The Windows 10 October 2018 Update (1809): Let's Try This Again
by Brett Howse on November 14, 2018 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
- Operating Systems
- Windows
- Microsoft
- Windows 10
Shell Updates and More
File Explorer Dark Mode
Windows 10 has offered a Dark Mode for quite a while now, but as with everything Windows, the legacy bits can take a while to clean up. But with the October 2018 Update, users using the Dark Mode setting will now also see the new dark mode in Windows Explorer.
Home Screen
The Home Screen has also gotten an updated look, and new functionality. You can easily open TimeLine from within the Home Screen, and searches within here offer previews for apps, documents, email, people, and more. You can also more easily filter searches for web results versus documents or files, and the preview pane lets you get a better feel for what you’ve found, showing modified dates and more.
Registry Editor
For those that love Regedit, the extra functionality of being able to type in a location has been improved with a dropdown that fills in as you type, and you can now do Ctrl + Backspace to delete the last word for easier navigation, or Ctrl + Delete to delete the next word.
Biometric Remote Desktop Sign-In
Windows 10 1809 also brings biometric login support for Remote Desktop when authentication to a VM over Active Directory or Azure Active Directory.
Wireless Projection
There’s also updates to wireless projection, to improve the experience across multiple scenarios. There’s now a control banner on the host device to let you set and configure the wireless display projection, and there’s three settings you can choose:
- Game Mode: minimizes the screen-to-screen latency to make gaming over a wireless connection possible
- Video Mode: increases the screen-to-screen latency to ensure the video on the big screen plays back smoothly
- Productivity Mode: strikes a balance between game mode and video mode; the screen-to screen-latency is responsive enough that typing feels natural, while ensuring videos don’t glitch as often.
Storage Sense
Storage Sense is the feature that helps keep Windows clean, and in previous updates it’s gained the ability to empty your recycle bin or delete files in Downloads. New to 1809 is the ability to mark content as online-only in OneDrive if you not opened it for between 1 and 60 days, or never. For those on small SSDs, it should help keeping some space available.
Task Manager
The Task Manager now offers columns showing an applications power usage, and it’s power usage trend, so you can use it to track down where all your battery has gone
Fonts
New to 1809 is the ability to install fonts from the Windows Store with no admin rights needed, or to install fonts on a per-user basis where admin rights also won’t be needed.
HDR and Wide Color Gamut Updates
If your display offers HDR and Wide Color Support, you enable support for video, HDR games and apps, and Wide Color apps in the new Windows HD Color Settings menu under Display properties. There’s a preview video as well so you can test the changes quickly. HDR still seems to be in its infancy on the PC, but with more displays now offering HDR it won’t be too long before it becomes more mainstream like it is in the TV industry.
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mkozakewich - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I laughed out loud in disbelief when I read it! I ran into that problem just the other day, so it'll be nice to finally have it fixed.imaheadcase - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I like how every tech website narrowed in on the few people who had problems with file deletion like it was some epic disaster. Seems to be a running trend lately.It makes me wonder if i can submit news to some tech site, totally bogus, and see how many websites it catches onto.
MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Well, MS pulled the update, so there must have been some credence to the claim. Deleting user data is a serious bug, if you ask me. It took a pretty serious bug to expose the flaws in the Feedback system—something that is supposed to make Windows 10 better.imaheadcase - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Well yah, but that is like saying "careful buying this car, we have reports sometimes people crash".notashill - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
More like "careful buying this car, we have reports sometimes the car spontaneously catches on fire". Which has certainly been a problem with some cars.PeachNCream - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Only if you buy a Tesla! :DTheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Or a KIALord of the Bored - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Or a GM.PeachNCream - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Don't jinx me! I don't want my Buick to burst into flames!MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
It was a legit bug. It assumed some folders were empty even when they weren’t, deleting them instead of migrating them. Yes, we should all have backups before upgrading, but this was not the usual case of an upgrade going wrong and the system not being bootable. It was appearing as a successful upgrade, but it wasn’t migrating user data. From what I gather, it wasn’t even keeping the files in Windows.old—it was deleting them all.