It’s official: Windows 10 Creators Update will be out on April 11

Microsoft has announced that the Creators Update for Windows 10 will indeed go live on the date which had previously been rumored, namely April 11.

Of course, that’s the initial date for when the rollout starts. Just as with the previous Anniversary Update, Microsoft is deploying the upgrade in stages, so only some folks will get it in that first week.

As we discussed last week, the Anniversary Update arrived at a pretty measured pace, with only 35% of Windows 10 PCs receiving it in the first two months. Microsoft may well have learned lessons in this process though, so the Creators Update could be deployed at a faster rate. Fingers crossed…

As well as revealing the official launch date, Microsoft recapped some of the fresh features coming with the Creators Update, including the new Paint 3D app which allows you to easily create three-dimensional objects from scratch (or turn a 2D image into a 3D one).

Beaming with pride

Then there’s also Beam, which brings built-in game broadcasting to Windows 10, with no extra software or hardware required. You’ll be able to stream gaming sessions with a minimum of fuss – simply bring up the Game Bar (by pressing Windows + G), and click broadcast – plus Beam offers a whole host of extras to facilitate interacting and chatting with your viewing audience.

Don't forget Game Mode, too, which can intelligently dedicate more resources to your PC games to ensure smoother running.

And following the embarrassment of Windows 10’s browser coming in last place at the Pwn2Own hacking event recently, Microsoft underlined security improvements to Edge, claiming that it blocks 9% more phishing sites and 13% more malware than Chrome (according to an NSS Labs report – note that Google’s Chrome won the Pwn2Own contest).

The software giant also observed that the Creators Update brings a number of new features to Edge, including advanced tab management to help you better organise all your open tabs, and the ability to read e-books (purchased from Books in Windows Store) in the browser across all your Windows 10 hardware.

Are you excited for the Creators Update? In actual fact, it is possible to download it right now via a leaked Microsoft utility, although it might not be wise to do so, and that’s certainly an action you take at your own risk – as we discussed yesterday.

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Microsoft bolsters Office 365 with co-authoring for Excel

Microsoft has made its usual end of the month post concerning what’s new with Office 365, and the major fresh addition which has just happened for March is co-authoring support in Excel.

Yes, co-authoring support is now live for Excel on Windows desktop PCs, or at least it is for testers only at the moment (those on the fast ring of the Office Insiders program).

That means you can collaboratively work with others on the same spreadsheet and see their changes more or less in real-time, within seconds of them being made. Just the same as when collaborating on a Word document.

Microsoft’s getting feedback from testers at the moment, and it will roll the feature out more broadly soon enough.

Note that co-authoring is already available in the web version of Excel, and its mobile apps (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile), but this is new for desktop machines. As well as Windows, Microsoft notes it’s also working on co-authoring in Excel for the Mac.

Autosaving the day

So what else is new? Microsoft has also introduced autosaving to Word, Excel and PowerPoint on Windows desktops, where files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint Online are concerned.

In other words, you don’t have to worry about habitually hitting save, as it will automatically be done for you (and indeed the other users who may be collaboratively working on a file with you).

Microsoft also reminded us that the Teams messaging and collaboration app is now live for Office 365 business subscribers, and Office 365 Education users – and that in excess of 150 integrations with third-party apps and services are already available, or coming soon.

And Microsoft Bookings, the app which helps small businesses schedule and manage appointments with customers, is now rolling out worldwide for Office 365 Business Premium subscribers (previously it was US and Canada only).

Other minor tweaks have been made to Office 365 apps, such as inking updates for OneNote. For example, you can now jot down an equation in OneNote, select it, and have the app display a graph of it – and indeed it can teach you how to solve the equation.

For the full list of every little change and tweak, check out Microsoft’s blog post.

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Oh snap: Facebook adds Snapchat-like filters and Stories

Facebook is going all in on a new suite of features for sharing your goings-on with friends without cluttering your News Feed with images only meant to be seen once.

Specifically, the social network is adding special filters and masks to its camera feature, as well as Stories for sharing single-view images, video, or replies atop your News Feed that disappear after 24 hours.

Facebook is also allowing its users to send Stories to just a select person or group of people with another feature called Direct, should you not want to share pics from your latest bar escapades with just anyone.

By this point, you've likely drawn a similarity or five between Facebook's newest update and a certain picture-sharing app. However, it comes as no surprise, as past tests have made it apparent that the Big Blue F was planning to emulate Snapchat's ephemeral image-posting style.

While this is first time we've seen these features on Facebook proper, the site's Messenger app has had its own take on 24-hour snippets for a while now. The Facebook-owned service Instagram has also been using a similar feature for nearly a year now.

Facebook's new snap-swapping features will roll out over the course of this week to both iOS and Android users of the app. 

For those who already use Snapchat, not every feature has been copied by Facebook just yet, such as...um...its featured Stories from magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire.

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Download of the day: Paint.NET