Microsoft has introduced support for the Web Authentication specification in Microsoft Edge, enabling better, more secure user experiences and a passwordless experience on the web. With Web Authentication, Microsoft Edge users can sign in with their face, fingerprint, PIN, or portable FIDO2 devices, leveraging strong public-key credentials instead of passwords. A web without passwords Staying secure on the web is more important than ever. We trust web sites to process credit card numbers, save addresses and personal information, and even to handle sensitive records like medical information. All this data is protected by an ancient security model—the password. But passwords are difficult to remember, and are fundamentally insecure—often re-used, and vulnerable to phishing and cracking. For these reasons, Microsoft has been leading the charge towards a world without passwords, with innovations like Windows Hello biometrics and pioneering work with the FIDO Alliance to create an open standard for passwordless authentication – Web Authentication. We started this journey in 2016, when we shipped the industry’s first preview implementation of the Web Authentication API in Microsoft Edge. Since then, we have been updating our implementation to as we worked with other vendors and the FIDO alliance to develop the standard. In March, the FIDO Alliance announced that the Web Authentication APIs have reached Candidate Recommendation (CR) status in the W3C, a major milestone for the maturity and interoperability of the specification. Authenticators in Microsoft Edge Beginning with build 17723, Microsoft Edge supports the CR version of Web Authentication. Our implementation provides the most complete support for Web Authentication to date, with support for a wider variety of authenticators than other browsers. Windows Hello allows users to authenticate without a password on any Windows 10 device, using biometrics—face and fingerprint recognition—or a PIN number to sign in to web sites. With Windows Hello face recognition, users can log in to sites that support Web Authentication in seconds, with just a glance. Users can also use external FIDO2 security keys to authenticate with a removable device and your biometrics or PIN. For websites that are not ready to move to a completely passwordless model, backwards compatibility with FIDO U2F devices can provide a strong second factor in addition to a password.   via > https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2018/07/30/introducing-web-authentication-microsoft-edge

Windows 10 (code named Redstone 4) version 1803, is finally available for download on MSDN. This is the successor to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709). It is also available for download here. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Here's a video about the new TimeLine functionality incuded in Windows 10 April 2018 Update. and for details about what's new, see here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/whats-new-windows-10-version-1803 To get the feature update via Microsoft Update see the following Blog Post: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/04/30/how-to-get-the-windows-10-april-2018-update/#.WudkRA_6qwM.twitter and here is the Windows 10 release information for all releases of Windows so far: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows-10/release-information

Windows 10 version 1709 (Fall Creators Update) is finally available on Microsoft’s Volume Licensing Service Center and MSDN. To see what’s new in Windows 10 1709 see the following post https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/windowsitpro/2017/10/10/see-whats-new-for-it-pros-in-windows-10-version-1709/ To find out how to get it, see https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/10/17/get-windows-10-fall-creators-update/ Windows 10 ADK version 1709 With the release of Windows 10 version 1709, along comes the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) version 1709. You can download it from: Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). RSAT for Windows 10 version 1709 You can download the Remote Server Administration tools for Windows 10 version 1709 here. https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=45520 Recommended reading What's new in Windows 10 version 1709 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/whats-new-windows-10-version-1709 Windows lifecycle facts page updated with Windows 10 1709, including tentative end of service date, March 2019 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet Windows 10 version 1709 ADK Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)

