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
Windows Subsystem for Linux
The developer reaction to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) has been quite good, and Microsoft continues to update it with pretty much every release of Windows 10. There’s some really great functionality with this update which should improve the experience even further.
Distros
There’s now additional Linux distros available in the Microsoft Store. If you are an Ubuntu fan, version 18.04 is now available, and Microsoft has a guide on how to update to the latest version. Also, Ubuntu 18.04 can be run on ARM devices, which is interesting.
There’s also WLinux, OpenSUSE 15, and SLES 15 available in the store now.
Microsoft has also added the ability to install WSL distros right from the command line, which should make setting up a new dev machine quite a bit easier.
Notepad
Announced at Build to much fanfare, Microsoft has updated Notepad to support Linux line endings, which means you can use Notepad to open files from Unix/Linux, macOS, or Windows.
Shift Right Click Menu
If you’ve ever been in explorer and thought wouldn’t it be great to be able to launch a Linux shell from right here, today is your lucky day. The shift right click menu will now have entry to launch a Linux shell here, which will open your default WSL distro to that path, much like the existing PowerShell option did already.
Improved Per-Directory Case Sensitivity Support
Case sensitivity is now off by default on new directories created in WSL, which fixes an issue introduced previously when new directories were created in WSL which would then not work well in Windows where applications expected the directory to be non-case sensitive. You can switch directories back and forth with the setfattr command as needed. If this has been a pain point for you, check out Microsoft’s blog on the topic.
Copy and Paste
With the latest update, there’s a new option in the console option window to allow copy and paste from the keyboard shortcuts of Ctrl + Shift + C and V.
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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.