Reflecting on Microsoft’s unveiling of the Windows 10 Creators Update and new Surface hardware

Microsoft didn’t invite me to Wednesday’s hardware announcement but I couldn’t have attended in any case due to family commitments in Florida. But to try to recreate a little bit of the magic of last year’s event, I decided to head over to the local Microsoft Store where I got to sit among a large group of store employees.

Miami’s not exactly a technology hub, so I wasn’t surprised that I was the only customer in the store to watch the stream. I had hoped that the new hardware was already in the store’s stock room, ready to be displayed. And although that turned out to be a false hope, I nevertheless left the store two hours later absolutely elated.

Windows 10 Creators Update and Surface Studio were my idea, I thought, echoing that old Windows 7 campaign. After 3+ years of blogging about and advocating for the use of Windows software and hardware by artists, Microsoft is now promising to deliver what feels like a distillation of nearly all of my (and most of your) creative demands.

But rather than rush home and write an excited puff piece, I decided instead to spend the last couple of days researching, discussing and reflecting upon the products announced. This included returning to the Microsoft Store to get a little bit of hands-on time with the Studio.

There are reasons to be concerned about Microsoft’s new products, not the least of which is cost. But given the low-priced clones we’ve seen from OEMs since the release of the Surface Pro 4, I’m even more confident to evangelize about this creative eco-system than ever before.