Microsoft Promotes Fall Creators Update to Developers

At a special event today, Microsoft made its case for why developers should embrace new features in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

“[The] Windows 10 Fall Creators Update provides a developer platform that is designed to inspire the creator in each of us, empowering developers to build applications that change the way people work, play, and interact with devices,” Microsoft corporate vice president Kevin Gallo says. “To truly fulfill this platform promise, I believe that our developer platform needs to be people-centric. Technology should adapt and learn how to work with us.”

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To the end, Microsoft has enhanced Windows 10 in the Fall Creators Update with major new features—like the Microsoft Graph, the Fluent Design System, .NET Standard 2.0, and various tooling improvements—that developers can take advantage of in their apps. The firm claims that the Fall Creators Update SDK, or software development kit, literally contains thousands of such improvements.

At a higher level, the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will introduce consumers to mixed reality—a combination of virtual reality (VR) and HoloLens-like augmented reality (AR)—via new spatial interactions and a coming generation of Windows Mixed Reality headsets. It is the first version to begin including what promises to be a multi-version journey to a new and more modern user experience via the Fluent Design System. And it includes cross-device capabilities via the Microsoft Graph and Project Rome, which together provide an activity feed and task continuation capabilities across PC, and iOS/Android-based phones.

“Whether you’re building immersive experiences for Windows Mixed Reality, games, or business applications, community is crucial to the Windows developer platform,” Mr. Gallo continued. “I’d like to take a moment to thank all developers who are participating Windows Insiders Program and have been using the Fall Creators Update Preview SDK, as well as the partners that joined us on stage today.”

As for the Windows Developer Day event, it’s actually being broadcast in three separate tracks for game developers, commercial software developers, and consumer software developers, respectively. If you’re just learning about this now, you missed it. But I expect Microsoft to make on-demand recordings available soon.

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Conversation 37 comments

  • Martin Pelletier

    Premium Member
    10 October, 2017 - 1:03 pm

    <p>I love the way UWP apps are made internally. But… Microsoft has to find a way to lure old Winfom developers. For many, having to learn XAML is a show stopper. Even for WPF XAML devs, you have to learn new keywords take full advantage of the features. It a bit too late too. The money are now on Android and iOS. The devs are now used to use respective dev tools of those OSes.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    10 October, 2017 - 1:22 pm

    <p>Why is it going to take more than one release to implement Fluent? That's ludicrous. The clearly have the designs done. Just do the whole thing at once instead of piecemeal.</p>

    • Martin Pelletier

      Premium Member
      10 October, 2017 - 1:38 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#205775"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>That's another reason devs don't go in. We like stability, not technologies in progress that changes later and break everything.</p>

      • karlinhigh

        Premium Member
        10 October, 2017 - 4:57 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#205780"><em>In reply to MartinusV2:</em></a></blockquote><p>Maybe say "durability" instead of "stability." People tend to think "stability" means "doesn't crash" instead of "it will work tomorrow like it did yesterday and today."</p>

      • Louis Brauer

        11 October, 2017 - 5:55 am

        <blockquote><a href="#205780"><em>In reply to MartinusV2:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Wake up, we live in a world dominated by Apple and Google technology-wise. They change their APIs every 12 months and they don't give a damn how you explain that to your customers why you have to fix the app again. It were Apple and Google who invented the App-updating, API-reinventing madness. We once realized a 12-month project based Apple Final Cut Server until we learned that after delivering to the customer, Final Cut Server was abandoned by Apple without any warning.</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft offers a comparatively stable or "durable" environment for its developers. You cannot expect MS to be as fast and careless as Apple and Google and at the same time offer the durability that business developers and customers need.</p><p><br></p>

      • jimchamplin

        Premium Member
        11 October, 2017 - 1:35 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#205780">In reply to MartinusV2:</a></em></blockquote><p>I totally get that, and altering the apparance should be transparent to developers. A change in the bitmap resources and rendering engine used for window chrome shouldn't affect the aplication.</p><p><br></p><p>MSStyle is able to change the appearance of legacy Win32 software without developer intervention. The major redesign of macOS in 10.10 required nothing from devs at all. </p><p><br></p><p>If Fluent requires dev intervention, that's even more ludicrous!</p>

  • Elindalyne

    Premium Member
    10 October, 2017 - 1:56 pm

    <p>Sadly electron apps are like a million times more interesting than UWP right now. Honestly, who cares about new versions of Windows. Devs are stuck supporting the lowest version their customers use, which includes Windows 7. </p>

  • skane2600

    10 October, 2017 - 2:26 pm

    <p>" .. empowering developers to build applications that change the way people work, play, and interact with devices,”</p><p><br></p><p>Is it just me or is this line pretty much the same one MS has used for the last 20 years?</p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      10 October, 2017 - 3:35 pm

