[Review] What’s New in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

In this topic, we are going to list all new features and changes present in the recently released Fall Creators Update build of Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft released the Fall Creators Update build to public on October 17, 2017. It’s also known as Redstone 3 build. Fall Creators Update version number is 1709 and the build number is 16299.

We have already listed all new features, changes and improvements present in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update in our exclusive changelog topic at following link:

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (Version 1709) Changelog

Today in this article, we’ll review Windows 10 Fall Creators Update in details. We’ll try to discuss about all new features and major changes present in this new version.

If you also want to know what’s new in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, this review topic will definitely help you. So without wasting time let’s start the review:

Fluent Design (Project Neon) Implementation in Start Menu and Action Center

Microsoft is working on a new UI called “Fluent Design” (previously known as Project Neon). It’ll be implemented in modern apps such as Mail, Calendar, Settings, etc. It’ll bring back Windows 7 style Aero glass transparency and blur effects to these UWP apps.

In Fall Creators Update, this Fluent Design concept has been partially implemented in Start Menu and Action Center. You can notice a few UI changes in Start Menu and Action Center.

You can see in above screenshot, context menus (right-click menus) for apps and tiles in Start Menu now contain icons for options such as Uninstall, Share and Rate.

Above screenshot shows redesigned Action Center in Fall Creators Update.

[Tip] How to Disable New Fluent Design Transparency Effects in Windows 10

Improvements to Windows Update

Microsoft has made many changes and improvements to Windows Update page in Settings app. When you open Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update page, you’ll notice “Some settings are managed by your organization” message at the top if you have changed or customized some settings related to Windows Update using Group Policy Editor or if you have opted in for the Windows Insider program.

Related: [Fix] Some Settings are Managed by Your Organization in Windows 10

This message also contains a link labeled as “View configured update policies“. If you click on it, it shows which policies have been set on your Windows 10 device.

Windows Update now also shows separate progress status for each update such as download percentage, installation status, etc.

Windows Update now allows you to limit your Internet connection bandwidth used for downloading and uploading updates. You can set the limits using Advanced options -> Delivery Optimization -> Advanced options page.

Check out following tutorial for detailed information about this new feature:

[Windows 10 Tip] Restrict Windows Update from Using Internet Connection Bandwidth

Improvements and Changes in Settings App

There are lots of changes in Settings app. Microsoft has added many new sections and moved some pages to different sections.

1. Cortana settings have been integrated into main Settings app. Now you can change Cortana Settings by clicking on “Search” icon present in Settings app.

2. A new category “Phone” has been added to Settings app which allows you to link your phone and PC.

3. The Settings -> System -> About page now contains new system health section at the top which pulls information from Windows Defender Security Center. It lets you know whether your PC is monitored and protected or not.

4. New “Video Playback” page has been added to “Settings -> Apps” section. It allows you to change video settings for apps that use video playback platform that’s built into Windows.

5. New “TruePlay” (previously labeled as “Game Monitor”) and “Xbox Networking” pages have been added under “Settings -> Gaming” section.

6. A new “Delete files in the Downloads folder that haven’t changed in 30 days” option has been added in “Settings -> System -> Storage -> Change how we free up space” section.

7. New “Remote Desktop” page has been added in “Settings -> System” to enable Remote Desktop and configure related settings.

8. New “Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart” option has been added in “Settings -> Accounts-> Sign-in Options -> Privacy” to help you sign-in faster.

This new option can cause “The user name or password is incorrect. Try again.” error message after restart. If you face this problem, check out following guide to fix it:

[Windows 10 Fix] “The User Name or Password is Incorrect” Error Message After Restart

[Fix] Windows 10 Automatically Restores Programs and Apps After Update or Restart

9. Also as a result of low usage, Screen Saver functionality has been removed from “Settings -> Personalization -> Themes” section.

You can check out list of all removed and deprecated features in Fall Creators Update in following topic:

List of Deprecated and Removed Features in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

10. Now more tips and videos are shown in Settings app. If you don’t like these tips and suggestions, you can disable them with the help of following tutorial:

[Tip] Disable Advertisements, Suggestions and Tips in Windows 10

My People Feature

My People allows you to pin your favorite contacts to Taskbar and then you can chat with them using Skype or send them emails using Mail app without having to open these apps. You can also share files with the contacts by just dragging the selected files onto the pinned contact in Taskbar.

If you don’t want to use this feature, you can disable it with the help of following tutorial:

[Windows 10 Tip] Remove “My People” Button and Pinned Contacts from Taskbar

Improvements to Microsoft Edge Web Browser

There are many improvements to Microsoft Edge web browser in Fall Creators Update. For example:

• Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) for Microsoft Edge (for Enterprise edition only) (More Info)
• Now Microsoft Edge web browser uses Fluent Design System to have a refreshed and more modern look in the browser frame
• Improvements to PDF reader
• Annotate your books
• New full screen mode
• Pin websites to Taskbar
• And many other improvements

Some Other Changes which are Worth to Mention

Apart from above mentioned features and changes, following are some other features and improvements in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update which are worth to mention:

• New power throttling feature
• Windows Story Remix – an evolution of Photos app
• New emoji panel which can be accessed using WIN+. or WIN+; hotkey. (More Info)
• Now you can individually control volumes of UWP apps using Volume Mixer
• Improvements to Game Bar including button to turn on/off Game Mode
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) no longer requires Developer Mode
• OneDrive Files On-Demand feature to access your files in the cloud without having to download them and use storage space on your device
• 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)
• Now you can use Cortana voice commands to lock, sign-out, restart or turn off your PC
• 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
• The existing Group Policy to disable the lock screen is now available on Pro edition of Windows 10 (More Info)
• Game Bar now contains button to turn on/off Game Mode