Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 April Update With Lots Of New Features

The next major update for Windows 10 is supposed to hit sometime this month, though one of the questions that has yet to be answered is what exactly will it be called? We now have an answer. While still not officially announced, it appears that Microsoft has officially moved on from calling it the Spring Creators Update and will instead simply refer to the next major release as the Windows 10 April Update.

That is based on a new RTM (Release To Manufacturing) build that Microsoft recently pushed out to all rings of the Windows Insider program. Otherwise known as Redstone 4, Microsoft Edge gains a server-side update in the new build, and when fired up, it loads a 'welcome' page hosted on MSN that says, "Welcome to the April update," which you can see in the image below:


The welcome page promotes a few new features of the April Update, such as being able to resume past activities in timeline and the ability to share files with nearby devices. Based on what has been tested in pre-release builds, there will be a whole bunch of other feature additions and improvements as well. For example, Microsoft rebuilt the Game Bar with a new Fluent design UI, it added a diagnostic data viewing tool to the security and privacy section, and Cortana is easier to use with a new Organizer interface and My Skills tab, to name just a few.

While it appears Microsoft has settled on a name for the first of two major updates planned for 2018, when exactly it will release to the public is not yet known. Microsoft never announced an official release date. That said, it was widely believed that Microsoft hoped to push the update out on April 10, but hit the abort button at the last minute because of a bug discovery. There have also been reports of a second bug causing a further delay.

One of the few things Microsoft has officially confirmed about the Spring Creators Update/April Update/Whatever Update is it will require less offline time than previous updates. Rebooting will still be part of the process, but some of the things that were previously installed during an extended restart will now be installed while the user's PC is up and running. As a result, Windows Insiders on average have been able to upgrade with 30 minutes of offline time, versus 51 minutes for the Fall Creators Update and 82 minutes for the Creators Update.

Keep your eyes peeled, as we suspect Microsoft will finally begin pushing out the latest update this week.