Let’s Try This Again: The Best of the Re-Released Fall Update, Part 2

Let's Try This Again: The Best of the Re-Released Fall Update, Part 2

The October 2018 Update was re-released in November but was only available to a certain subset of devices without any compatibility issues. In the last 24 hours they have updated the Windows 10 Update History page with the following note:

Rollout Status as of December 17, 2018: Windows 10, version 1809, is now fully available for advanced users who manually select “Check for updates” via Windows Update.

These advanced users Microsoft mentions here are also referred to as “seekers” by the company. This means if you go into Windows Update and click the Check for updates button you should begin to receive the October 2018 Update. The only exception to this would be if your system still has a block in place by Microsoft due to an identified incompatibility issue.

Note: Those blocking items are listed on the Windows 10 Update History page.

No systems set to only receive automatic updates will get the October 2018 Update until a later date determined by Microsoft.

For those of you who want to get out there and seek the October 2018 Update and get it up and running on your device, you can go ahead and do that as of today.

In the meantime, here is the second part of our two-part look at some of the new enhancements in this feature update. (The first part is here.)

Touch Keyboard

SwiftKey – When Windows 10 Mobile was around, its keyboard was one of the best out there. In 2016, Microsoft purchased SwiftKey to incorporate its capabilities into their mobile keyboard offering. That keyboard, which was also very popular on Android and iOS devices, saw its technology make its way into the Windows 10 Mobile keyboard. For those of you who use touchscreen-based devices and have wanted the swiping ability in that on-screen keyboard, well the SwiftKey technology is now part of Windows 10. Last week I told you about the improved typing insights in this feature update and this addition is part of those enhancements.

SwiftKey Suggestions and Autocorrections Option

You use this keyboard just like you would on a mobile device, swiping from letter to letter to write the content you want to create. You will see the word suggestions and autocorrections as you work on that input. If you have Typing Insights turned on, as I showed you last week, then you can also see how much this method of text entry helps your productivity.

Emoji Keyboard – Let’s face it, emoji have become part of mainstream communication. Over the course of the last few feature updates, Microsoft has continued to enhance their Emoji keyboard to integrate it into all text entry opportunities across the system.

Emoji Keyboard

Not only can you use these emoji in chats, emails, and other text-based postings but you can also use them when naming Live Tiles and Live Tile Groups on the Start menu. Personally, I use them in OneNote to help classify some of my notebooks based on their content. It adds a nice personalization touch to these different areas.

The emojis included with the October 2018 Update are based on Unicode 11 which includes more than 150 new emojis. The Emoji keyboard is also available in over 150 different locales and languages.

Fonts

Fonts Settings

This is a change that has been a long time coming for customization on a user level. Previously, Windows required an administrator-level account to install fonts on a system. However, with Windows 10 Version 1809, standard users can now install fonts themselves without the higher-level permissions being needed. Note that this change applies only to installing fonts on the user profile level. In order to install a font for all users on a device, an admin account is still required.

Task Manager

Task Manager

For those advanced users who like to closely monitor how power consumption is progressing on their devices will like this new feature.

In Task Manager, two new columns have been added to the Processes tab view.

Power Usage – Shows the current power consumption by an app or process.

Power Usage Trend – Indicates the upwards or downwards power usage trends based on a two-minute snapshot. Cycles and updates every two minutes.

Note: The green leaf icon in the Status column shows you which UWP apps are suspending to reduce power usage.

Diagnostic Data Viewer

Diagnostic Data Viewer App

This viewer was added in a previous feature update and was intended to give you insight into understanding some of the telemetry data that is being shared with Microsoft from your system. Unfortunately, it continues to require an advanced degree and an understanding of XAML files to dig out any pertinent data.

This cycle, none of that has changed but they did add Windows Problem Reports to the viewer so you can see what has been sent to Microsoft after a system issue.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge

This feature update, just like those in the past, allows Microsoft to ship major updates to their Edge web browser since it is so tightly entertained with the operating system. We learned recently that Microsoft will be adopting Chromium as the rendering engine for their browser moving forward and that means updates will ship on a different schedule compared to OS updates and on a much more frequent basis. It also means Edge will be making its way to Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and MacOS based devices.

All these things are good news for Microsoft’s fledgling web browser and shifts browser updates to a much more incremental approach rather than big updates twice a year. Note: That updated process is not expected to become the norm until late 2019/early 2020. In the meantime, feature updates will continue to be the source of updates for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10.

In the October 2018 Update, the following work has been done on the browser:

• The main menu under the ellipsis (…) has been refreshed with icons for the various entries plus the addition under Settings of categories for General, Privacy & Security, Passwords & Autofill, and Advanced options.
• Media Autoplay controls now allow you to turn auto-playing sound and video off on entire domains or on a page by page basis. There are also general options to either Allow, Limit, or Block all auto-playing media across the board.
• Learning Tools in Edge have been updated with options to select the color used to highlight various parts of speech under Grammar Tools, plus a line focus setting helps the reader remain aware of what line is being read with choices to have 1, 3, or 5 lines in each set.
• When in Reading View, PDF Reader, or in a Book, there is a new word lookup to help you find the definition of words on the page.
• If you right click on the Edge icon on your Taskbar or on the Start Menu, you will now get the updated Jump List which shows you several shortcuts. Included are your top visited sites and links to open a new browser window including an InPrivate version of the browser.
• Web Authentication has been implemented and supports Windows Hello and physical security keys to validate your identity to various sites and services. This is part of Microsoft implementing a passwordless approach to online accounts using these other factors of authentication/identity.

Windows Security

Windows Security

The Windows Defender Security Center has been renamed to just Windows Security in Windows 10 Version 1809 and the overall security settings options have been tweaked in several areas to improve usability and available information.

Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG), which allows you to run a browser in a secure virtual sandboxed environment on compatible hardware, has been updated to improve its overall performance. Note: You need either Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise Editions to use this feature.

… And a Few Other Items

All the inbox apps have been updated over the course of this last development cycle. After you upgrade to the October 2018 Update, be sure to visit the Microsoft Store and check for app updates for those so you get the latest features.

More robust inbox apps allow Microsoft to deliver functionality in many cases which used to be part of the OS itself. This makes for updates that can be shipped on a much more regular basis rather than just twice a year.

Key apps that arrived with this feature update include Snip & Sketch, which will eventually replace the Snipping Tool, Your Phone for accessing images and text messages on your Android device, and surprising updates to Notepad to make it more compatible with many of the types of files which are opened with that program.

As I mentioned at the top of this article, anyone can now go get this update and install it on their device just by checking Windows Update.

Let us know about your upgrade experience.