On Microsoft's blog, they announced that RS3 (Redstone 3) aka Fall Creators Update is coming October 17th 2017. "Create and play this holiday with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update coming Oct. 17" It offers the following new features Windows Inking Windows Inking keeps getting better, letting you ink directly onto PDF’s, making it easier and faster to comment and share with others, improving on what you could do with pen and paper alone. Smart Ink applies artificial intelligence to inking automatically making the squares you draw more perfect, or turning boxes into a table for you with no extra work. And you know how sometimes you can’t find your keys, wallet, and phone, sometimes it’s hard to find your pen to do the inking. Windows Find my Pen fixes that in the Fall Creators Update. Photos and Videos We have reimagined our Photos Application to deliver remixed experiences for telling your stories with photos, videos, music, 3D, and even inking. OneDrive Files On-Demand You can save all of your creations in OneDrive Files On-Demand, accessing your cloud files like any of your other files on your PC, without using up your local storage space. Gaming The fuel that often inspires creativity is play. With the Fall Creators Update, we’ve updated Game Mode, which allows your games to use the full processing power of your device as if it was an Xbox game console, right from a new button on the Game bar. And to take advantage of this power, we have a fantastic lineup of Xbox Play Anywhere games coming including, Cuphead, Forza Motorsport 7, Super Lucky’s Tale and Middle-earth: Shadow of War. And, if you love these Xbox play anywhere games, coming on November 7 you can play them on the most powerful console on the planet, Xbox One X. Security While you create and play, our goal is to keep you safe and secure. With the Fall Creators Update, Windows Defender is smarter and defends better than ever before. With behind the scenes cloud intelligence that enables new defenses against ransomware and exploits. I can’t talk about security without talking about Windows 10 S. Introduced last May, Windows 10 S is specifically designed for simplicity and security, with significant breakthroughs in battery life and performance. It’s off to a great start, with some of our highest customer satisfaction results yet. This is the core of Fall Creators Update, it’s all about unleashing your creativity and having some fun while at the same time keeping you safe and secure. Accessibility I also want to share some exciting new technology that speaks to our mission at Microsoft to create products which are inclusive by design. With the Fall Creators Update, we are making Windows more accessible for those with Lou Gehrig’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that impacts the brain’s ability to control your muscles. The one muscle it doesn’t impact, are the eyes. A new feature Eye Control implements incredible eye tracking technology that lets you type, and operate a mouse just using your eyes, this is life changing technology for those with Lou Gehrig’s disease. This is real advancement in accessibility that we are introducing to the world with the Fall Creators Update. Windows Mixed Reality Lastly, with the Fall Creators Update, we are enabling you to immerse yourself in a new reality, the world of Windows Mixed Reality. By combining our physical and digital worlds, we believe mixed reality is the next step in the evolution of human computing. For the first time, we are talking about a mixed reality system that fully immerses you in the experience not limited to a mobile device screen size. One that is easy to setup, not requiring you to mount cameras around the room, just put the headset on your head, plug it into your PC and get started, leaving your hands free to interact with the mixed world. It’s available from a wide range of partners around the world, like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo with headsets starting as low as $299. I am thrilled to announce that Windows Mixed Reality headsets will start to become available on October 17 when the Fall Creators Update ships. And if you find yourself without a headset, we will also deliver mixed reality experiences through the PC. With Mixed Reality Viewer, you can see 3D objects – either from the Remix3D.com community or your own creation from Paint 3D – mixed into your actual surroundings through your PC’s camera – and snapped and shared – for powerful ways to tell your story.

Microsoft has changed Windows As A Service and this was explained in a blog post by Michael Niehaus. As we announced back in April, Microsoft is aligning our servicing models with twice-per-year feature update releases targeting March and September, and 18-month servicing timelines for each release.  While the first fully-aligned release will occur later this year with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update release and a corresponding Office 365 ProPlus release, we got a head start with the Windows 10 1703 release (a.k.a. Creators Update):  It marks the first of our semi-annual releases, each of which will be serviced for 18 months. As part of the alignment with Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, we are also adopting common terminology to make it as easy as possible to understand the servicing process.  The two most important terms to understand: Semi-Annual Channel. These are the twice-per-year feature update releases, targeting March and September, designed for the broad population of general-purpose PCs used throughout organizations.  Each of these releases will be serviced for 18 months from the date of release.  (The Semi-Annual Channel replaces the Current Branch [CB] and Current Branch for Business [CBB] concepts.) Long-Term Servicing Channel. These are less frequent releases, expected every 2-3 years (with the next one expected in 2019), designed for special-purpose PCs such as those used in point-of-sale systems or controlling factory or medical equipment.  Each of these releases will be serviced for 10 years from the date of release.  (The Long-Term Servicing Channel replaces the Long-Term Servicing Branch [LTSB].) With each Semi-Annual Channel release, we begin deploying right away to targeted consumer devices and gradually ramp up to full deployment based on the telemetry that we receive.  As John Cable discussed on the Windows Experience blog, we recommend that enterprises follow the same approach. Start with targeted deployments to validate that apps, devices and infrastructure used by the organization works well with the new release.  When that validation is complete, begin broadly deploying. Windows 10 1703 is ready for that broad deployment, based on feedback that we’ve received from organizations, ISVs, partners, OEMs, and consumers that have already done it.  As a convenience to help organizations that haven’t yet begun this broad deployment, we are updating the Windows 10 1703 packages and ISOs on the Volume License Servicing Center, MSDN, Windows Update, Windows Update for Business, and Windows Server Update Services, integrating the July cumulative update into the original Windows 10 1703 packages. For more information on the common terminology, see the as well as the corresponding Office 365 ProPlus servicing guidance.  Today we have also made available a new Microsoft Mechanics video to help explain the servicing process: And here's the video explaining the changes: