Today, at Build 2017 we announced the next wave of Windows 10 innovations built to empower the creator in all of us—the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
The spirit of creativity lives in each of us. So often our lives are changed by creating something out of nothing, from a big idea, a dream, or just a simple thought.
Like the incredible developers here at Build, I experienced my own personal creativity in software development. I remember what it was like to wait as my code compiled, then seeing it come to life on the screen for the first time. There is an amazing feeling of creativity that comes from software development. I love seeing that spark of creativity in our Windows developer community.
The Windows 10 Creators Update began rolling out last month to more than 500 million Windows 10 devices around the world. It’s exciting to see more than 300 million people using Windows 10 every day for more than 3.5 hours a day on average. With all of this engagement, we’ re most proud that Windows 10 customers have higher satisfaction than any previous version of Windows ever.
To give people a sense of what’s possible with the Fall Creators Update, today we unveiled Windows Story Remix. Built on. NET and distributed through the Windows Store as a Universal Windows Application, Story Remix uses AI and deep learning to organize and transform your photos and videos into stories. It will use the Microsoft Graph to connect you and your friends across devices. Story Remix brings your memories, or even your friends’ photos and videos together to create stories with a soundtrack, theme, and cinematic transitions. You can also create mixed reality by adding 3D objects to your photos and videos to tell stories in a whole new way or turn your photos and videos into your canvas, drawing on them with Windows Ink.
Here is a peek into what you can expect from Windows Story Remix.
Today, there are many devices and platforms competing for our attention. We read the morning news on our tablets, check email on our phones, and use our desktop PCs at work. These devices all behave differently and fulfill different needs. From large screens to no screens, they rely on touch, ink, voice, gaze, and gesture. Every day, developers also face the challenge of a multi-device, multi-interaction world, and we are committed to simplifying this world with a modern Microsoft design system.
I am excited to announce the next step in the evolution of our design approach: Microsoft Fluent Design System. Fluent Design will deliver intuitive, harmonious, responsive and inclusive cross-device experiences and interactions. For developers, Fluent Design is built to help you create more expressive and engaging apps that work across a wide range of device and input diversity. Take a look.
The Microsoft Graph is an intelligent fabric that helps connect dots between people, conversations, projects, and content within the Microsoft Cloud – ensuring experiences flow seamlessly between Windows, iOS, and Android devices. Getting things done across all the devices you use should be easy. That’s the principle behind several of the new features that will begin to roll out with the Fall Creators Update – leveraging both the new Fluent Design System and the intelligence of the Microsoft Graph.
With Visual Studio and the Windows Store, we now have a comprehensive workflow solution for apps to be built, tested, and published to any platform with an unmatched feedback cycle to drive love and engagement. This includes consumer apps and commercial apps—inside and outside the enterprise.
Today, we announced that full UWP capabilities are coming to Visual Studio Mobile Center this fall through automated build support and a full range of Windows devices available in our test cloud. For consumer apps, we added 35 new payment instruments this year and now support payments in 247 markets globally. We have also seen monthly in-app purchase sales double year over year in the Windows Store.
Just last week we announced Windows 10 S —where apps take center stage. We believe people will love the simplicity, security, and superior performance of Windows 10 S. And there has never been a better time to bring your apps to the Windows Store.
When we unveiled Windows 10 S, Spotify announced that it is bringing its app to the Windows Store. And today we’ re announcing more popular apps coming later this year:
We know how important it is for developers to have the right tools that get out of the way so creativity can flow. We’ re inspired to make Windows and Visual Studio the best home for all developers–not only for applications on Windows but app experiences that span across all platforms and all devices.
First, we want to help the developers who have bet on Windows to make the most of the code they already have, by simplifying and modernizing their code base to more easily take advantage of innovation and drive cross-platform engagement. To do that, today we announced. NET Standard 2.0 for UWP and XAML Standard are both coming later this year.
Second, with modern code, developers can take advantage of Windows and the Microsoft Graph, using Project Rome for UWP, Android, and now iOS.
Third, last year at Build we unveiled the first tech preview of Bash on Ubuntu for Windows. We were blown away by the enthusiasm and excitement from the community. Today, we announced that we’ ve simplified the install of Ubuntu by bringing it to the Windows Store. We also announced we are working with SUSE Linux and Fedora Linux running on the Windows Subsystem for Linux— to bring them to the Windows Store. Now, Windows is the only platform that can run both Windows apps and Linux apps side-by-side.
Fourth, we introduced the Xamarin Live Player to enable you to build, test, and debug your iPhone applications from your Windows PC. With the Xamarin Live Player, all you need is Visual Studio and an iPhone to build native apps for iOS in minutes.
Finally, part of empowering every person on the planet to achieve more is creating experiences for people of all abilities. There are more than one billion people with disabilities in the world, we have been working to make it easier for all of us to develop for people with all abilities. Today, I was proud to share Narrator in Debug Mode so developers can build for a more inclusive set of customers without leaving the dev environment.
Kevin Gallo will take a deeper dive into the developer news from today with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and why Windows is home for all developers, learn more here .
Today, we were inspired by the magic of Cirque du Soleil and how they’ re using Windows Mixed Reality to transform the way they imagine and create shows. In order to demonstrate the creative decisions, they have to face, they rebuilt a virtual version of the stage from the show Kurios, including its famous huge mechanical hand.
