Make It Official: The Windows 10 Creators Update Hits General Availability

Although Microsoft pulled back the curtains just slightly last week by making the Creators Update available to early adopters, today is the official release day as it is starting to hit Windows Update in what Microsoft describes as a steady roll-out that will take several months.

We have already posted our Creators Update review and provided detailed how-to's for manually installing the update using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool (MCT) or the Windows 10 Update Assistant. Plus, with the upgrade now hitting Windows Update, you can just sit tight until it shows up on Windows Update. That availability will begin with new hardware and work its way out from there with Microsoft closely monitoring for any issues that might come up during the process.

Of course, releasing a major feature update for Windows 10 does not mean it is done. In reality this is just beginning of its journey in the Windows as a Service (WaaS) world and today the Creators Update is also getting its first cumulative update, KB4015583, that will bump it to Windows 10 Version 1703 (OS Build 15063.138).

In fact, all publicly available versions of Windows 10 including the Initial Release, Version 1511, and Version 1607 received cumulative updates to address security, bugs, and performance issues. That my friends is WaaS in action.

See all of our Windows 10 Creators Update Coverage

Either way, along with today marking the official availability of this third major feature update for Windows 10, Microsoft has also unleashed their various blogs to start pushing out the official commentary for the upgrade.

Let's take a look at what is available from Microsoft relating to the PC version of the Creators Update:

How to get the Windows 10 Creators Update

Microsoft's John Cable, the Director of Program Management for Windows Servicing and Delivery, makes it official and recommends users wait for the Creators Update to be delivered via Windows Update. However, the manual download options are still there for enthusiasts and early adopters.

What’s new in the Windows 10 Creators Update

This blog post from the Windows Blog Editor-in-Chief Molly Ruiz-Hopper lays out the key feature updates for Creators Update. There is an overview video from the This Week on Windows team plus additional details and videos for other key features and enhancements.

What’s new in Microsoft Edge in the Windows 10 Creators Update

Kyle Pflug, the Senior Program Manager on the Microsoft Edge team, tweeted that he had written a couple thousand words relating to the updates in Microsoft Edge that are part of the Creators Update and he was not exaggerating. Here you can see all the upgrades that Microsoft Edge has received today.

Windows 10 Update History

This page is a bookmark for me as I reference it on a regular basis to understand what updates have been released across the various versions of Windows 10 on PCs. Today, it now reflects the latest cumulative updates for each edition of Windows 10 on desktops including today's Creators Update release.

Using Narrator with Braille

Today's release of the Creators Update also introduces a new accessibility enhancement that allows braille to be used in this feature update. It is currently in beta and users can give direct feedback to Microsoft about how it works and is implemented.

Note: For those of you looking for the Windows 10 Mobile version of the Creators Update, Microsoft previously announced that update would begin rolling out on the 25th of April.

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Although the release of the Creators Update marks the end of an eight month development cycle that resulted in nearly 50 Redstone 2 developer builds being released to Windows Insiders it does not mean the development of Windows 10 stops here.

Last Friday Microsoft released the first development branch build of the Windows 10 Redstone 3 update, Build 16170, to Windows Insiders in the Fast Ring. That officially begins the public testing of the fourth major update to Windows 10 which is expected to be released this fall. You can track this and future testing builds using our Windows 10 (Redstone 3) Build Tracker for PCs.

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