The biggest announcements from Microsoft’s Build event

 

Microsoft just wrapped up its day-two Build 2017 keynote, and this is the one that was filled with news that’s more important to consumers and the company’s loyal fans.The presentation covered a lot and wasted little time, but here’s the biggest news that came from today:

WINDOWS 10 FALL CREATORS UPDATE

The name might be familiar, but Microsoft’s next big Windows update has a different focus than 3D productivity. The Fall Creators Update, likely to arrive in September, aims to bring aspects of the Windows experience everywhere you go.

A NEW VISUAL IDENTITY

Microsoft is moving on from Metro. At Build, Joe Belfiore introduced what it calls Fluent Design, an evolution from the current Windows interface that focuses on “light, depth, motion, material, and scale.” Consumers can expect to start seeing aspects of Fluent Design — such as blur effects and flourishes of light meant to draw your focus to the right place — in the Fall Creators Update Microsoft’s mobile apps. You can get a feel for how it all comes together in the tweet below. Pretty nice.

STORY REMIX

Windows has a great app for creating videos again. Story Remix takes your media — photos and video from your smartphone, for example — and turns them into “instant video stories.” Microsoft says Story Remix can produce a video that feels professional with just minutes of work. You can be as hands-on as you want (advanced 3D features are supported), or let the app do almost everything to make memorable content out of the memories that you feed into it.

USE THE SURFACE PEN EVERYWHERE

Microsoft’s stylus is beloved by Surface owners. It’s core to what makes the Surface… Surface. And with the Fall Creators Update, Microsoft is working to eliminate any remaining friction for using it across the entire system at all times. You’ll be able to use the pen to scroll and interact throughout Windows, and the company has built PDF annotation right into its Edge browser. If you love the Pen, Microsoft wants to make it so that you’ll never have to put it down.

VR MOTION CONTROLLERS

Microsoft announced a new set of motion controllers that pair with its Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets. The controllers, which have numerous LEDs running around them, will be fully tracked by sensors in the headset itself rather than relying on external cameras or other equipment. They’ll ship this holiday season, with Acer packaging them into a $399 bundle that includes its own mixed reality headset.