible to play console games on your PC. Cross-platform multiplayer gaming is just around the corner. To do this, just download the free application from the store.

Universal Applications

Let's make a small analogy. You have an Android smartphone or iPhone, onto which you tirelessly download useful things from Google Play or iTunes. Likewise, the “top ten” has its own application store - Store. Moreover, it works in a common ecosystem for both mobile gadgets and computers.

Universal applications are developed for one system - Windows 10. This automatically means that they work on both desktop and portable devices.

You can easily download the Skype app directly from the Store, place the link in your taskbar, and launch the program from there. You don’t need to download the distribution from the Internet, worry about choosing an installation directory, or read the license agreement - the process will go just like on a phone.

Universal apps open like a regular window that you can drag around the screen, minimize, close, and resize. A little unusual, but ideologically correct. You download the utility from a trusted source, and not from a random site on the Internet. In this case, security increases.

Safety

Surely some kind of antivirus is installed on your “seven”. Perhaps this is Microsoft Security Essentials - the corporation's own free solution that provides basic system protection. By default, the top ten has something new called “Windows Defender”.

But don’t get excited: behind the new sign lies the same MSE. This means that you will still have to choose something more reliable from third-party developers. Why? Microsoft's antivirus consistently shows not the best results in the popular AV-TEST test.

Speaking of security, it's worth mentioning SmartScreen, a Windows component that detects suspicious web page characteristics, fake sites, and dubious downloads. Now it works at the system level, although previously it did not go beyond the native Internet Explorer. The latter, by the way, gave way to a more impressive successor.

Edge

According to NetMarketShare, in June 2015, Internet Explorer was the leader among desktop browsers with an overwhelming share of 54%. To be honest, I can’t believe these numbers (although other sources have similar statistics) and I don’t know who all these garden people are. :) On the other hand, the percentages fall from month to month and gradually flow to Google, Mozilla and Opera. Microsoft is aware of the trend and is trying to change it with a completely new development - the Edge web browser.

A little earlier it was known under the code name Project Spartan. Once upon a time, I already had my impressions of a promising web viewer. Gradually, the browser is getting better and better, acquiring new features and increasing its performance in various benchmarks. In general, good things are planned. Of course, Edge is automatically listed in the “tens” taskbar.

Taskbar and desktops

The task feed now has two important elements: a search bar and a task view button. Let's start with the second one.

In task view mode, you will see all the processes you are running and can distribute them across virtual desktops. This is very, very useful, for example, if you want to differentiate between work and play. Imagine a boss comes into your office, you press an elegant key combination and all the running solitaire games are quickly replaced by office programs. A mosquito won't hurt your nose!

I was pleased with the search bar. It can search for files and documents on your hard drive or find information on the Internet. It also has the Cortana assistant built into it.

Cortana

Cortana is a voice assistant from Microsoft a la mobile Google Now or Siri. It is not yet possible to praise or scold the assistant, since it is simply not localized for our region. But the idea is excellent. The assistant will be integrated into the overall ecosystem: it will be able to analyze your mail and remind you of events, restore order in cloud storage, suggest decent catering and inform about the weather, point out traffic jams, give relevant explanations of unfamiliar terms, translate in the browser and simply make your stay in Windows easier. 10 comfortable to the limit. I believe that sooner or later this will happen.

Conclusion

And in a few more years, Microsoft will completely stop supporting Windows 7 and 8, wait a little and remove the version number, leaving just Windows. The result is inevitable, we will all move into the top ten. Catch the wave right away and move to a fresh OS. She took all the best from her predecessors and became universal. Windows 10 is easy to learn and undemanding on computer resources. What else do you need?

According to WinBeta.org, in June 2015, Windows 7 held 61% of the global desktop operating system market. Windows 8 accounted for only 13%.

Start

But that's not all. Looking into the operating system settings, you can stumble upon the “Personalization” section. Among other things, there are several options for “Start” here.

