Microsoft has revealed that the next major update for Windows 10 is due for release in September.

Reusing the ‘Creators Update’ name with Fall as a prefix, Microsoft will be focusing the update to bring new features aimed at making life easier for its users, and through the use of .Net code, Microsoft Graph and the Universal Windows Platform, will help bring these features to iOS and Android devices.

Core features include Timeline, designed to provide a list of apps and work spaces that Windows 10 users have been working on in previous sessions or on other devices; Pick Up Where You Left Off, which aims to get developers to create apps for Windows 10 which link desktop apps to mobile apps; Clipboard is Microsoft’s mission to create a cloud clipboard that allows content to be copy and pasted across Windows, iOS and Android devices; finally, OneDrive Files On-Demand will be included in the Fall Creators Update, which will allow users to get folders and files from OneDrive without needing to download full folders or sync individual files.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of Cortana and supported by Microsoft Graph will help to intelligently prompt and serve up the prior content and workflows to people when they move to a different device or machine; if a cross-platform app is not installed on a device in the first place, Cortana will tap into the cloud-based Graph and prompt people to download the app.

Microsoft’s design language previously known as Project Neon, now called Fluent Design, will be included in the Fall Creators Update to bring a more intuitive user experience that is more responsive across devices.

For developers, application programming interfaces (APIs) will be made available for the new features, as well as access to the Fluent Design language in order to create apps using the latest interface.

500 Million Machines Running Windows 10

10/05/15: Microsoft has boasted that there are now 500 million running Windows 10, indicating that the appetite for Microsoft’s latest operating platform is gathering pace.

The Redmond company’s chief executive Satya Nadella championed the opportunity for developers to reach this heady number of Windows 10 users through the Windows Store.

“This is all an opportunity in front of you as you build your applications and services,” Nadella told an audience of developer at Microsoft’s Build 2017 conference in Seattle.

Over the past eight months, Microsoft saw another 100 million machines added to its previous total of 400 million.

Undoubtedly, that rise has been galvanized by purchases on new laptops and PC that come running Windows 10 by default.

With the recent reveal of the slimmed down Windows 10 S and the release of the creativity focused Windows 10 Creators Update, the adoption figure for Microsoft’s flagship software is liely to keep growing rapidly.

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