First Major Update for Windows 10 Available.

we reach our next milestone as the first major update to Windows 10 is now available* for PCs and tablets. With this update, there are improvements in all aspects of the platform and experience, including thousands of partners updating their device drivers and applications for great Windows 10 compatibility. Windows 10 also starts rolling out to Xbox One today and select mobile phones soon.

But most importantly, with this free update we have reached the point in the platform’s maturity where we can confidently recommend Windows 10 deployment to whole organizations.

Experience improvements in this update include:

• Performance in everyday tasks, such as boot time now nearly 30% faster than Windows 7 on the same device.
• With Cortana, you can use your device’s pen** to just scribble a note in the Cortana Notebook and Cortana will recognize the phone number, email address, and even physical address to help you set reminders. Cortana can also now keep track of your event and movie bookings too, sending you helpful reminders to know where to go and get there on time, plus the option to book and track an Uber**. We’re excited to make Cortana available in Japan, Australia, and Canada and India (in English) with features and experiences customized for each market.
• Microsoft Edge offers improved performance and security, along with tab preview, which allows you to hover over your open tabs and get a preview of what’s on those websites without leaving the page you’re on. Microsoft Edge now syncs your Favorites and Reading list items across devices so you can easily get back to the content you’re interested in most. And, Cortana will now notify you of the best coupons** from your favorite retailers such as Staples, Macys and Best Buy when shopping in Microsoft Edge.

And much more with improvements to Mail, Calendar, Photos, Groove, Xbox, Store, OneNote, Solitaire, and more!

The Renaissance of the Enterprise PC

Most enterprise PCs today are stranded in a world of complexity. Over the last few years, our expectations of devices and the workplace has changed. People want devices they can touch, with an experience that spans personal with professional use– with continuously updated software that simply just works and is secure. They demand the opportunity to use their own devices in the workplace, and the apps they know and love.

Our IT Pros know they can offer more. With this first major update to Windows 10, we’re empowering them to do so—with the first platform which spans all device types, enables management of both corporate owned and BYOD, and upgrades existing devices. Windows 10 is already actively running on more than 110 million devices including 12 million business PCs, and is compatible with the past while embracing our new way of working.

Simplifying IT for Continuous Innovation

Today we introduce two free services, designed for IT to bridge from today’s complexity to the modern workplace, maintaining control and delivering reliable quality of services:

• Windows Update for Business provides IT controls over the deployment of updates within their organizations, while ensuring their devices are kept current and their security needs are met, at reduced management cost. Features include setting up device groups with staggered deployments and scaling deployments with network optimizations.
• Windows Store for Business provides IT a flexible way to find, acquire, manage and distribute apps to Windows 10 devices – both Windows Store apps and custom line of business apps. Organizations can choose their preferred distribution method by directly assigning apps, publishing apps to a private store, or connecting with management solutions.

Managing Device Options for the Modern Workplace

Today’s update introduces two capabilities designed for IT to empower people to effectively, and securely, use multiple devices to get their work done:

• Mobile Device Management, empowers IT to use the full power of Enterprise Mobility Management to manage the entire family of Windows devices, including PCs, tablets, phones, and IOT. Windows 10 is the only platform that can manage BYOD scenarios from the device to the apps to the data on those devices – safely and securely. And of course, Windows 10 is fully compatible with the existing management infrastructure used with PCs, giving IT control over how they bridge between two capabilities.
• Azure Active Directory Join, empowers IT to maintain one directory, enabling people to have one login and securely roam their Windows settings and data across all of their Windows 10 devices. AAD Join also enables any machine to become enterprise ready with a few simple clicks by anyone in the organization.

Securing Your Organization

Every week we see in the news another major data breach – costing organization’s productivity, customer’s trust and driving a real impact to their business. We know these breaches often take 200+ days to detect and we see the tremendous costs of them. Industry experts predict there will be over two million new malware apps by the end of the year. We designed Windows 10 to protect our customers from these modern threats, and continue to strengthen Windows 10 as the most trusted platform ever with features like:

• Credential Guard safeguards credentials inside a hardware-based virtualized environment and breaks the popular “pass the hash” used in many major breaches.
• Device Guard uses Trusted Boot to prevent intruders from installing malware, helping to keep company devices secure.
• Windows Hello*** enables people to say goodbye to passwords with enterprise-grade biometrics including fingerprint and facial recognition.
• Windows Defender, our free anti-malware service protecting almost 300 million Windows devices every day.

Coming soon, enterprise data protection will help protect corporate data by separating and containing corporate data from consumer data. Currently in testing with a number of enterprise customers today, enterprise data protection becomes available to Windows Insiders soon.  With Windows 10, you will not find a more robust offering for securing your business – anywhere.

Also in today’s update, we’re delivering on our promise to enable our enterprise customers to turn off all telemetry data if they choose. We strongly recommend against this, as this data helps us deliver a secure, reliable, and more delightful personalized experience. We’ll continue to work with third-party experts and incorporate your feedback on this important topic.

Thank you to our Windows Insiders

We’ve talked a lot about our Windows Insider Program, and how that open, collaborative process has been so critical to the choices we’ve made in building Windows 10. I want to thank the Windows Insiders who have continued to participate and invest their time and energy in the program. Throughout this time, we’ve also been investing in our Enterprise Insider Program where our team adopts complex organizations and their needs to ensure Windows 10 is an ideal solution for their devices. We’ve spent thousands of hours with companies like Daimler, NESTLE, KPMG, Hendrick Motorsports, Virgin Atlantic, and the PGA Tour. I can’t thank each of these organizations enough for their investment of time in making Windows 10 great. We’ve incorporated our experience with these companies within our deployment guidance for IT partners, and will continue to update as we partner with all of you to upgrade your organizations to Windows 10.

As always, we are looking forward to your feedback!

Terry

*If already running Windows 10, you will receive the November update according to your Windows Update settings. If you’re running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, you can take advantage of the free upgrade offer and receive the November update as part of your Windows 10 upgrade.

** US only at availability

***Hardware dependent