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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GreenReaper - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
The default for the shell-based deletion call is to delete all files and subdirectories within it a directory - as compared to just removing the directory if it's empty. Unfortunately whoever seems to have been unaware of this, or otherwise failed to properly check that it was empty first.FreihEitner - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
If the major feature of the 1809 update is the Your Phone app, then I shouldn't need it. I'm only on 1803 and I've got the Your Phone app which I installed from the Microsoft store. *confused*Spunjji - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Lucky then that it isn't "the major feature", as even a casual glance at this article illustrates.nathanddrews - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I've been using Samsung SideSync on and off for a while with my phones, but that's a bit more like a remote desktop/screen sharing for your phone. It really eats up the battery in my experience. Not only that, it requires a bit of manual effort to connect and disconnect. I'm tempted to see how this Your Phone feature works. All I really want to do is reply to messages from my PC and transfer files/photos between devices without killing the battery.ads295 - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
SideSync has serious issues in transferring files, too - it's so tedious to select "Transfer files" and have to click through each file in the list!PeachNCream - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
USB cable?Wingartz - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
so how do we get it?? from the meadia creation tool 1809 is this november update or still october??Targon - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
It's still considered 1809, so yes, the Media Creation Tool 1809 is the right one.Mr Perfect - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
1809 also brings DirectX Raytracing with it, right? I'd love to see how that pans out.Targon - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Even with 1809, software developers need to enable support for ray tracing in their programs, and the vast majority will not waste the effort on a feature that only three GPUs on the market will actively support right now, but with two of those not having enough performance for people to even bother keeping it turned on.