      <p><a href="#205797"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></p><p>A <em>vibrant</em> criticism.</p><p>No matter what MSFT does, good or bad, there's always a MSFT marketing person nearby to provide the appropriate level of happy-speak obfuscation.</p>

    • BoItmanLives

      10 October, 2017 - 6:20 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#205797"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></blockquote><p>So true.</p>

  • Jason Honingford

    10 October, 2017 - 2:27 pm

    <p>Business applications? Not likely. I don't even think there's anything for consumers here. I certainly don't want any of this on my computers. I'd just like to have my Storage Spaces back. .NET developers will eventually start looking into Core, but this will not fundamentally change anything for the end user. The only major challenge developers have in the next 5 years is making their UI's work correctly with 4k screens and Microsoft hasn't really helped us make this any easier. The real innovation over the next 5 years is going to be even better web and mobile apps, and Microsoft is really not a player in this space. We have to look to 3rd party kits for this.</p>

  • skane2600

    10 October, 2017 - 2:34 pm

    <p> Isn't .NET Standard 2.0 a spec, not an implementation? From a Windows developer point of view, it's what new capabilities .NET provides in Fall Creators Update that didn't exist before that matters.</p>

  • glenn8878

    10 October, 2017 - 3:33 pm

    <p>Microsoft is the Top Windows Developer and it has failed to release relevant software to UWP, the new Windows platform. Which platform is Microsoft promoting?</p>

    • nbplopes

      10 October, 2017 - 3:45 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#205804"><em>In reply to glenn8878:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Microsft it’s promoting Office 365, Bing and Azure. Windows 10 it’s just a means for it. Don’t you get it?</p><p><br></p><p>They are and will funnel the entire user market towards it …. developer will have little chance but either develop for Azure and Office 365, around MS offerings or jump to another platform:</p><p><br></p><p>Why would you build innovative UWP apps in such saturated context? Even if they offer better features or are more stable tha MS parts the users presence it’s just interim.</p><p><br></p><p>Take for instance Pauls use of Dropbox.</p>

  • nbplopes

    10 October, 2017 - 3:43 pm

    <p>The problem of this two times a year update scheme is that ….</p><p><br></p><p>Ok … a certain amount of user is with Windows 10 …. which version?</p>

    • Mestiphal

      10 October, 2017 - 3:55 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#205806"><em>In reply to nbplopes:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>My daughter's HP Stream 7 tablets got the 1607 update not too long ago… which was officially released a year ago?</p><p><br></p><p>For the last year we haven't installed apps on their tablets as everything needed the Anniversary Update, so either buy a new tablets every once in a while, or forget about being up to date on the OS.</p>

    • Winner

      10 October, 2017 - 4:10 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#205806"><em>In reply to nbplopes:</em></a></blockquote><p>Well, you are going from the second release, Creator's Update, of the LAST version of Windows, to the THIRD RELEASE, which is the SECOND CREATOR'S UPDATE, of the LAST VERSION OF WINDOWS.</p><p><br></p><p>See how sensible that is?</p>

      • Jacob Klein

        11 October, 2017 - 8:55 am

        <blockquote><a href="#205823"><em>In reply to Winner:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>If you want to make sense of it best, then refer to the "Version numbers". The "Marketing Nicknames" are handy, but not as useful. And the "Build" is only useful when wanting to know the build number that cumulative updates will be applied to.</p><p><br></p><p>So, here are the releases, with that information, listed in a logical sensical way, and including the "minor build number" for a build, since it can change apparently. It's not terribly confusing, once you get used to it.</p><p><br></p><p>Version 1507 Build 10240.16384 – Initial Release</p><p>Version 1511 Build 10586.0 – November Update</p><p>Version 1607 Build 14393.0 – Anniversary Update</p><p>Version 1703 Build 15063.0 – Creators Update</p><p>Version 1709 Build 16299.15 – Fall Creators Update</p>

        • nbplopes

          14 October, 2017 - 5:42 am

          <blockquote><a href="#205981"><em>In reply to Jacob Klein:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I was being sarcastic. If it’s a known difficulty to get users to vupdate in mass with one great update per year … now two?</p><p><br></p><p>what they do with two big updates per year that they cannot do with one?</p>

          • Jacob Klein

            14 October, 2017 - 1:17 pm

            <blockquote><a href="#207220"><em>In reply to nbplopes:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>2 big updates per year, feels about right for releasing new features, which is their goal. If you're an Insider, you'll probably agree — otherwise, features get stale and copied by competitors before they can get released.</p><p><br></p><p>So, I'd say "get used to it", because that's their new model, and it works relatively well.</p><p><br></p><p>Though I do hope they make upgrading to these new feature releases, easier, instead of "full build upgrades". I hear they're working on that aspect.</p><p><br></p><p>Long story short, it doesn't really matter what version of Windows 10 a user is on, except for a) Is it still getting supported updates, and b) you're missing out on new features if you aren't on the latest one. Otherwise, for the MOST part, Windows 10 is Windows 10 is Windows 10.</p>

