IFA 2017 | Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will officially roll out starting October 17 along with a slew of Windows Mixed Reality headsets

During the IFA 2017 keynote in Berlin, Microsoft's EVP of Windows and Devices Group, Terry Myerson, announced that the upcoming feature update to Windows 10, the Fall Creators Update (FCU), will start rolling out to PCs starting October 17. The roll out of the FCU will be complemented by the launch of Windows Mixed Reality headsets from Microsoft's partners such as Dell, Acer, Asus, HP, and Lenovo. 

The FCU, internally known by the name Redstone 3, was first unveiled at the company's Build 2017 developer conference in May. Insiders have long had the opportunity to test and give feedback to Microsoft about the FCU, with the latest Insider build 16278 released just earlier this week. The FCU builds on the earlier Creators Update and brings with it a new design language called the Fluent Design System. It also re-introduces a popular Windows 8.1 feature: OneDrive Placeholders, which is now rechristened as OneDrive Files on Demand. OneDrive Files on Demand allows the user to browse the entire cloud storage locally and downloads files only as and when required. Other noteworthy changes include enhanced enterprise grade security, support for Windows Mixed Reality even with integrated GPUs, interacting with the PC using eye-tracking, MyPeople, improvements to DPI-awareness, a new Story Remix app and more. Some features that were demonstrated at Build such as Windows Timeline and Pick Up Where I Left Off have been left out for this release along with the ability of the Story Remix app to anchor 3D objects in 2D video. Some of the legacy features/programs are also being removed or deprecated. It is still a substantial update nonetheless and will gradually roll out to all Windows 10 PCs over the year.

Alongside the release of the FCU, Microsoft's partners will start selling the first Windows Mixed Reality headsets. These headsets are affordable (starting at US$299) and offer compelling alternatives to the other expensive VR options currently in the market. Microsoft said that a lot of the camera and LCD projection technology that was first implemented in the HoloLens was made available to its partners to enable them to create compelling Mixed Reality experiences. These headsets can be used together with Mixed Reality controllers that offer inside-out 6 degrees of freedom (DoF) tracking for a more immersive experience. The company also announced availability of Mixed Reality content from SteamVR, Minecraft and Halo.

The specific launch dates and availability of individual headsets was however, not very clear.