Windows 10 'Fall Creators Update' is Microsoft's official name for 'Redstone 3'

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Microsoft's next major Windows 10 update, known as "Redstone 3," just go an official – and familiar – new moniker.

One of the quirks about Windows as a Service (WaaS) is what to call iterative, but significant, milestone updates. Even "10" for Windows 10 is merely a placeholder. Today, Microsoft gave us a new name for its currently-in-development "Redstone 3" OS: the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

The name is likely to fall flat for consumers and Insiders who were pining for something a bit more ... unique. The title, instead, is a clear continuation of the current "Redstone 2" release dubbed "Creators Update", which was released in May.

Microsoft cites that very reason – a continued focus on creation – as the inspiration for the similar name.

While some features were announced today for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, including OneDrive placeholders, a new major app, Pick Up Where You Left Off, and Timeline, there are not a whole lot of creation-focused themes so far.

Nonetheless, more things are coming down the road that will be announced soon and that will make the Fall Creators Update more appropriate.

At the end of the day, the milestone name of Windows 10 is arbitrary, and making any fuss about it – and not the actual content – is a bit myopic. There is also the more interesting issue with half the planet not actually being in autumn season when the Fall Creators Update drops. But that's another matter for another day.

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: Everything we know so far

"Redstone 3" is currently in the Insider Fast Ring with regular weekly updates that include the new My People feature. The OS refresh is expected to rollout in September or October for PC, and we expect for Mobile, too.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Executive Editor

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.

