Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (Version 1709) Changelog

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is the fourth major update released for Windows 10 operating system. It is also referred as RedStone 3, Build 16299, Version 1709, Windows 10.4 and Windows 10 Service Pack 4 (SP4).

Fall Creators Update build contains all features and changes present in various Windows 10 Insider Preview builds released after Windows 10 Creators Update build 15063. All Windows 10 builds which were released after Windows 10 Creators Update, came from Redstone 3 development branch, that’s why these builds are also known as RS3 (Redstone 3) builds.

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In this article, we’ll list all changes, improvements and new features found in Fall Creators Update build.

It’ll help you in understanding what changes and new features have become a part of the new version of Windows 10 operating system.

Previous changelog: Windows 10 Creators Update (Version 1703) Changelog

So without wasting time let’s start the article:

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16170 Changelog:

Build 16170 was the 1st Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on April 07, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Updated the share icon in File Explorer (in the Share tab) to match new share iconography
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16176 Changelog:

Build 16176 was the 2nd Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on April 14, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Serial device (COM ports) support in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
  • You can now hold down the power button on your device for 7 seconds to trigger a bugcheck. This will only work on newer devices that don’t use legacy ACPI power buttons
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16179 Changelog:

Build 16179 was the 3rd Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on April 19, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

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  • Automatic checkpoints in Hyper-V virtual machines to undo a mistake and revert to the last time you started a virtual machine
  • New power throttling feature to improve Windows battery life
  • The existing Group Policy to disable the lock screen is now available for those on the Pro edition of Windows 10 (More Info)
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16184 Changelog:

Build 16184 was the 4th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on April 28, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • My People feature in Taskbar notification area (More Info)
  • New experience for Gmail accounts in Windows 10 Mail & Calendar apps
  • Updated Start Menu to use the improved XAML scrollbar style
  • Removed preview picture from Start Settings page
  • Improved loading performance of Notification Settings page
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16188 Changelog:

Build 16188 was the 5th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on May 04, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Improvements to PDF reader in Microsoft Edge
  • Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) for Microsoft Edge (for Enterprise edition only) (More Info)
  • Ninjacat Icon for Windows Insider Program in Settings -> Update & security -> Windows Insider Program page
  • Cortana’s settings have been integrated into main Settings app
  • Redesigned Magnifier Settings page
  • New interactive toast notification in place of previous modal Windows Update dialog
  • Double-clicking the Windows Defender Security Center icon in notification area will now open Windows Defender Security Center (Related)
  • Universal dismiss of Cortana reminders is now enabled across Windows devices
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16193 Changelog:

Build 16193 was the 6th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on May 11, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • New “Windows Story Remix” feature
  • Improvements to power throttling feature
  • Volume mixer now supports UWP apps so you can now set their volume without impacting the overall system volume
  • You can now use Ctrl+Win+N to directly open Narrator Settings
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16199 Changelog:

Build 16199 was the 7th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on May 17, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Context menus for apps and tiles in Start Menu now contains icons for options such as Uninstall, Share and Rate
  • You can now watch emoji directly on Taskbar from pinned contacts via My People feature
  • Notification badge support for pinned contacts on Taskbar to see unread messages
  • You can now drag-n-drop files directly onto the contacts pinned on Taskbar for quick sharing
  • Improvements to Game settings and Game Bar
  • New “Game Monitor” page under Settings -> Gaming section which has no functionality at the moment
  • The Settings -> System -> About page now contains new system health section at the top which pulls information from Windows Defender Security Center
  • More tips and videos are now shown in Settings app (Related)
  • New “Delete files in my Downloads folder that haven’t been changed for over 30 days” option in Settings -> System -> Storage -> Change how we free up space section.
  • New “Caps Lock+E+E” hotkey to launch Feedback Hub in Narrator
  • Removal of Note quick action from Action Center due to low usage
  • Improvements to Cortana
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16215 Changelog:

