There's been a lot of chatter about Redstone 2. We've known that it will probably be mobile-centric, that it will bring a Windows 7-esque start menu, and that it will probably launch next year.
However, we haven't had a specific timeframe for its release until now. Thanks to Twitter personality WalkingCat, we can be relatively certain it will come in March.
Windows 10 Version 1703
The information comes from several references to “Windows 10 Version 1703” in Group Policy. Microsoft's new naming system refers to the year first, followed by the month. Therefore, we can assume that Redstone 2 will launch in March of 2017.
Of course, this is just the planned release date. The previous Anniversary Update was labeled 1607 but didn't come until August. We could be seeing it a little later depending on how development goes.
Nevertheless, a March release would make a lot of sense. Microsoft's Build conference ran from March 30th – April 1st last year, so a release to coincide would be the natural move.
Windows 10 Redstone 2 Features
Naturally, Windows 10 Redstone 2 will contain a number of changes, and we've listed some of them for you below
- Ability to pin to Start (Continuum)
- Bulk update phones via USB
- Continuum updates: No more crashing on sleep, Resizable, snappable windows, wireless docking
- HTML 5 improvements for Edge
- Integrated blue light reduction (unconfirmed)
- Native USB Audio 2.0 support on desktop
- Native Wireless USB support (unconfirmed)
- New “People Bar” (unconfirmed)
- New Wi-Fi settings and Action Center in Windows 10 Mobile
- New, Windows 7-like start menu
- OneDrive placeholders (unconfirmed)
- Updates to Microsoft apps such as Feedback Hub, Maps, Outlook, Calendar.
Allegedly, Microsoft is planning to outline specific plans for Redstone 2 at its event this month. It will begin on October 26th at 10 am EDT, and could also contain news about the Surface AIO PC.
We won't truly know the full details of Redstone 2 until then, but in the meantime, you can stay up to date with the latest features by subscribing to our newsletter.
