Microsoft made a lot of announcements today at its Build conference. You can get the basic recap here and here or view a slew of coverage here. Among them was the announcement of the Windows 10 Anniversary update, headed our way in the summer.
The company didn’t give a more specific date than that, but it will hit PCs, tablets, phones, Xbox One, Microsoft HoloLens, and IoT.
The update includes the ability to use Windows Hello with Windows apps and Microsoft Edge for biometric security.
The update also includes the introduction of Windows Ink, a new experience that lets you write on your device.
“More than 70% of us spend more than one hour a day using a pen,” says Windows EVP Terry Myerson. “We lose notes in our notebooks, take pictures of whiteboards, and can’t do equations or music composition with a keyboard. Windows Ink is an all-new experience, putting the power of Windows in the tip of your pen, enabling you to write on your device as you do on paper, creating sticky notes, drawing on a whiteboard, and easily sharing your analog thoughts in the digital world. Windows Ink is integrated into apps like Maps, Microsoft Edge, and Office. And today, we demonstrated how developers can incorporate Windows Ink into their apps with as little as 2 lines of code!”
Cortana will be available above the lock screen for quicker access and it will support over 1,000 apps.
Finally, for gamers, UWP apps come to Xbox through a unified Windows Store, and Microsoft is enabling any Xbox One to become a dev kit.
“Gaming gets better with the Windows 10 Anniversary update, including background music and Cortana coming to Xbox One,” says Myerson. “Cortana can become your personal gaming assistant and help you find great new games, new challenges or tips and tricks. On Windows 10, we’re continuing to deliver on top fan-requested features like support for multiple GPUs and the ability to turn off v-sync. Game developers have access to a fully open ecosystem with the Universal Windows Platform, making it easy to bring the games people love to both Xbox One and other Windows 10 devices. With the Anniversary Update, any Xbox One can be a developer kit with Xbox Dev Mode, enabling anyone to develop for the living room. And, the Windows Store will offer a unified store experience for all developers, creating new opportunities to reach millions of new customers.”
Microsoft said there are 270 million active Windows 10 devices.
Image via Microsoft