The Windows 10 April Update (1803): The Littlest Big Update
by Brett Howse on May 25, 2018 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
- Operating Systems
- Windows
- Microsoft
- Windows 10
The Total Package
The Windows 10 April Update is one of the smaller updates we’ve seen since Windows 10 launched, at least in terms of shiny new features, but it does have some nice additions. The OS is mature enough now that there’s hopefully going to be less of the major changes to the UI and feature list with each new update, since those large scale changes can cause confusion with consumers. Windows is still the workhorse of businesses as well, and when you’ve got tens of thousands of employees, it’s not fun to have to retrain people every six months on how to do the couple of tasks they do every day. For 2018, we’ve already got the next update scheduled for the fall, but it would not be surprising to see Microsoft shift to a less aggressive schedule in the future.
For this update, there’s only a couple of big features. Timeline is a great idea and one that was definitely missing from Windows 10, and it will get more powerful with Android tasks coming to Timeline thanks to the Microsoft Launcher, Edge, and Cortana on Android. iOS will likely never be able to have as much integration though thanks to the Apple App Store model.
Focus Assist really seems like a great idea as well to give people a chance to stay focused when they need to. It needs a bit more fleshing out, but even as it is, it’s great to get time that is distraction free, but still allows you to easily check and see what you missed.
Probably the biggest addition for the update though is Progressive Web Apps, which will hopefully bring some much needed app support to the Microsoft Store. Twitter has been very actively developing their PWA, including support for Windows 10 specific features. The irony here is that with PWAs, Microsoft would likely have had a better shot with Windows 10 Mobile, but it’s already too late for that.
The other changes to Edge are also very welcome, and Edge has certainly come a long way. Its performance and standards support continues to improve, but like Windows 10 Mobile, it may be too little, too late. Microsoft has ceded a tremendous amount of browser usage to Google, and there’s no sign that’s going to change.
The other new features are going to be less used, but still important when needed. Being able to quickly pair a Bluetooth device, or easily share a file with Nearby Share, is really something that’s going to pay for itself rarely, but when it is needed, it’ll pay larger dividends.
There's also a pile of small tweaks and additons, such as the improved touch keyboard with swipe typing support, a new game bar, easier Hello setup, Cortana improvements, dictation support for text fields, and improvements to My People, which rounds out the update nicely.
Overall, the April Update is a small, but nice update. The biggest issue with it is that there’s been some reliability problems with the update as we’ve seen specifically with the Intel 600p SSD, and a few other pieces of hardware. The update was delayed until the very last day of April, and even then it was definitely a soft rollout. I have only been able to get one PC to even get the update over Windows Update so far, with even very current devices still not receiving it through that method. You can always force an install, but there could also be a reason the machine isn’t seeing the update due to a known compatibility issue that’s not resolved yet. We’ll have to wait and see statistical numbers to see how quickly it rolls out compared to its predecessor, but at the moment it seems like it’s a very slow and steady deployment. But the update is worth it just to get PWA support alone. It just might not be worth it right now.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
161 Comments
View All Comments
haplo602 - Monday, May 28, 2018 - link
Update itself went fine, however Tablet Mode stopped working after update. I have a convertible laptop (HP Envy x360). When I flip he device into tablet mode, screen rotation kicks in, keyboard and touchpad get disabled but no prompt to switch to tablet mode, when I set the option to not ask and switch, still nothing. I can only switch manually via action center.ಬುಲ್ವಿಂಕಲ್ ಜೆ ಮೂಸ್ - Monday, May 28, 2018 - link
That's hilariousSometimes I think they should replace "Saturday Night Live" with "Comedy Hour Updates"
It would be very entertaining to see all the most obnoxious, dastardly, destructive and moronic "updates" Microsoft has to offer on a weekly basis
Typo - Monday, May 28, 2018 - link
only 1/3 of the computers in my house has gotten the update. Neither of my laptops seem to see it yet.ChristopherFortineux - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link
Laptops usually get pushed back in the update scheme.pjcamp - Monday, May 28, 2018 - link
I'd give all that up for the ability to put a live tile on the desktop. I use a third party app to keep Windows 7 gadgets running because a calendar reminder isn't very useful if I have to remind myself to open the start menu to see it.lmcd - Monday, May 28, 2018 - link
This is a good look at the update for the consumer "Home" SKU, which many users are using. However, for me personally this is single-handedly the best update Windows 10 has had. This update adds two excellent features for developers.For Android Developers, this release launches the Windows Hypervisor platform, which allows for the Xamarin version of the Android Virtual Device Manager to run with Hyper-V enabled (or, more specifically, with Docker for Windows enabled).
Yes, the Xamarin AVD version is still in Beta. No, your rebuttals cannot be heard over the sound of my rejoicing.
For C++ Windows developers, this release adds C++/WinRT, which removes a lot of the constraints around consuming UWP APIs from C++ code, and adds support for UWP CLI tools.
While I haven't explored exactly what the latter does yet, I believe (along with the current UWP API surface area improvements) that the ChakraCore-derived version of Node + NPM could be completely packaged as UWP apps for system-wide use.
draknon - Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - link
Microsoft was nice enough to return the edge shortcut to my desktop. I guess they thought I may have accidently deleted it (it wasn't on accident). Also, they changed the audio options when you right click on the speaker icon in the task bar. I used to be able to go directly to the playback/recording devices from here. But now, the only option is to choose sounds and then click over to the playback tab afterwards. It's another step which gets annoying.elopescardozo - Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - link
I was contacted by a friend that after the upgrade to 1803, his Excel would crash at the first attempt to enter something in a cell. Turns out that this is a known feature : 1803 kills several older Excel versions. Apparently. Microsoft is not planning to repair this. It is either incredibly sloppy programming or a malicious way to force people to upgrade their Microsoft Office. Is this how they recuperate the "free" OS updates?Personally, I hate the way to "simplify" Windows by making active controls unrecognizable: links in the settings menue are generally gray without any indication that they are clickable. Someone should explain that a workstation is not a telephone or a tablet end never will be.
ChristopherFortineux - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link
Product is End of Life. But the issue is 'Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2002 (KB2541003)'t.s - Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - link
One feature that android (on and off) and linux have that windows and mac/ios doesn't have: dark theme/mode. It would be nice too, if ms edge have inverse color that chrome has (extensions).