Microsoft officials confirmed the rollout start date in a blog post on March 29. Just like the Anniversary Update which Microsoft started rolling out last August, the Creators Update release will be throttled and likely take several months to complete transition.
Microsoft have added a feature to the current OS, allowing you to request the Update right away, kind of like jumping the queue. This feature is under Settings > Update & Security.
Microsoft has been testing the Creators Update (the successor to the Windows 10 Anniversary Update) for the last several months inside the company and with Windows Insider Testers. The Creators Update includes a handful of new consumer-focused features, include a new Game Mode, Windows Mixed Reality support, and new ebook and tab-management capabilities in the Edge browser. Microsoft will include a new 3D Paint application with this release, but still continue to make regular 2D Paint available alongside that release.
Microsoft demonstrated in late October 2016 a companion 3D mobile application that would allow users to capture 3D images on their phones and subsequently edit and even 3D-print them.
The Creators Update also includes several incremental security updates and features aimed mainly at business customers.
The hope is that many Software/Hardware Developers have put more effort into testing the Update and getting compatibility on-board this time around, unlike the mess when Windows 10 released and later the Anniversary Update.
Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education customers will be able to defer feature updates (such as Creators Update, Redstone 3, etc.) for up to 365 days and “quality” updates (bundled security updates and fixes) for up to 30 days. Home users still will not have a new option to defer or pause either type of update.
With Creators Update, Microsoft is giving users more control over when their PCs and tablets will restart after updates are applied. Microsoft also is making its privacy and telemetry settings clearer in the Creators Update release.
The Creators Update will be a free update to those already running Windows 10. There is no word on how much they will charge for the Creators Update if purchased as a standalone product, but it will likely be close to current prices.
There will be Windows 10 Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education versions of the Creators Update for PCs and tablets. We asked about the Windows Mobile 10 version of Creators Update, and we were told there is a proper Creators Update version for the platform and that it will be releasing at the same time or just after using the same throttled procedure as PC.
The Creators Update will also be coming to Xbox and the Surface Hub.
