Microsoft's next Windows 10 upgrade, code-named Redstone 4 and informally known as the Spring Creators Update, improves Windows in numerous ways. But Microsoft has also added innumerable under-the-hood adjustments. That's why this roundup exists: to underscore smaller additions you might miss, or explain subtle changes in how Windows 10 works. Unlike previous lists we've compiled, though, some of these hidden features seem tentative, with more work clearly needed. Fortunately, Microsoft seems inclined to keep developing Windows 10, with no major replacement on the radar.

Microsoft's Eye Control for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update offers up a noble goal: controlling your PC with your eyes, using a feature called Eye Control in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Eye tracking has quietly emerged as an alternative to the mouse, led by companies like Tobii. The concept is simple enough: Sensors within an eye tracker bar you mount on your monitor "watch" your gaze, guessing pretty accurately what you're looking at. Though Tobii sees eye tracking as a tool for productivity and gaming, Microsoft currently sees it as a purely assistive feature, rather than a productivity tool. We've reviewed two generations of eye-tracking hardware from Tobii--Eye Control was specifically designed for its latest eye tracker, the Tobii 4C--which Tobii positioned first as a productivity assistant, then as a gaming peripheral.

Microsoft's 2017 may as well be known as the year the company turned away from the consumer and, sadly, back toward the enterprise. This past year was notable for two casualties: Microsoft's phone business finally died, as did Groove Music, the music subscription service that Microsoft abandoned in favor of Spotify. In fact, you could argue that Microsoft's software and services didn't succeed nearly as well as its hardware, where a new generation of Surfaces and Xbox One consoles were generally well received. It didn't help that management seemed to feel that staid enterprise Azure and Office 365 represented Microsoft's future, either. Now, question marks hang over Microsoft's plans for 2018. The spark is there, but will consumers care?

On Tuesday, Microsoft formally added Timeline and Sets to Windows 10 as part of a massive Windows 10 Insider build that reworks My People and Cortana with under-the-hood improvements such as more detailed display descriptions and Windows Update taskbar icons. Windows Insider builds typically add a grab bag of features that Microsoft's development teams are separately introducing, but Build 17063 for the Fast Ring will have a ripple effect throughout Windows. Not only has Timeline been introduced, but Cortana will now encourage you to pick up where you left off and record your past activities. Some users will also begin to see Sets, the new way of ordering what was previously multiple windows inside a new tabbed interface. Under the hood, Insiders will also begin to see more Fluent Shell additions throughout Windows, the name Microsoft has given for the UI improvements that include its new "acrylic" texturing.

Microsoft's latest Windows 10 Insider build for the "Redstone 4" update cycle tries to do away with the "sneakernet" with an feature called "Near Share," as well as a phone-like auto-suggest feature for text typing. Microsoft launched Windows 10 Insider build 17035 for the Fast Ring on Wednesday, one of the first code releases for what's been referred to as "Redstone 4," or the update cycle following the Fall Creators Update. If Microsoft holds to its current schedule, Redstone 4 should be due in the spring, perhaps in February or March. Until then, however, Windows Insiders are part of the testing team trying out new features: Near Share, better tab muting in Edge, a new Audio settings menu, the ability to configure update bandwidth, and a few more. Windows 10 Near Share makes it easy to share files or URLs locally, but make sure you have the right person in mind.

Microsoft will keep updating Windows 10, and we'll keep you up to date on what you need to know. This tutorial was updated on Nov. 7, 2017, with the latest information.

Microsoft Edge is gaining new PDF reader features within the Windows 10 Fall Creator's Update--everything from sticky notes to inked signatures. It's part of Microsoft's bid to compete with Chrome and Firefox as the best Web browser, and along the way, carve out a niche as the best free PDF viewer available. We tried Edge's new capabilities within Build 16251 of the Windows Insider program, several iterations after Microsoft debuted the new functionality as part of Build 16188. The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update has since rolled out, and all of these features are now live. But based on these builds, you'll be able to fill fields, re-orient PDFs, add sticky notes, and adjust the PDF layout--even mark them up with digital ink, and sign PDF documents with a stroke of your stylus.

Dictation within Windows has lived in the shadows for years. Finally, with Windows 10 and the Fall Creators Update, dictating text is almost as easy as talking to Siri, Cortana, or Google. Within Windows 10, you can turn on dictation with just a keystroke. I wrote this whole article with just my voice. Dictation has lived within Windows for years, though it's been confined to the Control Panel, where users had to set up and configure dictation capabilities manually before they could actually use it in the real world.

Inking and navigating with a digital pen or stylus within Windows 10 will become easier within the Fall Creators Update, for those of you who use a tablet as, you know, a tablet. The improvements include two major elements: navigation, including using the pen or stylus to select and scroll text; and better interpretation of inked words as text, via a more accurate and responsive handwriting panel. Combined, it's a love letter of sorts to Surface and other tablet users who use the pen to input data. It's amazing how well Windows can interpret your chicken-scratch into text that can be edited in Word and elsewhere. General Windows 10 users won't be able to take advantage of the new features until the launch of the Fall Creators Update on Oct. 17.

Microsoft Edge is gaining new PDF reader features with Windows 10's Fall Creator's Update--everything from sticky notes to inked signatures. It's part of Microsoft's bid to compete with Chrome and Firefox as the best Web browser, and along the way, carve out a niche as the best free PDF viewer available. We tried Edge's new capabilities within Build 16251 of the Windows Insider program, several iterations after Microsoft debuted the new functionality as part of Build 16188. While we're pretty sure what we've seen will match up with Edge's capabilities within the Fall Creators Update, there may be a few small changes. But based on these builds, you'll be able to fill fields, re-orient PDFs, add sticky notes, and adjust the PDF layout--even mark them up with digital ink, and sign PDF documents with a stroke of your stylus.