Or maybe it's already on your computer. There's an easy way to find out if it's there, so we'll look at that and, if not, maybe you'd like to know how to obtain it or avoid it. We'll check that, too. And for everyone, let's see what's in it.
That's easy to figure out. Open the Control Panel, click System, and then choose About from the menu in the left column. Scroll down to Windows Specifications and if you see "Version 1709", the Fall Creators Update has already been installed.
That's what I see on my primary computer (a Lenovo notebook) and the Surface Pro 4. A second Lenovo notebook is in the Windows Insider program (Slow ring) and that's what it displays, too, because no new Slow-ring updates have yet been pushed out.
I thought that all three of these computers updated without a problem, but that wasn't quite the case. More about that in a moment.
The first thing I noticed is that the computers boot and shut down faster than in the past. They're almost as fast as Linux machines now. Windows has always taken longer to start and to shut down and it's always been frustrating.
One thing I've noticed, though, on the notebook that's in the Slow ring is that when some other application is running and you don't respond to the message that says an application is blocking the shutdown or restart procedure, Windows will abort the shutdown process and return you to the Start screen. This is safer, but it's unexpected.
There's a lot that's new, but you may not notice some of the changes unless they're pointed out. Pointing things out is my job.
The HoloLens, which was announced with the initial version of Windows 10 is finally more of a reality. Headsets from Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are available for less than $500 with bundled motion controllers. In other words, it's no longer just for NASA. Even so, most users won't care. So other than noting that the future is at hand, that's the extent of my HoloLens coverage.
Or almost so. Pornography merchants will be all over virtual reality as the price of admission drops. And Microsoft's Photos app now supports 3D animations so it will soon allow users to create videos with 3D objects.
The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update adds the new Fluent interface, but in a limited way. This is the update to the Metro/Modern interface. If you want to see it, open the Calc application. Support is limited and this can be confusing. Groove also is fully Fluent, but the Control Panel is not. In fact, the old-school Control Panel still exists. If you use Mail, you'll find that it still relies on Internet Explorer.
There's better syncing with Android and IOS devices. You can sync favorites between devices now. History and tabs will follow. Microsoft wants to create more complete cross-device synchronization, but that's still a work in process.
Windows Defender has some new tricks, but only for Edge and then only if you're running Windows 10 Enterprise. In other words, if you're a home user you won't yet see Application Guard, which allows Edge to run tabs inside isolated virtual machines. Even then, the protective aspect will be largely lost because Edge isn't exactly the most popular browser in use and if you choose to use this feature, you can't have extensions in Application Guard tabs. You also won't be able to save any files. So consider this a work in process.
Microsoft continues to attempt to demystify OneDrive. You'll see placeholders that refer to files that are on OneDrive, but not on your computer. This proved confusing in the past when people saved files to OneDrive and then found that they couldn't access them when they didn't have an internet connection.
Trying to open a file that's only on OneDrive will download the file, Microsoft tried this in Windows 8.1, but botched the implementation. The earlier errors have apparently been fixed, but if your computer is off-line, the file will still be inaccessible.
If the Windows update hasn't yet been pushed to your computer (it could be months until it is), you can download Windows 10 installation media from the Microsoft website.
After downloading the file, you need to run it and you'll then be offered options to obtain a file for a thumb drive or an ISO file for a DVD. Although it would be reasonable to think that you would need to boot from the thumb drive or DVD, that's not the case. Booting from the DVD offers only the option of wiping the drive and starting over. This is NOT what you want!
Instead, start Windows normally and navigate to the media you created and run the setup.exe file. The process will default to keeping your existing applications, files, and settings while updating just the operating system. That's the option you want.
Any operating system update can cause problems and this is the case for Windows more than for the MacOS or Linux. In part, this is because Windows accepts nearly any kind of hardware or software you can install or plug in. But in some cases, it seems to happen simply because of a lack of testing.
The Fall Creators Update caused the camera on my Surface Pro 4 tablet to stop working, for example. I've been using Windows Hello for more than a year and having the computer recognize my face instead of requiring a password has been a welcome option. Not having this feature is only a minor inconvenience, though, and I don't otherwise use the camera.
