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Get Creators Update Now

Get Creators Update Now

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Leave a comment

 

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Image source: express.co.uk

 

This is going to be a short post. Microsoft few days back had announced that Windows 10 Creators Update will be available generally on April 11th.

It is however, going to be a staggered release. Meaning, not everyone will get this update on April 11th. After past experiences, like with Anniversary Update which brought in a lot of issues. This time they are releasing in stages.

First, they will release it to ‘Known good hardware’, that is, where they have telemetry data of good configurational PCs and which they have already tested on. This also suggests, their Surface product lines will also see day of light before others. Surface products will get Creators Update first, since it is a first party product.

I believe the rollout will take 8 weeks or more, like the Anniversary Update which took almost 3 months and more.

But, if like me, you are waiting impatiently for the Creators Update (CU). I have good news for you, you can get the CU today.

Microsoft said, on April 5th Windows 10 Creators Update will be available to download via Windows 10 Update Assistance.

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If you click on the link above, you will land on the Download Windows 10 page (image above)

Hit on “Update Now” button and a small utility named “Windows10Upgrade9252.exe” will download to your computer.

Head to and double/single click to launch it.

Read the instructions, and click Next, it will then tell you whether you PC meets minimum requirements, it checks the CPU, storage. Click next and Windows will start downloading, as shown below.

Upgrade Assistant

And that’s it. Upon finishing, it will alert you to install Windows now or later.

The upgrade/installation process takes approximately 30-40min depending on your PC configuration.

Do check out my other posts on Windows 10 Creators Update:

  1. Stalking Windows 10
  2. Should I Upgrade to Creators Update
  3. Feature Focus: Paint 3D

Happy install 🙂

Should I upgrade to Creators Update?

Should I upgrade to Creators Update?

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • 2 Comments

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Image source: winaero.com

As we know, Windows 10 Creators Update (CU) is few weeks away from releasing worldwide. The big question, should you upgrade to Windows 10 CU on day 1?

I have been testing latest Windows 10 builds, since I am part of Windows Insiders. Okay, just a little background on what is Windows Insiders. With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft created a testing program, called Windows Insiders (WI). WI headed by Dona Sarkar, is an option in Windows 10 that if opt in, Microsoft will start pushing Windows builds which are unfinished and still in development to the users so they can start testing Windows and provide feedback to Microsoft on what is working and what is not.

There are three Insider rings:

  1. Fast: This is for those daring users who want to be at the cutting edge. They get the new features at its early stages, which are buggy & unstable. They are more prone to system crashing.
  2. Slow: When a Windows Build releases on this ring, it somewhat assures you that the build is stable, won’t crash as often as the Fast ring. However, the build in this ring does not guarantee stability either. When a Build is done with the Fast ring, it is then pushed to the Slow ring.
  3. Release Preview: This is slightly different and a latest entrant in the WI program. This ring is for those who would want to stay in the current branch but test new app features, drive updates, other cumulative updates before they are released to general public.

That was a little background on Windows Insiders. The last build 15063 which I installed and tested seems quite stable and it maybe the build which gets released to the public in April. However, my personal advise for the Normal user and by normal I mean, who don’t care much about the operating system itself, and just wants to get their work done and call it a day.

For Home/Normal users, there is no rush to upgrade to Windows 10 CU right away. There are plenty of goodies in the new OS, but none of them are like “I want it today” kind of features. Read my post “Stalking Windows 10” for some quick info on the upcoming features.

One killer and my personal favorite platform update is the inclusion of Windows Mixed Reality. For this feature to work, you of course need the Mixed/Virtual Reality headsets, you need content and apps to take advantage of the MR/VR platform. Which as it stand, there are no good contents or headsets choice available.

The bigger reason to defer your upgrade plans over some weekend is, how stable will the OS be when it releases? Granted, and as I said above, the build 15063 is quite stable and I haven’t experienced big issues with it, but so was my experience with Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607), but I think we all know how bad the experience was.

Windows 10 AU did bring in plethora of issues for the early adopters, including myself. I still can’t forget how my production machine (Lenovo G50) kept freezing time to time, or not shutting down until it was forced to. There was a codec that was removed which broke webcam drivers that crashed the OS, and a number of other issues. The same experience I had with my Surface Pro 4, which at times just refuses to shutdown upon clicking on the power down button.

