eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Microsoft will release its feature-packed Windows 10 Anniversary Update on Aug. 2, announced the Redmond, Wash., software maker today. Windows 10 was originally released on July 29, 2015, meaning that the update will technically miss the operating system’s anniversary by a few days.
Nonetheless, Microsoft is betting that users won’t mind the delay, particularly enterprise customers.
Microsoft used the opportunity to reveal that two new security features will be included with the update, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection and Windows Information Protection. “Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP) detects, investigates, and responds to advanced malicious attacks on networks by providing a more comprehensive threat intelligence and attack detection,” wrote Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Windows and Devices group, in a June 29 blog post.
“This service is informed by the world’s largest array of sensors and expert advanced threat protection, including a team of security researchers at Microsoft leveraging in-house and security partner intelligence,” continued Mehdi. WDATP is being piloted by 300 organizations across 70 countries, he added.
Windows Information Protection, formerly called enterprise data protection, is Microsoft’s take on OS-based data leak prevention. With Windows Information Protection, businesses can use new copy and paste protection capabilities to control the flow of sensitive content and enforce policies that prevent unauthorized apps from accessing business data, among other safeguards. More information on the newly announced feature is available in this TechNet post.
Windows 10 Anniversary Update will also include Windows Ink for stylus users, and a newer version of the Edge Web browser with plug-in support and lock screen access to the Cortana virtual assistant. Developers and power users, meanwhile, can look forward to the addition of the Bash Unix shell and command language to the OS.
Microsoft stunned attendees at this year’s Build developer conference when it announced that Bash would be coming to Windows 10 this summer. The feature, which sports access to the Windows file system, allows users to natively run user-mode Linux shells and open-source command-line tools on Microsoft’s OS without modification.
Another developer-friendly feature, Hyper-V Container support, will be making its debut in the Anniversary Update. Hyper-V Containers allow developers to use Docker natively on Windows 10. Docker is the popular, DevOps-enabling application delivery platform that is taking enterprise IT organizations by storm.
Finally, Mehdi indicated that Microsoft is pleased with Windows 10’s brisk rate of adoption, having added 50 million new devices to the tally since early May.
Over 350 million devices are running the OS, informed Mehdi, adding that “customer satisfaction is higher than any previous version of Windows and customer engagement is also incredible with more than 135 billion hours of use on Windows 10 since launch.”
On May 5, the company said 300 million devices were running on Windows 10. Last year, leading up to the Windows 10 launch, Microsoft declared an ambitious goal of having the OS running on a billion devices by mid-2018.