It turns out that with a few simple steps you can adjust the “Start” of Windows 10 as closely as possible to the “seven” look. Moreover, everything looks much more modern and stylish.

Settings

Lost and didn't find something? The good old “Control Panel” has not gone away. Press Win + X and use the usual method.

Notification panel

There are also quick action buttons: adjusting the display brightness, connecting to wireless devices, turning on Internet quiet mode, starting a VPN connection. This is useful.

But let's return to the tips and repeat: their benefits are more obvious when using a Microsoft account.

Integration of Microsoft services

Universal Applications

Universal applications are developed for one system - Windows 10. This automatically means that they work on both desktop and portable devices.

Safety

Edge

Taskbar and desktops

The task feed now has two important elements: a search bar and a task view button. Let's start with the second one.

I was pleased with the search bar. It can search for files and documents on your hard drive or find information on the Internet. It also has the Cortana assistant built into it.

Cortana

Conclusion

In Windows 8 and 8.1, we saw a new Metro interface with large square icons instead of the standard Start menu, a complex way to enter PC settings, and a new control panel.

However, for tablet PCs, hybrid PCs and laptops that received Windows 8 and 8.1, it brought huge improvements in the user experience and the interface became friendly on touch devices. In any case, it seems that Microsoft has realized its own mistake and with the help of Windows 10 will win the hearts of users for the time being. In this article, we'll take a look at what's new in Windows 10, exploring how it's going to erase all the bad experiences that Windows 8 and 8.1 brought to many users.

If you have not yet updated to Windows 10, then you can do so using the official link. Of course, you can get Windows 10 without paying anything if you have a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 license. You can upgrade to Windows 10 without losing your license.

Now, the time has come for those who began to hate Microsoft for the release of Windows 8. To bring back love for the OS, we will look at what is new in Windows 10 that was not in Windows 8 and 8.1 and the main differences between Winodws 10 and previous operating systems.

Windows 8.1 users got a Start button, but it was just a button that opened the Start screen.

In Windows 10, Microsoft has decided to listen to the dissatisfied users of Windows 8 and 8.1 and will return to the excellent user interface of Windows 7. Now, when you press the Start key, you will see an updated Start menu.

2. New Microsoft Edge and Cortana browser

Yes, you heard right, Microsoft realized that Internet Explorer is not popular among users. Therefore, we decided to create a new and powerful browser, codenamed Project Spartan.

Voice assistant Cortana is coming to Windows 10. Cortana is by far the smartest compared to its competitors like Siri, S-Voice and Google Now. After using Cortana, we were impressed. Now, the best thing is, Cortana will not only be your personal assistant, it will act as a full-fledged desktop assistant and help you every time you need it. Cortana can anticipate user needs. You can allow her access to your personal data, and she can also work with some applications from the Windows Store.

The downside is that it does not yet support the Russian language.

3. Multiple desktops

Have you ever used Mac OS X? Then you noticed the numerous multi-desktop features there. Even Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux can switch between desktops when you press Ctrl + Alt + arrow key! It's not your regular Alt+Tab, it's more powerful and will provide you with a clean desktop to work on while keeping your old data intact. At the same time, it's cool and productive.
Windows 10 brings multiple desktops feature! Or in other words, it can be called a “Workspace Switcher” alternative.
You can see that the square button is black with a “+” symbol in the center. Designed to create a new desktop. It will be like a new clean desktop, and your data will remain open on the old desktop, and you can switch between them without any problems.

4. Improved multitasking and command line.

Windows 10 allows you to place up to four applications on one screen. Windows will also prompt you to Choose an application to fill the free space on the screen. You can switch between open applications using the familiar Alt + Tab keys. a button has been added for presented tasks, after clicking on it you will see running applications on this desktop, also from there you can create a new desktop and move applications between virtual desktops.

Experienced Command Prompt users will rejoice that the copy and paste functionality is included in Windows 10 in the Command Prompt.

5. Free upgrade to Windows 10

As Microsoft stated, all users can upgrade to Windows 10 for free, but only those who already have licensed Windows 7, 8, 8.1 will receive licensed Windows 10. Microsoft has also confirmed that all users will continue to receive the update.

Apart from the features mentioned above, you will also find some changes in the administration process and some changes in the UI (user interface).

Conclusions

Windows 10 brings with it many new features that will make users love it. The above features are the top 5 features that we consider the most striking ones in the affordable Windows 10 build. You must try it to rate it or criticize it!

Windows 10 has brought many new features that users will love. We showed 5 functions that, in our opinion, are the most striking in Windows 10.

If you know any other interesting, useful features that have appeared in Windows 10, tell us in the comments.

We're excited to announce that users around the world will begin receiving the free Windows 10 Creators Update today.

We believe that each of us is a creative person at heart, and creativity is our integral trait. Whoever you are, Windows 10 is designed to help you realize your creative potential. In this post, we'll introduce you to the best new features in the Creators Update. Innovations in the Windows 10 Creators Update include 3D technology in Windows 10, built-in video game streaming capabilities, new tab management features and other innovations in Microsoft Edge, and improved protection for your personal data, including the new Microsoft Privacy Control Panel ( Microsoft privacy dashboard).

There are several ways to get the Creators Update. If you already have Windows 10 installed on your PC and have automatic updates enabled, you will receive the update as soon as it is ready. If you are an advanced user and would like to install the update manually, read our guide on how to obtain the Creators Update. Another great way to get the Creators Update is to purchase a new Windows 10 PC.

Here's a more detailed list of new features in Windows 10 Creators Update

3D technology in Windows 10

With the Creators Update, 3D technology became available for the first time in Windows 10. It allows every person to experiment, create and share their work in a new dimension. 3D technology helps us communicate ideas and express ourselves and learn faster because it is much more relevant to the world we live in.

With the Creators Update, you can enjoy the new Paint 3D app, as well as access to the online creative community Remix3D*. The updated Paint 3D allows you to create or modify 3D objects, easily change texture or color, and convert 2D images to 3D. To launch Paint 3D, click .

In our community Remix3D.com you can get inspired, find millions of ready-made objects and share your own. Remix3D.com allows you to connect with other creators, discover new ideas, and provides access to a library of 3D objects that you can edit to your liking and then share with the community.

New Windows 10 features for gamers: Share your passion for games - chat, broadcast, play together

Beam for broadcasting video games

Built into the Creators Update, Beam game streaming technology is the easiest, most interactive way to stream your game on Windows 10. Press Windows key + G during gameplay to open Game menu, and you'll see that we've added an icon there to launch Beam - no additional hardware required.

This gives all users the opportunity to showcase their creativity as a streamer. With Beam's low-latency technology, viewers will see your game in less than a second between broadcast and live, allowing the broadcaster to communicate and interact with viewers in near real-time. This technology gives Beam broadcasters the ability to embed new interactive features, such as animation and sound effects, directly into the video stream.

New gaming section in system settings

A new section has appeared in the main system settings Windows Settings - Games, indicated by the Xbox logo. This new option consolidates your Windows 10 settings into one screen. The Creators Update has four customization options: Game menu, DVR for games, Broadcast And Game mode. Game mode can easily be turned on or off for individual games using the panel Game menu.

Game mode

We created Game mode(Game Mode) so you can get a better gaming experience on Windows 10 by using more of your computer's resources. Game mode also works in Win32 and UWP games. To activate Game mode during the game, call Game menu(Windows keys + G) and click on the button Settings to allow the current game to use game mode. The Creators Update is a touchstone for our work on Game mode and improving Windows 10 PC performance for gaming.

