The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is version 1809, and while it’s the latest feature update, a major focus of this update was fixes and refinements. Some features, like Sets and Alt-Tab bringing up browser tabs, have been delayed, and despite Sets not having returned yet in Skip Ahead builds, Microsoft has assured Neowin that the feature is still going to return.
Not a major update, but after installing it on my desktop I found some nice improvements and fixes here and there, such as a more polished user interface for Edge (which also seems faster now, and handles Google properties more smoothly) and the new, much better screenshot application which replaces the snipping tool. Curiously, while the update was available on my desktop, Windows Update on my laptops remains silent.
I didn’t know they packed in a new screenshot tool. Hopefully if it’s good enough, that’s one less app I’ll have to install.
Now, where’s the built-in clipboard manager and universal spell checker?
Press Ctrl + C to copy and WindowsKey + V to view your clipboard. It is cool!
That looks neat, but, it’s impossible to use if xmouse is enabled.
Lots of stuff new to Windows 10 is.
Autoplay can *finally* be terminated with the prejudice it so fully deserves. Why did this *basic* requirement take so long?
Edited 2018-10-04 03:55 UTC
Hallelujah!
Be careful with this update, I ran it this morning and Microsoft seem to have decided that it’s within their rights to just delete some files in my Documents folder. At least a large .pst (Outlook mailbox) is missing. Maybe just a freak occurrence for me, but it’s worth making sure your backups are good first just in case.
Otherwise, it updated fine and all seems to be working. Edge now nags more than before and seems to want to give me achievements like it’s a Steam game not a web browser, which I find patronising, but easy to ignore.
Edit: some searching would indicate that it’s not just me https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/9l128k/warning_1809_upgr…
Edited 2018-10-04 11:35 UTC
Lozrus,
My client had a similar issue for some of their corporate customers testing windows updates. It was filed as a bug against our application, but it turned out windows update moved the user files and broke our application (along with other applications). The application technically works, but the user configurations get lost. The conclusion was that this was a windows bug, because it is. I don’t know what the hell microsoft thinks they are doing but microsoft’s response was that the behavior was by design, consequently our customers are forced to manually move the files back into their profile after the update, at which point everything works fine again. They’re running thousands of computers, so I’m sure their IT dept will try to push a post-windows-update script to correct the bug.
The conspiracy theorist in me says this might be done to deliberately make life complicated for win32 application users in a planned obsolescence strategy…but who knows. I can’t explain why else microsoft would finds these breakages acceptable. I don’t really know how widespread the issue is.
Edited 2018-10-04 13:43 UTC
You are forgetting that it is THEIR system and not yours. They can do whatever they like (and regularly do just that) and they just don’t care what happens to the poor users and businesses who have to pick up the pieces.
I’m of the opinion that this will only get worse as the fiddle and play with the OS and possibly take delight in messing their almost captive user base up on a regular basis.
All my friends and family know that I just won’t touch any device running Windows 10. At first they thought this strange. Now? Well several have left MS behind.
shotsman,
Yeah, I’ve been holding out too. While I’m not turning down windows work, most of my work is linux based these days so it’s less of an issue for me than it used to be.
The thing is, legacy win32 apps are microsoft’s base, the win32 application ecosystem is the main thing that tethers people to windows. Even if MS would rather those customers were using modern apps from their store, pushing customers too far on the win32 side may ultimately push them to web enabled solutions instead where windows is less relevant and microsoft is not king. In other words, messing around too much with win32 users may not be so wise.
Personally I think microsoft focuses to much on coercive tactics, which is intended to strengthen their captive audience yet has clearly driven many people like me away. IMHO they ought to embrace a more meritocratic business model where their mission is to deliver what people want and leave us genuinely feeling pleased. Right now I look at these “upgrades” and think “ugh, I don’t want to make these compromises on my computer just to run the latest version of windows”.
Edited 2018-10-04 15:34 UTC
This is reasonably normal though. MS doesn’t push out the update to everyone simultaneously, they do it in waves, probably mostly to reduce load on their servers (though, you know, that wouldn’t be as much of an issue if Windows wasn’t so insaenly overweight).
You can force the update if it’s not being offered by using Microsoft’s own Windows 10 Update Assistant:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3159635/windows-10-update-a…