The next version of Windows 10 finally has a release date

The next version of Windows 10 finally has a delivery date.

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will be available worldwide on Oct. 17. Microsoft announced the drop date on Friday at the IFA event in Berlin where PC partners have been unveiling a slew of Windows 10 systems.

The Windows 10 Fall Creator Update is not a massive overhaul of the popular desktop and laptop OS. (Trust us, this is a good thing.) Since the release of Windows 10 in 2015, Microsoft has, over four updates, polished the well-received platform with a host of smart, intuitive and productivity-enhancing updates.

In the last two, the first Creators Update and this Fall edition, Microsoft focused its attention on creativity, enhancing Pen and Inking tools, adding a new 3D Paint system, unveiling the powerful Remix video editing and 3D creation tool, and fully bringing its mixed-reality platform, Windows Holographic, to Windows 10.

"Our mission at Microsoft is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more," said Microsoft Windows chief Terry Myerson in a press release.

The company also announced that many of the affordable Mixed Reality headsets (really virtual reality headsets) from companies like Acer, Lenovo, Dell, and HP, will also ship on Oct. 17. The headsets will enable virtual reality experiences on powerful PCs with discrete graphics (and support the use of $99 controllers) and on more affordable systems using integrated graphics (at a lower frame rate).

The Fall Creators Update's focus on mixed reality and 3D extends to the new 3D Paint, which, for the first time, supplants the original and beloved Paint. The original will disappear from Windows, but it'll still be available for download in the Windows App store.

Among the updates consumers can expect in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update are the ability to Ink PDFs, an enhanced Game Mode and the ability to broadcast your PC gaming via Beam.

There are also productivity and security updates, including Timeline, which will give you an overview of apps running across multiple Windows 10 Devices (on the same account) and even account-connected cross-platform devices (iOS and Android). It will allow you to pick up a task started on one platform and continue it on the desktop.

Plus Microsoft's popular cloud storage system, OneDrive, now supports the ability to work on files in the cloud without downloading them to your local drive thanks to a new feature called OneDrive Files On Demand.

Availability of the latest Windows 10, by the way, does not mean everyone will get the Fall Creators Update on Oct. 17. Existing Windows 10 users can install it for free, but they can also avoid it until Microsoft starts sending them gentle reminders (this is how the Creators Update worked, too). It's not clear how hard Microsoft will push users to update, but, as ever, the safest and most secure Windows systems are typically those that are most up to date.

If you want the install the update as soon as possible after Oct. 17, make sure to allow automatic updates, which you can schedule for the overnight hours. Microsoft told us they will share more on the exact update time and process in the coming weeks.