Game menu supports more games

With the Windows 10 Creators Update, we continue to expand support for Game menu Windows in full screen mode, we have now added over 80 more of the most popular PC games. You can also manage this feature in the new section Games V ParametersWindows. Find a section Game menu and make sure that the option is selected Display the game menu when playing Microsoft-reviewed games in full screen. A regularly updated list of supported games can be found (in English). To learn more about all the new gaming features in the Creators Update, head over to Xbox Wire.

Microsoft Edge gets even better with new tab management features, new extensions and reading capabilities

Microsoft Edge is the fastest and most secure browser built for Windows 10, and with the Creators Update, the familiar Microsoft Edge is even faster than Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It also ensures the longest possible battery life. Now, when you're on the go and can't charge your device, you can stream videos and surf the Internet for much longer. Microsoft Edge can play videos up to 3 hours longer than Google Chrome and up to 5 hours longer than Mozilla Firefox, allowing you to watch your favorite TV series without stopping or charging your device. Plus, with Microsoft Edge you can surf the web for up to an hour longer than with Google Chrome and up to two hours longer than with Mozilla Firefox.**

Tab preview bar: n It's not easy to keep tabs organized, especially if you have many similar tabs open from the same site, with similar titles and icons. The Tabs preview bar will allow you to preview each open tab without having to leave the page. You can navigate through the list using touch, the mouse wheel, or the touchpad.

Deferred tabs: We've added two new buttons next to tabs in Microsoft Edge to help you quickly manage all your tabs without falling out of your workflow. Function Set aside these tabs allows you to put open tabs aside, giving you the opportunity to return to them later. And in the section Deferred Tabs You can view thumbnails of pages you've shelved and restore an individual tab or collection of pages to pick up where you left off.

Import favorites from other browsers when switching to Microsoft Edge: Just one step to import your favorite pages, search history and other data from your other browser. Use the function Import from another browser in the menu Options to select the browsers from which you want to move data***.

Context menu for Microsoft Edge: Now you can open a new window or New windowInPrivate for Microsoft Edge with help icons on Taskbars. Just right-click or swipe up on the Microsoft Edge icon on Taskbars and select the desired option!

The Creators Update also brings new extensions to Microsoft Edge, including Ebates, Intel TrueKey, Read & Write, Ghostery, and RoboForm*****, among others.

Click the pen or highlighter icon in Create a web note, and you'll see the full range of Windows Ink colors.

What's New in the Windows Store in the Creators Update

We've added a new digital category to the Windows Store called Books (US only) that can now be enjoyed alongside games, apps, movies/TV, and music. Now you can discover and read books from your favorite authors in a variety of genres, from science fiction to thrillers, children's books, and more* in the Windows Store.

In the Windows Store, readers will find their favorite books, including New York Times bestsellers and hundreds of thousands of others. We work with leading publishers and partner companies, including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; and Content Group to bring you the widest selection of great books in the Windows Store. It features books such as George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, Neil Gaiman's American Gods, James Patterson's Walk the Line, Stephen King's End of Watch, and Tim Ferriss' Tools of Titans*.

When you buy a book from the Windows Store, you can start reading it right away in Microsoft Edge, which supports offline reading without going online. Moreover, in Microsoft Edge, you can easily choose the font size, background, and themes. Integration with Cortana* lets you search the web while you read.

Dolby appAtmosfor Windows 10 now available in the Windows Store

Additionally, Windows 10 users with the Creators Update will be the first to experience Dolby Atmos audio in the Dolby Access app, available today in the Windows Store. With this app, listeners can experience immersive audio by connecting a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar, AVR, or home theater system via an HDMI cable or just headphones to their Windows 10 device running the Creators Update. Check out the app today!

The Creators Update also brings new features to Cortana*, a personal digital assistant.

Enjoy improvements to music, maps and photo apps that run onXbox and Windows Mixed Reality

Built-in features including Photo, Cards, MusicianfGroove And Cinema and TV, Use the best of Windows 10 to capture your ideas and your expression.