Build 16215 was the 8th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on June 08, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • New UI for Start Menu based on new Fluent Design (Project Neon)
  • Redesigned Action Center based on new Fluent Design (Project Neon)
  • Improvements to Microsoft Edge web browser including support for full screen mode and pin websites to Taskbar (More Info)
  • Improvements to Cortana
  • Improvements to handwriting experience
  • New emoji panel which can be accessed using WIN+. or WIN+; hotkey. (More Info)
  • Improvements to touch keyboard
  • Improvements to share experience
  • New local media folder detection mechanism for UWPs such as Photos, Groove Music and Movies & TV apps
  • Improvements to My People feature
  • Improvements to Night Light feature
  • Improvements to Settings app
  • New “Color filters” option in “Settings -> Ease of Access -> Color & high contrast” page (More Info)
  • New “Video Playback” page in “Settings -> Personalization”
  • New “HDR and advanced color settings” page in “Settings -> System -> Display”
  • The “Set defaults by App” page in “Settings -> Apps -> Default apps” section now replaces classic Control Panel page
  • Updated network connection properties page
  • New context menu for Wi-Fi networks in “View Available Networks” flyout
  • Improvements to Windows Update including separate progress bar for each update
  • Improvements to Game Bar including button to turn on/off Game Mode
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) no longer requires Developer Mode
  • Improvements to accessibility features
  • Improvements to Japanese Input Method Editor (IME), Traditional Chinese Input Method Editor (IME) and fonts
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16226 Changelog:

Build 16226 was the 9th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on June 21, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • New features and improvements to Microsoft Edge web browser
  • OneDrive Files On-Demand feature to access your files in the cloud without having to download them and use storage space on your device
  • New “Xbox Networking” section under “Settings -> Gaming” to help you attempt to identify and resolve issues preventing you from using voice chatting and playing multiplayer games with other Xbox Live users
  • Task Manager now includes GPU performance information
  • New “Delete previous versions of Windows” option in “Settings -> System -> Storage -> Storage Sense” page
  • New “Remote Desktop” page in “Settings -> System” to enable Remote Desktop and configure related settings
  • Improvements to Windows Update. If an update fails, Windows will use a plain text string to describe the error that was encountered. This text and the error code will be selectable so you can easily copy and paste it elsewhere
  • “Share with” option has been renamed to “Give access to” in the context menu in File Explorer
  • Improvements to My People
  • Currency Converter functionality in Calculator app
  • Improvements to Ease of Access
  • Removal of SMB1 networking protocol from Windows by default
  • Improvements to Hyper-V
  • Improvements to Japanese Input Method Editor (IME)
  • Improvements to touch keyboard
  • Improvements to Mixed Reality
  • Improvements to Emoji
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16232 Changelog:

Build 16232 was the 10th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on June 28, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Improvements to Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) feature in Microsoft Edge
  • Exploit Protection feature added to Windows Defender Security Center
  • Controlled folder access feature added to Windows Defender Antivirus to protect valuable data from malicious apps and threats (More Info)
  • The new Video Playback Settings page moved to Apps category in Settings app
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16237 Changelog:

Build 16237 was the 11th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on July 07, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Now you can limit Internet connection bandwidth used by Windows Update (More Info)
  • Improvements to Microsoft Edge web browser
  • Improvements to Windows Shell
  • Improvements to Notifications and Action Center
  • Improvements to My People
  • Input Improvements
  • Improvements to touch keyboard experience
  • Improvements to handwriting panel
  • New Game Mode icon in Game Bar
  • Improvements to Task Manager’s GPU performance updates feature
  • Hyper-V Improvements
  • If you press and hold on an app in the all apps list in Start Menu, the context menu will now appear after a moment, rather than first having to lift your finger
  • A new option has been added to Cortana to enable or disable showing your cloud content in the search results
  • The Win32 MessageBox has been updated to now be natively per-monitor DPI aware
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16241 Changelog:

Build 16241 was the 12th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on July 13, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Now you can reset your login password or PIN from the Lock Screen
  • Improvements to PC gaming
  • Improvements to Task Manager
  • Improvements to Mixed Reality
  • Improvements to delivery optimization. Now you can limit how much your Internet connection bandwidth should be used for downloading and uploading updates.
  • The Pin to Taskbar option is now grayed out for InPrivate sessions in Microsoft Edge.
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16251 Changelog:

Build 16251 was the 13th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on July 26, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • New “Phone” category in Settings app to link your phone and PC
  • Improvements to Cortana
  • Now you can use Cortana voice commands to lock, sign-out, restart or turn off your PC
  • New “Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart” option in “Settings -> Accounts-> Sign-in Options -> Privacy” to help you sign-in faster (More Info)
  • Improvements to Input
  • Improvements to Microsoft Edge
  • Improvements to PC gaming
  • Narrator Scan Mode is now on by default for just the Microsoft Edge app. You can continue to toggle Scan Mode on and off with Caps Lock + Space.
  • The placeholder string “Opening a portal to another dimension” shown in various Windows Error Reporting dialog box has been updated to explain that the problem is being reported to Microsoft.
  • TruePlay, formerly called Game Monitor, is a placeholder within the Windows UI. Your games cannot be affected at this time.
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16257 Changelog:

Build 16257 was the 14th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on August 02, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • New Eye Control feature to operate an on-screen mouse, keyboard and text-to-speech experience using only their eyes. This feature can be turned on/off using Settings -> Ease of Access -> Other Options -> Eye control page.
  • Now Microsoft Edge web browser uses Fluent Design System to have a refreshed and more modern look in the browser frame.
  • The default color values in Windows Console (Command Prompt) have been changed to improve legibility of darker colors on modern screens and to give the Console a more modern look & feel.
  • Improvements to Input
  • Improvements to Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG)
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16273 Changelog:

Build 16273 was the 15th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on August 23, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • As a result of low usage, Screen Saver functionality has been disabled in themes. (More Info)
  • Emoji notifications in MyPeople
  • First OpenType Variable Font “Bahnschrift” is now included in this build
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16275 Changelog:

Build 16275 was the 16th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on August 25, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16278 Changelog:

Build 16278 was the 17th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on August 29, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • The ability to take HDR screenshots on PC via the Xbox app has been removed starting with this build. This feature will be re-introduced again in the future.
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16281 Changelog:

Build 16281 was the 18th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on September 01, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16288 Changelog:

Build 16288 was the 19th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on September 12, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • No watermark/build number on Desktop
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16291 Changelog:

Build 16291 was the 20th Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on September 19, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Cortana users can now resume articles, news from their iPhones and Android phones to PC from within the Cortana app
  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16294 Changelog:

Build 16294 was the 21st Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on September 20, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16296 Changelog:

Build 16296 was the 22nd Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on September 22, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Bug fixes and general improvements

Windows 10 Build 10.0.16299 Changelog:

Build 16299 was the 23rd Insider Preview build of Windows 10 released after Creators Update build 15063 (RedStone 2). It was released on September 26, 2017. This new build arrived via new “RS3” (RedStone3) development branch.

  • Bug fixes and general improvements

This build was released to public as Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709) on October 17, 2017.

We tried to cover all major changes and new features present in various Windows 10 testing builds released after Creators Update build. If you know about any other important feature or change which is not present in this article, feel free to share it in your comment and we’ll add it to the list.

Next Changelog:

Windows 10 April 2018 Update (Version 1803) Changelog

Published in: Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. I just enrolled for the RS3 Insider updates since the Creators update, and I just noticed that at least some of the Fluent Design System (aka Project Neon) is implemented already in the calculator app. It’s pretty cool.

  2. having trouble on updating to creater update 1703 in windows 10 enterprise.
    is free installion is compulsory for enterprise edition.

  3. Hi, VG.
    what do you recommend to Block windows update for windows 10 Version 1703 (15063 Build)?
    ( More SAFE, Easy to Revert settings for using Windows Store and …)

    1. Using BWmeter
    2. Block By Eset smart security
    3. Windows 10 Automatic Updates Enable/Disable Script
    4. Win Updates Disabler
    5. Windows 10 Update Disabler
    6. Windows 10 Update Switch
    7. Windows Update Blocker

    Thanks.

  4. Unfortunately RS3 builds 16273 and 16275 are causing problems for people using a variety of software that access hardware via low-level calls.

    Confirmed programs include:
    – Corsair Link
    – MSI Afterburner

    With respect to MSI Afterburner, nVidia users can work around this by going into Afterburner config and untick “Enable low-level I/O driver”. I don’t know if this will work with AMD graphics.

    Sigh….

  5. hello Vg,
    iam using window 10 enterprise edition 64 bit……..when i unpin tiles from start,they reappear again and when i turn on ‘USE START FULL SCREEN’ it automatically turns off……can you please help me to resolve the issue………..

  6. Hi,
    I’m NOT in the insider program but today I see on the bottom right of my desktop,
    “Test Mode
    Windows 10 Pro
    Build 15063.rs2_release.170317-1834”

    Why is this here now all of a sudden? (And I really wish I could have copy & pasted that…) 😉

  7. Ok this is getting a bit creepy. On the Windows Update screen it says “*Some settings are hidden or managed by your organization.”

    That was never there before.

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