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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DominionSeraph - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Calling the data loss a software bug isn't really accurate. After the users moved their user directories, the old ones should've been unused and ready for cleanup. Some users continued to stuff files into the old locations as well as the new ones, causing the ones in the old location to be deleted when the cleanup occurred. This isn't a bug, just the convergence between design choice and a fraction of the user base's use.If Microsoft made a smartphone with buttons on both sides of the case, decided in a refresh to switch it to right-side only, and people came out of the woodwork saying, "I masturbate with my right hand so those buttons on the left were useful," and Microsoft added them back in, is that saying that all smartphones that only have buttons on the right side are bugged?
If we're calling design choices bugs then MacOS is literally nothing but a bug for its lack of legacy support.
timecop1818 - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Yep, 100% this. After i researched the data "loss" conditions, I was surprised it was called such a big deal.I actually DO move Known Folders to another drive due to space/management reasons, and i would never think to continue using users\documens etc locations for other files after the move.
There's not even a quick way to access those after transfer is there? the documents explorer pin will go to new location, and you'd need to drill down to c:\users\username\documents to get to old place manually. so if anyone lost data after knowingly moving Known Folder and continuing to use old one, it's 100% their fault and not Microsofts.
GreenReaper - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
No, it's fair to call it a bug, because the assumption (the directories are empty, or contain no valuable data, so it's safe to remove them) was incorrect. This may have been partially the fault of third-parties not handling shell paths correctly, but the fact remains: Microsoft was the one to delete user data.timecop1818 - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
No, user moved their data to another location. That was the end of microsoft involvement.If you use lunix and store shit in /tmp and it disappears on reboot, do you blame lunix or yourself?
bill44 - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
After 3 years and lots of promises, proper color management has yet to be implemented.ayunatsume - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
Windows has had color management since... Windows XP? You can find it in the control panel and you can install ICC profiles by double-clicking them. I work in a printing press and use CM for RGB and CMYK jobs. I use it with Adobe's suite of programs from acrobat to photoshop, illustrator, and indesign. What were you looking for in color management?pjcamp - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I'll wait a month to see if anything else surfaces. Luckily, I know how to disable forced updates. This is exactly the sort of catastrophe I feared from that policy.leexgx - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
windows 10 pro set to none targeted +100 days delay (+15 delay on normal updates as you cant even trust them as they have pulled them in the past when a broken update has broken PCs)Makaveli - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
This build finally works for me as an in place upgrade on my Sony Vaio Z laptop 1803 would fail every time. Which means I can upgrade my main desktop tomorrow.BurntMyBacon - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
The early worm gets the ... bird?