Windows 10 is now considered by Microsoft to be a service. What that means is that the operating system is continually updated with new features and fixes in small increments (such as the redesigned Photos app) and big releases. The Creators Update is the latest big one, and it starts rolling out to Windows 10 users for free on April 11.
The previous major release, Anniversary Update, fine-tuned the interface and added things like Digital Ink input, more Windows Hello secure authentication possibilities, and Cortana interaction from the lock screen.
This time, Creators Update does add one very creator-specific tool—the new Paint 3D—but much of what's new concerns gaming and the web browser. Read on for all the most interesting new things in Windows 10.
More Gaming Features
Some of the biggest updates in Creators benefit gamers, like Game Mode, which shifts system resources away from other processes to your game. A new dedicated Gaming section graces the main Windows 10 Settings app; it lets you control the Game bar that pops up when you hit Windows key-G, your Game DVR options, and the new Broadcasting capability that comes via Beam. Beam offers sub-second latency, making for more immediate interactions between broadcaster and audience.
Paint 3D
Windows 10 Creators Update brings 3D design to the masses. The new Paint 3D app lets you build and edit 3D objects from a set of primitives and pre-built shapes, and then apply 2D images and textures to them. Then you can share your creation and see those from others on the Remix.com sharing community. The app also supports 3D printing.
Books in the Edge Browser
The default web browser that comes with Windows 10, Microsoft Edge, gets a few new capabilities with Creators Update, one of the biggest being that it can now function as an e-reader of e-books. You can choose from a decent selection of e-books in the Windows Store app, and the reader has all the functions we've become accustomed to and then some. You access your bookshelf from the Favorites/History button. The reader not only shows table of contents and formatting options, but can actually read your book aloud.
Night Light
The blue part of the spectrum emitted by displays has been found to interfere with sleep, and for that reason Apple introduced Night Shift in iOS 9.3. Now Windows users can benefit from de-blued screens in the evening, thanks to the Night Light setting in Creators Update. It defaults to turning on at sunset, but you can configure custom hours and even set the color temperature.
New Privacy Dashboard and Setup
Microsoft took a lot of heat for its data collection in Windows 10, even though it was no more invasive than that in Apple and Google's software, which can't work without an account as Windows can. Starting with Windows 10, privacy setup options are much clearer, and now there's an online Privacy dashboard at account.microsoft.com/privacy that lets you see what data Microsoft saves to the cloud and lets you clear search history, location data, and more.
Movies & TV App Updates
The Movies & TV app not only lets you play content bought in the Windows Store, but it also serves as a player for your own videos. In Creators Update, that player can now show 360-degree VR content. A new mini-mode lets you relegate playing videos to a screen corner, and the player is now capable of 4K resolutions.
Tab Tools in Edge
Some more new features in Edge merit their own entry, as they're completely separate from the e-reader capabilities mentioned earlier. The browser now lets you drop down thumbnail previews as well as for individual tabs when you hover over them. But an even bigger productivity aid is the "Set these tabs aside" button, which does what it says and lets you easily access groups of tabs later.