Use Windows Ink****, draw on photos and videos in the application Photo to personalize them. Have fun, express yourself, create something new by adding unique details to your photos and videos. .
Draw on 2D or 3D maps in the app Cards and personalize them with Windows Ink. Build routes, explaining each turn, measure distances between any objects, add notes and mark places you want to visit. .
With the Groove app, you can upload music from your PC to OneDrive to play your own tunes and create a playlist for all your devices at once, including Windows, Xbox, Android, iOS and Sonos devices.
Be completely immersed in 360° video viewing, watch all popular films and TV series in 4K or HD quality in the application Cinema and TV*****. You can watch videos from your own collection, or rent or buy popular movies and TV series ad-free to watch at home or on the go on your Windows PC or Xbox. And with the Creators Update, you'll discover new immersive 360-degree video for the first time from our partners including GoPro.com, Sliver.tv and NextVR.*

The picture-in-picture feature allows you to keep a small window open on top of all other windows at all times. This will allow you to watch your favorite TV series, chat on Skype, or monitor music playback, whatever you're working on.

Windows can now automatically reduce the amount of blue light emitted from your PC at night using the Night light options. To turn this feature on or off based on sunrise and sunset times or your own schedule, go to Settings > System > Screen.
The Creators Update introduces new immersive experiences that blur the line between the physical and digital worlds. With new developer kits (), experts are building amazing Windows Mixed Reality apps and features. Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo will begin shipping the world's first Windows Mixed Reality devices later this year, starting at just $299.

Maximum security for all your activities on Window devicess– from visiting websites to checking emails and uploading/downloading files from the cloud

Windows continues to improve security functionality in the Creators Update. The update will provide even more security capabilities to all users to effectively protect and quickly respond to threats across all devices and networks.

Windows Defender Security Center brings all of your device health and security management features together on one screen. A single control panel allows you to control everything from antivirus, firewall and network protection to assessing the health and performance of your device, managing application and browser security, and managing family safety features. For corporate users, the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) service has a centralized portal, Windows Security Center, first implemented in the Anniversary Update. From there, you can navigate to Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection through the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph, so your system administrator can monitor attacks on network computers and email without interrupting your work.
Remote blocking: Windows Hello can use any phone you've paired with your device—iPhone, Android, or Windows Phone—to detect when you walk away from your PC or tablet and automatically lock it as an added security measure and to protect your privacy. This feature works on smartphones, fitness bands and other devices connected to your PC or tablet.
We've added new actions and visibility to Windows Defender ATP to help you investigate and respond to network attacks, including memory sensors and enhanced monitoring and remediation capabilities.

Simple privacy settings that let you choose how you interact with Windows

Microsoft's new Privacy Dashboard lets you monitor and manage data about your activity across devices. Additionally, the Creators Update changes the way Windows 10 privacy settings are presented.
, so that you can choose the ones that are most suitable for you, the number of options for collecting diagnostic data has been reduced from three levels to two: basic and full. Reduced the amount of data collected at the base level.

Skype makes it easy to stay in touch with friends, colleagues and family

The Creators Update brings the best version of Skype ever for PC on Windows. This next-generation version of Skype is designed specifically for Windows 10 and includes exclusive features such as Picture-in-Picture, SMS for Windows Phone, and Skype Translator for calling mobile and landline phones. It's easy to use with hotkeys, a chat search option, and an updated group video conferencing experience that brings everyone closer together. Be productive on your PC and collaborate via Skype - share your screen, photos, videos, documents and files (up to 300 MB). Stay connected with instant video messaging, voice calls, or video, all for free on any device with Skype installed.

The Creators Update begins rolling out worldwide today. To learn more about how to get the Creators Update, click here or visit your Microsoft Store to learn about Creators Update features and get answers to your questions from our knowledgeable and friendly technicians, including free consultation about your device.

You can also book a free consultation with a Microsoft Store technician by visiting a Microsoft Store near you or at microsoftstore.com/answerdesk.

This publication is an abridged translation of the English original published on .

*Availability varies by region