Maximum_PC_June_2017

creators update
geT The creaTors UpdaTe
The Windows 10 Creators Update is a free
download for every Windows 10 user. The
good news is that this means at some point
in the future, your PC will let you know that
the update is ready to be downloaded and
installed. All you need to do is make sure
your work (or any game progress) is saved,
then let Windows Update do its thing.
However, to stop the millions of Windows
10 users all trying to download the rather
hefty update all at once, and potentially
breaking part of the Internet, Microsoft is
rolling out the update to PCs around the
world in waves, and it’s been a bit coy about
how long this rollout process will take.
So, you might get the Creators Update in
the next few days, or you may have to wait
weeks—even months—before it appears in
Windows Update.
However, like the Good News Fairy that
we are (think the Tooth Fairy, but with a beer
belly and faded Half Life 2 T-shirt), we have
more glad tidings: There’s a way to manually
update to the Creators Update yourself, so
you don’t have to wait for the rollout.
To manually download Windows 10
Creators Update, head to the Windows
10 Update Assistant web page (www.
microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/
windows10), then click “Update now.”
The tool downloads, then checks for
the latest version of Windows 10, which
includes the Creators Update.
Once downloaded, run it, then select
“Update Now.” The tool does the rest for
Use the Windows 10 Update Assistant to manually download and install the update.
you. Your PC restarts a few times—so
make sure you save your work first—and
then your PC is updated with the Creators
Update, while all your files and settings
remain where they were.
That website also allows you to
download an ISO image, which you can then
use to update your current installation of
Windows 10, or perform a clean install with
the Creators Update.
WhaT’s neW?
With the Creators Update installed, what
new features await you? Well, one of the
most exciting additions is a new program
called 3D Paint. We know what you’re
thinking: Who cares about a new version
of Microsoft Paint? And who still cares
about 3D? We were as surprised as you are,
after meeting Microsoft to see Creators
Update before it launched, to come away so
impressed by this new app.
3D Paint, like its 2D counterpart (which
remains its own separate program), grants
simple tools for people to create their own
artwork. What’s particularly impressive
about 3D Paint is that the concept of
creating models in a 3D space can be
quite complicated, but 3D Paint makes the
process incredibly simple, with the tools
Beam: Tools for
BroadcasTing
Video game streaming is incredibly popular,
with Twitch gaining 100 million monthly
unique users watching over 2 million monthly
streamers since it launched in 2011, with
around 241 billion minutes of content being
broadcast, so it’s little wonder that Microsoft
is so keen to get involved. It has done this by
acquiring the Beam service last year, and
integrating it into Windows 10’s Creators
Update and the Xbox One. Classic Microsoft.
Of course, with the success of Twitch
and other established services, Microsoft
has an uphill struggle to convince people to
move from their preferred service to Beam.
However, it has a few tricks up its sleeve.
For a start, it has a focus on super low
latency, something Microsoft is describing
as the “Beam Faster than Light SDK,” which
allows for broadcasting with virtually no
latency. By having almost no perceptible
pause between the action in the game the
broadcaster is playing and what the audience
sees, it makes conversations between the
broadcaster and the audience even better.
You could now tell a broadcaster to look out
behind them, and they’d react, rather than
telling them, only to find out three seconds
later that they are already dead.
Microsoft also plans for Beam to have
a full suite of interactive elements for
its streams. These range from simple
soundboard apps (which allow viewers
to trigger specific sound effects) that can
Beam wants to make
watching “Let’s Play”
streams more interactive.
be applied to any game, through to more
complex interactive elements, introduced as
part of Microsoft’s “Interactive 2.0” initiative,
launched at GDC earlier this year.
When implemented into a game, these
features (combined with the low latency)
will enable viewers to be almost as involved
in the action as the streamers themselves,
“blurring the lines between playing and
watching,” as Microsoft puts it.
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MAXIMUMPC jun 2017
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