Microsoft this week began a low-key promotion for the next Microsoft Windows 10 feature upgrade after issuing the month's Patch Tuesday updates.

Once Windows 10 applied the March 14 cumulative update, the "Update & security" section of the Settings panel displayed text reading, "Good news! The Windows 10 Creators Update is on its way. Want to be one of the first to get it?"

The accompanying link was anti-climactic: The page simply told users that a notification would appear when the Creators Update is ready. The same page also pitched Windows Insider, the beta testing program, as a way to "get an early look" at upcoming code.

Nor was the message's placement shouting the news from the rooftop, as few Windows 10 users will see it there. Most users rely on the operating system's automated, in-the-background mechanism to download and install updates.

Microsoft has not revealed the release date for Creators Update, its label for the next Windows 10 feature upgrade, and the first since the Anniversary Update of August 2016.

[ Further reading: The Windows 10 Creators Update's best new features: Dynamic Lock, Game Mode, privacy tweaks, and more ]

But Creators Update's appearance is imminent, probably within the next three weeks. A recent Windows Insider build, for instance, marked itself with the expected version number 1703 using Microsoft's year and month designation, a sure sign of an impending launch. Other clues include the acceleration of the Insider build release tempo, three in the last two weeks, two since Friday.

Even though the 1703 version number seemingly signals a March release of Creators Update, Microsoft might shove the debut into early April, as it did last summer with the Anniversary Update, which was tagged as 1607 but did not appear until Aug. 2.

This story, "Microsoft quietly teases new Creators Update inside Windows 10's settings" was originally published by Computerworld .