Top 10 reasons Day 2 was awesome for developers

On Thursday at the Build 2017 developer conference in Seattle, Microsoft shared the first details of the next major update to Windows, the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which includes new tools that make Windows home for all developers.

Here’s our top 10 list of Day 2 goodness announced at Build:

10. More than a half-billion devices: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, available later this year, delivers new experiences for more than 500 million Windows 10 devices.

9. Divine design: Microsoft Fluent Design System, which will deliver intuitive, harmonious, responsive and inclusive cross-device experiences and interactions. For developers, Fluent Design is built to help users create more expressive and engaging apps that work across a wide range of device and input diversity.

8. Jump back in time: Microsoft Graph ensures experiences flow seamlessly between Windows, iOS and Android devices. New Microsoft Graph features include Timeline, which allows users to easily hop back into files, apps and websites as if it was real time.

7. Cortana, where was I? Not sure? The new You Can Pick Up Where You Left Off feature for Cortana also works across Windows, iOS and Android devices. Clipboard is the easiest way to copy and paste just about anything between connected devices. OneDrive Files on Demand allows access to all files in the cloud without having to download them and use storage space on a specific device.

6. Windows Story Remix: Built on .NET and distributed through the Windows Store as a Universal Windows Application, Windows Story Remix uses AI and deep learning to organize and transform photos and videos into stories. It will use the Microsoft Graph to connect users across devices. Story Remix brings memories, photos and videos together to create stories with a soundtrack, theme and cinematic transitions. Users can also create mixed reality by adding 3D objects to photos and videos to tell stories in a whole new way.

5.  iTunes and more coming to Windows Store: The Windows Store is adding additional popular applications later this year, including iTunes. Windows users will get the complete iTunes experience, including Apple Music and the iTunes Store, as well as support for iPhone and other Apple devices on any Windows 10 or Windows 10 S PC; Autodesk SketchBook, the de facto application for painting and drawing, and built from the ground up as a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) application leveraging the pen and touch capability of Windows 10; and SAP Digital Boardroom, one of the most popular solutions from SAP.

4. Development tools reign: Several new tools for Windows developers were announced. .NET Standard 2.0 for UWP and XAML Standard are both coming later this year so that web devs, C++, .NET or UWP developers will love to build on Windows.

3. When in Rome: With modern code, developers can take advantage of Windows and the Microsoft Graph, using Project Rome for UWP, Android and now iOS.

2. More choices goodness: With the Xamarin Live Player. developers can build, test and debug their iPhone applications from a Windows PC. With it, all users need is Visual Studio and their iPhone to get started building native apps for iOS in minutes.

1. No markers! We were introduced to the world’s first Windows Mixed Reality motion controllers — no markers required! The motion controllers offer precise and responsive tracking of movement in your field of view using the sensors in a Windows Mixed Reality headset. There is no need to install hardware on the walls around you.