Coming next Spring: Redstone 2, the next major update to Windows 10.
Microsoft is now hard at work developing the next major update for Windows 10. Codenamed 'Redstone 2', this next update is rumored to launch in the Spring of 2017 and will focus on productivity improvements for the desktop, and will bring much-needed features and enhancements to Windows 10 Mobile users.
Microsoft began development of Redstone 2 a couple of months before Redstone 1 (Anniversary Update) was signed-off internally. This is standard procedure for Microsoft engineers, as it allows them to start planning features and working on them ahead of time. The company says the first several Redstone 2 builds will not include new features, as they are currently working on refactoring OneCore, the subsystem of Windows 10 that helps make it scale universally across many devices.
Redstone 2 will focus on productivity improvements for the desktop and much-needed features and enhancements for mobile.
Redstone 2 was originally scheduled to launch later this year, and be a much smaller update when compared to the Anniversary Update. However, due to some internal delays and the company wanting to wait for new Surface hardware to release, Microsoft decided to pull back on plans to launch Redstone 2 this year and reschedule it for an early 2017 launch. Because of this, the Anniversary Update was the first (and only, hopefully) update to launch on its own within a single year.
Because Redstone 2 has been delayed, Microsoft can make it a much bigger update than originally planned, which is great news for Insiders and consumers who like to use new features. 2017 should see Microsoft launch two major updates for Windows 10: Redstone 2 in early 2017 and then a Redstone 3 in the summer/fall of 2017.
Microsoft has just started rolling out Redstone 2 builds for Insiders to test, via the rs_prerelease development branch. This is where Insiders will be getting their Redstone 2 Insider Preview builds when Microsoft releases them. PCs are the first to get new Redstone 2 preview builds, with Mobile builds following in a few weeks.
The Redstone 2 Insider Preview is just getting started, meaning we have several months of development left before this next update is ready for the public. Insiders are encouraged to begin submitted feedback and ideas now for Microsoft to start implementing them.
Office Hub
One of the features that Microsoft is working on is the "Office Hub". It will more tightly integrate Office 365 and Windows 10, providing easy and quick access to documents, email, and calendar. While there are a few options for where the Office Hub could live, the most promising is in the task bar alongside the Start Menu and Cortana.
The Windows 10 Office Hub: a future of smarter and faster work
Working Sets
Oftentimes a project consists of more than just a single Word document or PowerPoint. It's emails and images and contacts and documents and spreadsheets and a dozen other files and appointments and people. Working Sets will let you organize everything related to a project into a set, even if it lives in different apps, and even pin it to the Start Menu as a live tile.
Windows 10 Working Sets: everything for your project in one spot
OneClip
Microsoft's universal cross-device clipboard isn't dead, it's only been hibernating. Originally a Microsoft Garage project, the software is now getting integrated into Windows 10 and Office 365, allowing you to copy and paste between your phone and PC with ease.
Windows 10 OneClip: One clipboard to rule them all
OneDrive File Placeholders
Microsoft infamously removed OneDrive file placeholders from Windows 10 back in 2015, a change that many were unhappy with. Microsoft's reasoning for this was that normal consumers found them too confusing. But, with Redstone 2 it appears Microsoft is backtracking on this change.
Announced at Ignite 2016, Microsoft revealed that placeholders will return, though the feature will now be known as "On-Demand Sync." Recent Insider Preview builds include several references to this features return, so we'll likely see it show up very soon for testing.
People Bar
According to sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft is working on a new People Bar that will show faces of recent/active contacts on your taskbar, down next to the System Tray.
In internal concepts (like the one seen above), contacts show up in circular icons similar to that in the People Hub. I'm told this feature will hook up to Skype, GroupMe and even Office for things like active collaborators within Office, with the ability to quickly message people by selecting their icon.
I'm told this is a feature planned for Redstone 2, even though it's been in development since before Windows 10 originally shipped back in 2015. It's been in the works under the name People Bar, and recent builds have seen code that represents this. However, Microsoft may opt to call it something different by the time it ships.
Microsoft bringing new 'People Bar' and night mode features to Windows 10 Redstone 2
Continuum for Phones
Windows 10 Redstone 2 will focus largely on Windows 10 Mobile features and enhancements, with the first of those improvements showing up in Continuum. Microsoft is looking at finally making the Continuum environment look and feel much more like the desktop environment on a normal Windows 10 PC, with multi-window support, a fully functional task bar and Action Center, and a whole lot more.
Here's what we can expect to see show up in Continuum on Windows 10 Mobile with Redstone 2:
- Independent Monitor Idle – Let one screen time out while you keep working on the other one
- Proximity Connect – Keep your phone in your pocket and connect wirelessly to your dock
- Customizable – Independently customizable Start screens across connected devices
- More PC-like experience – Enable "win key + type"; Taskbar app pinning, System tray Windowing
