April release date fixed for Microsoft's Windows 10 Spring Creators Update
Next Creators Update will feature Skype-like re-design of the user interface
The latest update to Windows 10 will, indeed, be imaginatively called the 'Spring Creators Update' and is set to start rolling out in April, Microsoft has confirmed.
The Update was semi-officially confirmed as the name of the Redstone 4 release - which we pretty much knew already via the Insider Programme.
The headlines in this edition are around artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) which will soon be available for developers to incorporate into their apps via a whole new platform.
Also expected is Timeline, which was removed from the Fall Creators Update. This feature will enable users to pick up where they left off on completely different devices - as well as view a list of notifications and activities across all their Windows use.
We'll also see support for HDR monitors - which should be great for media users. Less great might be a big change planned to the user interface, which was first previewed in a version of the built-in media player Groove Music, and already evident in the redesign of Skype.
The Spring Creators Update will be officially supported for around 18 months, by which time the Windows-as-a-Service wagon will have moved on by three further updates. Redstone 5 is already the code name for the autumn release - expect it to be called the Fall Creators Update.
Recently, however, Microsoft has taken flack for forcing updates on Windows 10 versions that are not end-of-life yet by refusing to allow security patches. This has led to criticism, particularly from businesses who, for various operational reasons, are not in a position to make the switch yet.
Windows 10 has proved a reasonable success for Microsoft, but has still fallen way short of its planned two-billion devices within two years. In addition, although Windows 8.x has been more or less obliterated, around 40 per cent of desktop/laptop machines are still running Windows 7.
It's thought the vast majority of these are enterprise users and the figure has stayed near static over the past year.