It's a minor problem, but not everyone is so lucky, though.
Some users have reported that applications have disappeared following the update. There have, of course, been some problems reported with installing the update, but that's a problem that occurs every time there's a Windows update. Usually this can be resolved by creating an installation disk and using it to update the computer.
I've also seen a driver compatibility problem that affects the screen on my Surface Pro 4, but the basic default driver still works. That's good because the Troubleshooter application sees the problem, but can't fix it. This was a bit more problematic because the screen was blindingly bright and couldn't be adjusted.
Here's the rest of that particular story: After a bit of analysis, I found that the camera wasn't even listed in the Device Manager and the video driver, although it claimed to be the most recent version, wasn't working right. The update had been performed by the on-line updater, so I tried a manual update using an installation DVD. Following the second update, everything worked normally. This is an important point: Updates that are applied by a real-time download usually succeed. When they don't, the manual process often fixes whatever went wrong. The link to download the installer file from Microsoft is in the How to Get it Now if You Don't Yet Have it section.
If you'd prefer to just stay on the sidelines for a while until the dust settles, you can delay the installation -- at least if you're running a Pro, Enterprise, or Educational version. I described this in the 9 April 2017 Techbyter program. Home users should gain this ability once they've installed the Fall Creators Update.
If your computer already has the Fall Creators Update and it's creating enough problems that you want to get rid of it, The Windows Club has a clear explanation of how. But before going there, running a manual installation might solve the problem.
I have become quite popular recently. Burger King wants to give me a gift card, Donald Trump wants to give me a tax break. Sam's Club has been trying desperately to reach me. Kohls and Walgreens both have gift cards for me. And Amazon wants me to have $100.
"Sam's club got a surprise for you!" the message says. I'll bet they do and I don't want it. Whether the game involves planting malware or stealing my login credentials, I don't want it.
Note that the person who created this spammy scam forgot to capitalize "Club" in "Sam's Club" and that the construction of the sentence indicates that it was written by someone who is not fluent in American English.
I took a look behind the pretty graphics and found links to "generalservice.club". This domain is registered via a registrar called "NameCheap" to someone in Panama.
Using a safe method to examine where the link would have taken me, I found an apology from a link-shortening service. The target of the poisoned short link had already been taken down.
Link shorteners such as goo.gl are useful because they can change a link that contains several hundred characters to one that that requires typing only a dozen or so characters. You can use a service such as CheckShortURL to show the true nature of a short link, but any shortened link in a commercial message or in a message from someone you don't know should be considered to be dangerous.
In fact, for more than a year Forbes Magazine has been urging businesses not to use link shorteners. In April 2016, a Forbes article said "Using the full URL promotes honesty, transparency, and good digital hygiene. Posting shortened URLs does the opposite." Twitter users often used link shorteners because of the character limit on tweets, but all links on Twitter are now counted as 23 characters regardless of their actual length.
The internet can be a dangerous place. Maybe every computer should come with a warning label.
That's the subject line of a message I received from Tim Marvin at Consumers Union, the company that publishes Consumer Reports.
The message reminded me that the massive data breach at Equifax compromised sensitive information for nearly half of all US consumers. As a result, millions of Americans are at risk for identity theft.
Consumers Union is collecting stories from people who have had their identities stolen. "Were you ever a victim of identity theft? Was your data compromised in the Equifax breach? Have you run into trouble trying to freeze your credit or fix an error on your credit report?" If so, they'd like to hear from you.
Marvin says that sharing stories about what happened to you "is one of the best ways you can help Consumers Union explain problems affecting real people to policymakers, corporations, and news outlets." That, he says, is the first step to changing practices and policies that don’t work for consumers.
If you have a story to tell, visit the Consumers Union website.
Related to the previous item, Consumer Reports has put together a 6-step program to protect your privacy. The article by Allen St John describes things you can do in less than 30 minutes to safeguard your information. "Marketers want your personal data", the article says, "and they're willing to work hard to get it. The result can be a barrage of unsolicited mail, telemarketing calls, and pop-up ads."
I had already done some of the things St John recommended, but others were new to me. Read the full article here. Here's a quick look at what the article suggests:
Allen St John's article is well worth the time it takes to read it.
