With development of the Fall Creators Update slowly winding down, it's time to look to the future and talk about what we're hoping to see in Microsoft's next version of Windows 10.

Redstone 4 is Microsoft's next major version of Windows 10 after the Fall Creators Update, which will be packing several cut features from the Fall Creators Update, as well as some new ones. Redstone 4 is scheduled for launch sometime in March/April 2018, so there's plenty of time between now and then to get some new features in. Here's what we're hoping Microsoft will focus in with Windows 10 Redstone 4.

Modern File Explorer One area where I'm hoping Microsoft will focus their efforts with Redstone 4 is the File Explorer. We all know the File Explorer is long overdue a refresh, as its last major update was back in 2012 with Windows 8, where Microsoft introduced the Office Ribbon UI to its header. Since then, only small incremental updates have been made to File Explorer. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more File Explorer as is works great, and as the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but just because something works doesn't mean it isn't due for an update. A new UI is in order, to say the least, along with several other enhancements that should be there but aren't. Things like a duplicate file option in the context menu, or tabs, for example.

Tabs is a big one for many users, and I know there are several people out there who think tabs in File Explorer make no sense. That's fine, but for millions of people out there, tabs in File Explorer do make sense. I hope tabs are at the top of Microsoft's list of things it needs to add to File Explorer, as it'll allow me to keep my desktop clean of unnecessary File Explorer windows when transferring files across directories. What's more, with Fluent Design on the way, File Explorer will stick out like a sore thumb more than ever if Microsoft doesn't give it a new lick of paint. I don't mind how Microsoft does this, whether it be through updating the existing Win32 program or introducing a new Universal Windows 10 app, as long as it gets the Fluent Design treatment for alignment with the rest of the OS. Tabbed Shell Tabbed Shell is something I exclusively wrote about earlier this year, that will allow apps to be grouped together under a familiar tabbed UI like that found in Microsoft Edge. This would enable users to group apps that don't have tab support natively, making for a much cleaner experience on devices with smalls screens.

For example, with Tabbed Shell the user would be able to have multiple instances of an app that doesn't have tab support such as Word 2016 under one tab UI handled by Windows 10. Microsoft has already laid down early code for this feature, and if it hasn't been canceled internally, Redstone 4 might be a good time for it to show up. Timeline This is a pretty obvious one. Considering Timeline has been cut from the Fall Creators Update, it makes logical sense to assume the feature will be showing up with Redstone 4 instead. Microsoft already has working code of Timeline in its internal builds of Windows 10, and the feature is working as intended. So it shouldn't be too long before Insiders can test out this functionality.