So even though Microsoft officially releases the Windows 10 Creators Update on April 11, impatient users can grab it now using an update tool. However, if you are running Windows 10 on a Mac with Boot Camp, you might want to hold off a bit.
Apple posted a support page on Thursday that explicitly said not to do a clean install of the Creators Update on a Mac running Boot Camp. If you do, you'll get a blue screen and then you'll have to use Boot Camp Assistant to delete the partition and start over. Apple says that it's working with Microsoft to fix the problem.
If doing a clean install, Apple recommends that you begin by installing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and then use the Update Assistant to upgrade the OS to the Creators Update. Which is what most people are doing right now anyway. Or you could just wait until April 11 for the Microsoft rollout via Windows Update.
So far, I’ve yet to see howls of complaints from trashed machines in the many techie corners I visit, so I decided to risk my personal PC, the one I am typing on as I write this, with the Update Assistant. The upgrade process went very smooth, even though I stepped out of the room to read a book while letting it run. But I didn’t come in to find it hung at 3% complete or something like that.
I only hit one snag. The Office 2010 install somehow got pooched and when I went to run Outlook, it asked for some install files that were supposed to be in a directory called C:\MSOCache. Just one problem: I installed Office from a file I downloaded from Microsoft, not a DVD. That cache directory is created by the DVD installer when it puts the files on your hard disk, so if they are needed to change the installation you don’t need to go looking for the DVD-ROM.
The problem is the installer doesn’t recognize an install from the downloaded file, only the DVD-ROM. I don’t know if it exists in the newest release but I hope not.
In the end, there was only one solution: uninstall Office and reinstall it. While I had to re-enter the Product Key, thankfully it was validated. I’ve had to reinstall Office far too many times due to OS reinstalls and the product validation no longer works. That’s what I get for monkeying with my system a little too much.
Also, all of my custom settings for Word were still there as were my Outlook Rules and the PST file. Which just goes to show that uninstalling Office means a whole lot gets left behind. But this time I’m glad.
To be quite honest, I get little out of the Creators Update. For my usage, there’s little benefit. I do like the new privacy settings, which are quite complex but thorough. But the update was going to be pushed out to me anyway, so I figured I’d do it on my own terms at the right time. Given the smoothness of the update, Office aside, I have no regrets.