            • nbplopes

              14 October, 2017 - 5:37 pm

              <blockquote><a href="#207271"><em>In reply to Jacob Klein:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I think the goal should not be releasing features but features that millions of people use and developers that build upon those features. Otherwise its just gimmicky.</p><p><br></p><p>For me the best thing to come out its the Timeline. That its really useful right now by a great number of people. If it works across all apps right there, x32 or UWP, its great. If not, hopefully developer will support as part of the Core API. The rest seams to be great, but it mostly the MS stance on subjects that are solved already. I'm leaving AR and gaming out as its so specific and requires such special and expensive hardware that … well you know.</p><p><br></p><p>Look, I'm not complaining about making things better. But make it better once a year, make it reliable and leave the air waves for other in the ecosystem to build upon what was done. Release updates for bug fixing and visual glitches.</p><p><br></p><p>PS: I don't need to get used to anything I don't want to. But It does matter, because if you spend loads of time developing on top of a specific new feature, say timeline, that people will use mostly after 8 months when everything is iron out if ever, I' wait until the next release just to see how things go. And that its not good for the feature itself.</p>

              • Jacob Klein

                15 October, 2017 - 2:12 pm

                <blockquote><a href="#207329"><em>In reply to nbplopes:</em></a></blockquote><p>The whole concept of "waiting" is one that Microsoft is eager to avoid. No waiting to get the feature, no waiting to use the feature, no waiting while the feature is stolen by a competitor.</p><p><br></p><p>You do what you want, but I understand their decisions, and you should too I'd think.</p>

                • nbplopes

                  16 October, 2017 - 4:57 am

                  <blockquote><a href="#207500"><em>In reply to Jacob Klein:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>People and developers are waiting anyway with this pace.</p><p><br></p><p>The challenge is not so much in deploying new features but deploying new features with a level of depthness and robustensss that allow people to use it everyday and get developers excited. </p><p><br></p><p>i like when less is more. Meaning release less with more impact in people’s lives.</p><p><br></p><p>Take for instance he photo mix. If people are taking photos with their smartphones and share ping on them is Windows 10 PC a good target for such a feature? So why is the first thing to be presented when promoting this update? How many developers will it attract with extensions and so on on top of this? </p><p><br></p><p>I understand that Apple a photo / video app on Apple OS. But in context makes more sense for them than MS. The level of integration with iOS smartphones it’s unparalleled in any other ecosystem..</p><p><br></p><p>Crazy. IMHO.</p><p><br></p>

  • Winner

    10 October, 2017 - 3:44 pm

    <p>"The Fall Creator's Update will be a new release that will take months to roll out across the Windows 10 world. Windows 10 is present on a minority of PCs, well below our original adoption estimates. Our UWP Platform is struggling to gain traction. While developers are finding the app stores of IOS and Android lucrative, we can assure you that by moving to Windows 10, which again is only a fraction of the actual Windows installed base, we want you to be inspired as Creators. By discarding your most lucrative economic interests, you can be a Creator to promote Microsoft's economic interests."</p>

    • Tony Barrett

      11 October, 2017 - 6:01 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#205807"><em>In reply to Winner:</em></a></blockquote><p>Well said.</p>

  • chaad_losan

    10 October, 2017 - 3:51 pm

    <p>At the end of the day everyone will say, 'Thanks but no thanks. I'm never rewriting my win 32 app ever, nor will I put it in the Microsoft store. The mobile version comes out next week. On iOS and Android.'</p>

  • Win74ever

    10 October, 2017 - 7:05 pm

    <p>A bunch of empty words. My Windows 10 Anniversary is unbothered. I won't be updating as long as there's security updates being released. I don't believe in Windows 10.</p>

  • Tony Barrett

    11 October, 2017 - 5:58 pm

    <p>Are MS still pushing the 'inspire the creator in all of us' rubbish. Look MS, it's just yet another big patch that supersedes the previous big patch. It won't change the way people use Win10, it won't cure world hunger and it certainly won't turn everyone into 'creators', just like the other update didn't. Get over it, move on, and stop pretending it's something it isn't.</p>

  • trixiebigwasss

    12 October, 2017 - 10:20 pm

    <p>Definitely tradingis the answer to my financial needs. Been tradingfor a few months now and I'm earning well. If you are interested in learning how totrade, Google SuperiorTrading System.</p>

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