5 Things To Know About The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

The Next Windows 10

Following the recent Creators Update to the operating system, Microsoft is calling this fall's new Windows 10 version, simply, the Fall Creators Update. During its Build 2017 developer conference Thursday, Microsoft unveiled a few of the new features coming as part of the next version of Windows 10 (though the company didn't give a specific date for the launch).

In the following slides, we've rounded up five changes coming in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

Timeline

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will include a way to rewind the clock on what you were doing on your computer. The Timeline feature will take snapshots of open documents and applications, and will let you go back to previous snapshots as you like. The user interface will feature a scroll bar for going backward in time to call up prior sessions.

Improved Switching Between Devices

The Timeline feature—with some assistance from Cortana—will also enable users to "pick up where you left off" when switching from a Windows 10 device to another device, Microsoft said. That is, you'll be able to pull up what you were doing on a smartphone or tablet, for instance. And that will be true even for iOS and Android devices, according to Microsoft, after the launch of the Fall Creators Update.

Universal Clipboard

Building on the theme of better continuity between devices, Microsoft said it will use the Fall Creators Update to introduce a universal clipboard feature. The feature will allow users to carry over their clipboard contents between devices—for instance, copying text on one device and pasting it inside a different device. Importantly, this feature will also work when switching between Windows 10 devices and iOS or Android devices. Apple introduced this type of feature last year for macOS and iOS devices.

OneDrive Files On-Demand

The Fall Creators Update will remove the need to sync files in OneDrive across devices, and will instead let you choose files as needed. Syncing, Microsoft acknowledged, can eat up a lot of disk space. With the Files On-Demand feature, you'll be able to use File Explorer to download just the files you want.

Fluent Design System

A few months back, images of possible design enhancements to Windows were leaked—and Thursday Microsoft confirmed that the enhancements are real. And they'll be coming as part of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, as part of what Microsoft is calling the Fluent Design System. The new look and feel for Windows 10 will include some flourishes, such as different types of animations in Windows apps, but Microsoft hasn't revealed a lot of specifics about the new design system so far.