As for myself, I will be upgrading to CU as soon as my Windows Update prompts me to. And I know a lot of other tech enthusiasts too will do so. But for the rest of people, including my wife, it is best to defer the updates whenever Windows prompts you to. Let the power users test the system, thrash out bugs, let Microsoft provide early patches and fixes to the system. And then you can go for it. I did suggest, defer the upgrade for at least 8 weeks. By then we shall all know how the roll out has been and if there are known issues still by then.

Oh one important point, before you plan to upgrade, make sure you backup all your important data, and that sets the stage for my next article.

Till then, have a great day.

You can reach me on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irfaan-wahid-18962915

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irfaan.wahid

Twitter: @irfaanwahid

Stalking Windows 10

Stalking Windows 10

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized, Windows • Tagged , , , , , , , • 5 Comments

Hello everyone, my name is Irfaan Wahid and this is my first article on LinkedIn.

I shall be writing weekly articles focusing on technology, and closely following, in my opinion the four tech giants, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google. This does not mean I will not write about other tech biggies, but I also believe these companies are driving the tech industry forward.

I will be introducing myself in other/follow up posts. For now, let’s dive right into today’s headline.

Some of us may already know Microsoft’s soon to be released Windows 10 Creators Update, expected to release early April has got nice new features, which I am going to be highlighting in just a bit. This is a third major update since Microsoft released Windows 10 in July 29 2015.

First major update was back in 2015 November dubbed November Update (or codename Threshold 2), second update was in August last year called Anniversary Update (Codename Redstone 1). We now approach third and first update of 2017, known as Creators Update (Codename Redstone 2).

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Windows 10 Creators Update, why is this an important update?

Few highlights:

  1. 3D and Mixed Reality – With this new update, Microsoft has baked in what was previously known as Windows Holographic platform (Hololens??) into Windows 10 CU (Creators Update). What this means, Windows will now support virtual, augmented reality and holographic computing right out of the box. Currently the only true augmented reality headset is offered by Microsoft known as Hololens, with a whooping price tag of $3,000 targeted at developers. I was fortunate enough to test this headset at the Microsoft event in Nairobi, and trust me, it was amazing! Windows 10 CU is also replacing one of the most loved app, Paint with Paint 3D. Paint 3D is nothing but Paint on steroids. It incorporates elements to create a 3D painting/images and publish it to web (Remix3D.com/or print it with 3D printers. Developers with CU can start leveraging these new technology and use it in their own apps and with the upcoming Windows 10 CU certified headsets by third party OEMs such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Headsets offered by these partners will be priced @ $299 going up.
  2. Games – Microsoft has been pushing gaming to its Windows 10 platform, and with CU, it even brings in more features. One nice feature for hardcore gamers is broadcasting your play via Beam service (which also Microsoft owns).
  3. Sharing and Caring – Well, with CU you can now easily connect and share with people you care about the most. Although one of the most loved MyPeople feature has been stripped out of this update for Redstone 3, which allowed your favorite contacts to be pinned on your taskbar where you could easily chat, share files among others. We hope this feature makes a come back in RS3.

There are tons of new features and improvements throughout the operating system. Some subtle but important updates include:

  • E-book support, you can now read E-Pubs and PDF right in Microsoft Edge in a nice reading view.
  • Tabs aside, You can put aside Edge tabs when the list grows big, to clean up the clutter and bring them back when you need them.
  • A new section in Windows Store, we already have Music, Games and Movies & Tv, the new addition is, “Books”. Well, not a very cool feature, but heck, it’s good to have it finally in Windows. This will be no different to Amazon’s Kindle store and I wonder why would people jump with Books store offered by Microsoft. We will have to wait and watch this space.

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  • Mails, Photos, Maps, Cameras have all good improvements here and there.
  • UI improvements, Start menu/start screen now supports folders. You can now combine multiple app tiles in a folder, just like the walking dead platform Windows 10 Mobile. Windows 10 with CU now supports this too.

 

There are many more things to write about for Windows 10 Creators Update, which I will be in follow up articles.

I am a Windows Insider, which means I get to test latest and greatest features ahead of time than what I call the “Normal” users. The current build of Windows 10 Insider sits on 15055, which also means we now get very few builds from now on. This is normal as we approach the RTM or Release To Manufacturing of Windows 10 Creators Update, we are now few weeks away from getting the final build of CU.

From what I have been reading and talking to a few techy friends, Microsoft is targeting April 11th as the General Availability (GA) of Creators Update.

I am super excited for Creators Update and will be writing a review on it very soon.

That’s it folks for now, I will be writing more articles on various other products, tech companies and discussing trends, tips and tricks.

-Irfaan Wahid