14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Windows 10 Creators Update was supposed to launch in March, but according to a new report, Microsoft has pushed the release one month back, so the new OS update is now expected to go live in April.
MSPU writes that the Creators Update, which is already in an advanced development stage and available for members of the Windows Insider program, is expected to reach the feature-locked stage as soon as this month. Microsoft will then start focusing exclusively on fixing bugs and improving performance before the big release in April, so no new features would be added beyond this month.
Oddly enough, the recently leaked build 14997 came with quite a lot of new features, which means that Microsoft should push them to insiders in one of the next few builds before it starts refining them.
Creators Update launching as version 1704
Previously, it was believed that Microsoft would launch the Windows 10 Creators Update in March as version 1703, but this plan has now changed and the new OS update would land as version 1704.
According to Microsoft’s version numbering strategy, this represents the release date of the update, with the first two digits - 17 - pointing to the year of launch and the other two - 04 - to the month. This is why previous information indicating a March launch date for the Creators Update also hinted at version 1703.
The Creators Update will first be released in stable form to insiders, which should get the final build at some point in March, while everyone else will get it via Windows Update in April.
A third large OS update codenamed Windows 10 Redstone 3 is also expected to see daylight by the end of the year, and work will presumably start once the Creators Update is feature locked. More information on this, however, will only be provided by Microsoft after the launch of the Creators Update, when the first RS3 builds start shipping to insiders.