Earlier this week, Microsoft released version 1809 of Windows 10, also known as "Redstone 5". Its official name is the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. Information Systems and Computing (ISC) has been testing preview builds of version 1809 on several different hardware configurations in the Standards Lab and has found no major issues. However, ISC strongly recommends that all University users considering updating their devices adopt a wait and see" approach and continue to use earlier versions of the OS for at least a few days; this will allow for additional time to identify bugs and incompatibilities not initially discovered. ISC will update the community on the status of the October 2018 Update no later than Wednesday, October 17th.
As with previous major Windows 10 updates, Microsoft will move the Windows 10 Pro and Home user base to the October 2018 Update in a phased process via Automatic Update starting today, with users of Windows 10 Enterprise getting more control of if and when they receive the update. As has become the norm with major Windows updates, the October 2018 Update feature changes continue to be more iterative; most of the new features are added conveniences, but there aren't many significant functionality updates or large under-the-hood-changes.
One of the immediately notable features of the October 2018 Update is the added functionality to the Search bar in the Start Menu. In addition to the interface being wider than before, the Search menu now shows previews of documents and other items when hovering over them, as opposed to previous versions which only gave web previews.
The Windows app with the most number of changes to it in the October 2018 Update is the Settings app, which continues to improve with more Control-Panel-like functionality added to it. There are too many changes to the Settings to cover them all here exhaustively, but some highlights include:
Feature additions to Storage to automatically clean up files when disk space runs low, including moving infrequently-used OneDrive files to cloud-only storage
- Clipboard options that allow syncing the clipboard between devices, or saving a Clipboard History with multiple items to be used later
- For displays that support the features, Display options to control color options for specific content, or alter brightness based on local ambient light levels
- A returning easy-to-access slider that globally changes font size throughout the Windows interface
- Numerous changes to Narrator to improve screen-reading functionality, including the ability to find specific text on the screen
While still very much in the early development stages, there is a new app in Windows 10 October 2018 Update called "Your Phone" which shows a lot of promise; this app in the future will allow for syncing your smartphone with your computer to allow easy access to photos, texts, emails, and notification. In the preview, versions functionality was minimal and could only be used with Android devices, but Microsoft plans to add support for iOS devices and additional feature for both Android and iOS in the future.
One minor, but useful, added feature to Windows 10 October 2018 Update is the use of machine learning to make updates and reboots less intrusive. By learning when a user is most likely to be using the computer, Windows tries to schedule updates and reboots to when the user typically not use the system for extended periods of time.
Edge continues to improve as well, and the October 2018 Update adds additional functionality to Microsoft's browser. Most of them are ease-of-use improvements such as a new streamlined main menu with options more logically broken down and organized, the long-awaited addition of jump lists for frequently accessed sites, or new settings to restrict autoplaying of media on websites. Administrators that want to lock down or control usage of the browser also get additional Group Policy options that can be applied to Edge. Lastly, Edge now supports Web Authentication, so that users can sign into websites using fingerprint readers, YubiKeys, or other authentication methods.
In the realm of enterprise functionality, October 2018 Update provides some additional tools that can assist administrators or troubleshooters. The Diagnostic Data Viewer provides much better and easy-to-read summaries of problem reports when applications crash or have other issues that would warrant a report to Microsoft. Task Manager includes two new columns to monitor power usage, one that shows current power usage of running processes and the trend of power usage over time; this functionality can be useful in identifying sources of unexpected notebook battery drain. The October 2018 Update also enables additional and more flexible Autopilot provisioning capabilities.
Lastly, for those that use the Unix Subsystem for Windows, Microsoft continues to add functionality in that vein slowly. When browsing the file system using File Explorer, the context menu adds an "Open Linux Shell Here" menu option, allowing users to directly open a Linux shell in the directory they are currently browsing. Also, the Windows Subsystem for Linux processes can now have Windows Defender Firewall rules applied to them.