69 Comments
  • Well...the name is important.  It conveys a lot...Apple goes for something aspirational, like mountain ranges, or large cats.  Something unique and beautiful.  Microsoft goes...Creators Update (good...good), then meh...Creators Update...uh...2!  Yeah...2!  Cuz we're still creatin'...cuz we're cool!  No, really...we're creative & cool...see...we called it the Creators Update...twice! So yeah...its just a name...but there is a message, a big message, coveyed in that admittedly arbitrary name.
  • Maybe some creators should have helped them with the name.
  • Haha.
  • A rose is a rose no matter what name you call it.
  • Creators Update 2: Mobile Boogaloo
  • fantastic sunny reference!
  • They should just start referring to updates by when they were released. Exciting to say "Fall 2017 update"? No. But at least it's accurate.
  • Very true.
  • The build numbers actually do exactly that. The weirdly named Creators Update was technically named "Feature Update 1703". No coincidence it was finalized in the third of month of '17. The November Update of 2015 was build 1511, Anniversary Update was 1607 (because july '16). This second attempt of a proper Creators Update is probably ending up as Build 1709 or something.
  • Meh... Pretty lame 😕
  • They should call it the "About Time" update.
  • I hope your not joking... OneDrive placeholders are coming!? I'm so happy! :D
  • Microsoft is great with naming things ... Bob... and reuseing or renaming them. Strange Bob has never resurfaced. ☺  Windows 10 Spring 2018 Creators Update Retooled.    Windows 10 Fall 2018 Creators Update Retooled SE (second effort) doesn't actually come out till Winter 2019. 
  • This made me laugh more than I expected. Must be the caffeine.
  • Heh, yeah. Bob. Cortana's neanderthal ancestor...
  • Is mobile gonna get new wallpapers?
  • nope just the same velor in the casket!
  • Love the season!😍
  • Another boring update with useless toy apps to make fluffly 3d bullshit. FOCUS ON MOBILE!!!!!! Story remix my ass
  • Lol im putting my 950 xl on craigs list today cause after 2 weeks when reality sets back in ill get less for it.
  • You really should sell it.  That way, someone else can appreciate it.
  • They have....it's OVER!  they would be using iphone now!
  • Mate, I know you're angry as I am myself. The answer to the fall of W10 mobile is on Tim Cook's knees. Figure it out. Lol! 
  • Expecting the best from MS , always ❤ thanks
  • Lol, the name implies that they admit most actual "Creators" features from the last Update were delayed.
  • They couldn't come up with a better name than that?
  • I have an idea. Since they are calling it "Redstone 3", which is a kind of stone, why not call it by precious stones like sapphire, opal, or emerald?  You go with alphabetical order. You can start with the letter "A" with "agate" or "amber". The idea is  to make the names catchy and make them more concrete in your mind.
  • You mean like Lumia Amber? :D
  • This is what happens when you layoff most of your marketing team. We need a renaming contest. Best one gets a free Windows Central T-Shirt. I suggest constellation names.
  • I have also thought about constellations. Windows Orion would be awesome.
  • Of all the names they could chose, they go with a word that is only used in America... Fall. Not really universal is it?
  • Huh? What? When you think of "Fall," you don't think of things plunging from the sky?  Maybe the similarity between "Fall" and "Fail" doesn't stand out to you, as it did to me the first time I saw it? I think "Autumn Creators Update" has a better feel, but obviously US Marketing for Microsoft is smarter than us.
  • I can't help reading it as "Fail Creators Update"
  • Microsoft had been so very bad at naming and communicating for so many years I'm amazed there are still in business.
  • Not only is half the planet not in Autumn in September/October, only North America (US and Canada) refer to Autumn as "Fall".
    In a global setting it is never a good idea to name something using a season or use a season as a time reference. Especially if some countries have different names for the same season.
    Same with things like "available for the holidays". Whose holidays?
    Just say'n.
  • This is what I think too. Shows how US focused MS still is on this global society.
  • Microsoft does not know about non-US countries anymore. I'm glad they fixed the German word dictionary on W10 mobile. Last year they were still using old grammar which was BEFORE 1996!!!111one. See Cortana, US preferred, others somehow... unlike Alexa which seems pretty good in Germany, and I bet Amazon has less possible optimization by usage than Microsoft...
  • Southern Hemisphere Windows users will have to wait until next year when it is next Autumn in their part of the world to get this update.
  • Fallen Creators
  • Umm, Daniel, didn't Creators Update come out in April, not May?
  • The 'Expect even more older devices to no longer be compatible with this release' update.
  • Hardly surprising, given that Microsoft has a documented support lifecycle for every product. Personally, I would not be surprised if CU2 and perhaps the requisite bug fix patch a few weeks later to be the last for the 950/950XL.
  • The idea for naming names is to make them catchy, and easy to visualize. You can go with dog names, cat names, or  even food names like Android is doing. You need to be more creative for names, more unforgettable.
  • Version 1709
  • "There is also the more interesting issue with half the planet not actually being in autumn season when the Fall Creators Update drops." Best part of the article. LOL
  • From where MS is getting so stupid names?
  • "The Fall of W10M update" as its known internally.
  • They... They're not even trying anymore, are they?
  • So, any bets on how much of this stuff gets axed before the strangely named "Fall Creators Update" gets released?
  • Well, they called this most recent release a "Creators Update", yet it have very little in the way of creative additions...NONE for mobile, certainly.  I think it's laughable they are going with "Fall Creators Update".  I guess they'll just keep doing that until they actually get substantively creative aspects.  They really should just call the next one "Some Stuff We Didn't Get Done For the Creators Update Update".
  • Daniel, thanks for at least acknowledging that the silly complaining about a Windows update name is "myopic." I know that won't stop bloggers with eponymous websites from being critical anyway. And here I am commenting, so there's that. But I will at least say I really, really don't care about the name but the some of the content announced has me excited.
  • I think most people will call it "The iTunes Update" because that is the most creative thing that will be associated with this one. They probably asked Cortana, "Hey Cortana, what should I call the Creators Update that will be released in the Fall?" Cortana replied, "You should call it the Fall Creators Update."  MSFT immediately lays off anyone who has "creative" in their LinkedIn profile.  Of course MSFT first had to pay $60/month to be able to do advanced search on their own system to find these folks. I swear if someone was writing this stuff as a tragic-comedy, people wouldn't believe that an organization operates this way.  The truth is stranger than fiction!
  • Steve Litchfield from All About Windows Phone (it's often a mobile camera/optics centric site, and even though I use an iPhone, I still have an old 1020 and 1520 in a drawer that I pull out to use as a camera), mentioned in a podcast that he suspects Redstone 3 will be the final official update for Lumia 950 devices probably.   If Windows 10S is the new favorite child these days in Redmond, I could see it being the case.....
  • That's rich! My Surface Pro 3 still hasn't recieved the full go ahead for Creators Update 1.  It continues to say "Good news! The Windows 10 Creators Update is on its way. Want to be one of the first to get it?" Umm, no thanks, I'm not taking chances with my Pro 3 by updating before general release for everyone or at least all Pro 3. I always keep my Pro 3 thoroughly up to date too.
  • I've been getting this message for awhile now on my Surface 3, which I thought a bit odd.  Surely as a first-party device it should be one of the first (classes of) devices to be upgraded?  Still, I'll also be waiting for it to come down automatically rather than forcing the issue.
  • I am all for giving it a cool name. I like how Apple does it with something that inspires (most of the time at least), or Android goes the funny/sweet route. Just don't go the Linux way... Some Linux Kernel Names examples (WTH!?) 4.0 Hurr durr I'ma sheep
    4.1.1 Series 4800
    4.3-rc5 Blurry Fish Butt
    4.6-rc6 Charred Weasel
    4.7-rc1 Psychotic Stoned Sheep
    4.9 Roaring Lionus
    4.10-rc5 Anniversary Edition
    4.10-rc6 Fearless Coyote
  • Wow this name is getting a lot of backlash.... 99% of people will not care what this is called. Most won't even see the name until they go to install it. Many won't even consider it's name at any point in the process. They'll care what it does and what they get once they've installed it. And it's looking good. Picking apart a name like this is so trivial. I mean, "Cumulative Update XXXXXX..." wouldn't get this negative reaction. Nor do build numbers?
  • Fall Creators Update: This time it's for real guys!
  • Wow, I just realised, we call the current update by its acronym, "CU".  So, the new one will be "FCU" - seems way too close to "FU" to me.
  • So... Fall Update? :D
  • Heh, Yep! Coming this Autumn from Micrsoft: the FU release you've been waiting for!
  • Creators update again? As small as the last one? With some nice features, but nothing amazing for average person. The best features will be those, which are not creativity related.
  • Now we'll see, everywhere, "FCU" this "FCU" that, and people asking what the hell is FCU?
  • Wow, that's some pathetically bad branding.
  • So we can be confident it isn't coming to mobile? Wouldn't they mention it otherwise?
  • What happened to Xbox update lol
  • Oh come on, nobody could come up with something more clever? I supposed they were at least working on more important things (like OneDrive placeholders!)
  • "there are not a whole lot of creation-focused themes so far" How about Project Prague? ...just one that comes instantly to my mind.
  • That make's some sense"Fall Creators Update".  The current Creators version is mostly Settings updating with a couple of features and that is it. The majority of the features was not in this update.