Windows 10 anniversary update hits this summer for free

The next major Windows 10 update will hit this summer, bringing with it biometric authentication support to the Edge browser, an overhauled Windows Ink experience and the ability to turn an Xbox One into a dev kit, the company announced during its annual Build conference today.

The "anniversary" update comes this summer, about a year after the operating system's July 2015 release.

Both Visual Studios 2015 Update 2 and the preview code for the Windows anniversary update are live now, Microsoft announced.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Windows and Devices group, told the gathering of developers that Windows 10, which launched eight months ago, currently has 270 million active users who have spent 75 billion hours in the operating system.

Myerson said that biometric support will be coming to websites that make use of it through Microsoft's in-house web browser, Edge.

Make sure to visit The Verge to read how Microsoft is making the stylus front and center with the new update and Ink Workshop.

Finally, Myerson said that with the update the Xbox One will bring "all Windows 10 apps into the living room."

More details on the impact the Windows 10 update, including converting a retail console into a dev kit, is expected later in this morning's talk.

Both Visual Studios 2015 Update 2 and the preview code for the Windows anniversary update are live now, Microsoft announced.

More details to come.