Windows 10 October 2018 Update review: Little refinements make a big difference

The latest Windows 10 feature update brings with it lots of refinements and a few new features. So is it any good? Check out our in-depth review for answers.

Windows 10 Wallpaper
(Image: © Microsoft)

It's been almost seven months since the last Windows 10 feature update was released to the public, and we're due for another big one. After some early issues, Microsoft today will begin rolling out the Windows 10 October Update to the world again, bringing with it new features, enhancements, and more to millions of Windows 10 PCs.

Microsoft has gotten very good at making sure these big new updates don't change much on the surface, ensuring users won't be freaked out by huge new changes once the update is installed. The changes will only become apparent once you start digging a little bit. On that note, we did some digging to find the most significant new changes and features available in the October 2018 Update.

To be clear, the big issue that caused Microsoft to initially pull the update has been fixed, meaning when the update reaches you, you won't need to worry about losing your files when the update eventually installs itself.

Video walkthrough

Reading not your thing? Check out our in-depth video walkthrough showcasing all the noteworthy new changes and features in the October 2018 Update.

Windows 10's desktop and File Explorer

Starting with the October 2018 Update, you can now name live folders in the Start menu. In the past, you could not name folders you created in Start. It works just like naming a group of tiles, you drag one tile over another, create the folder, and a text box at the top of the folder gives you an opportunity to name it.

There's also a new context menu design that appears in some apps and text boxes. This is the best take on a context menu Microsoft has ever put into Windows, but unfortunately, it's not the only context menu available in the OS. Microsoft's context menu dilemma still exists, meaning you'll find different context menu designs all across the system when in different apps.

The new context menu is animated and features Acrylic Blur effects that make it look beautiful when opened. The other nice design change with these context menus is that they also feature icons next to all the listed options. I also love how this context menu design provides formatting options when opened in a text field where text supports formatting. So instead of having to remember the different keyboard combinations for making text bold or italicized, you can now right-click and press a button that does it for you.

Microsoft also updated the File Explorer with a new dark mode UI, which brings it in line with other built-in system apps that support dark mode. This is a change you'll appreciate if you use your PC late at night and don't want your retinas burned to a crisp by opening File Explorer to grab a file. This also makes the context menus on the desktop dark, which is a nice touch.

Admittedly, File Explorer's new dark mode is not perfect. I think it looks nice on the surface, but many have expressed their dislike of the different shades of gray used to achieve the dark looks. Some also don't like how the icons appear when dark mode is enabled. I don't have an issue with this. What I do have a problem with is how dark mode isn't consistent across all the inbox apps, and more importantly, how it isn't applied to all of File Explorer.

You'll notice that even with dark mode enabled; there are still several parts of File Explorer that simply aren't dark. The copy dialog, for example, is still blindingly white, as is the file properties window. None of these areas have been themed to match dark mode, making them even more jarring when messing around in the File Explorer with dark mode switched on. I wish Microsoft would have spent more time theming every part of File Explorer with dark mode.

The new context menu design is great, but it's only used sparsely throughout the OS. File Explorer's dark mode is a promising start, but Microsoft needs to do more work to "complete" it.

Windows 10's Cortana and Search

The search user interface is now much wider and emphasizes search over Cortana being a personal assistant. In the previous Windows 10 update, Microsoft outright ripped out the Cortana "glance view" feature, which emphasizes Cortana's virtual assistant side of things over search. In the October 2018 Update, Microsoft is continuing to make Cortana more search orientated.

Now, Cortana's UI is much wider and gives the user the option of searching specific categories within the OS. So upon opening search, you'll find five big boxes that highlight search within Windows. You won't even see the Cortana icon anymore; it's now a search glyph. When searching, you'll be presented with a UI that's split down the middle; on the left are your search results, and on the right are more details about your specific searched file or web result.

I love the new search UI, but unfortunately, it doesn't fix Windows 10's inconsistent search problem, which sees users search for something but have other things come up as results instead. For example, sometimes, the user can search for an app, but instead of that app being the top result, a similar app will be the top result instead. Microsoft is aware of this problem and is working on improving search in a future update.

Below the search categories in Cortana's Home is a bigger emphasis on Timeline. You'll see your last three Timeline activities, allowing you to pick up where you left off straight from search instead of opening Timeline to do it. Below that is Cortana, which suggests commands you can ask at the click of a button. There is not really any Cortana UI in Windows 10 right now, which is weird. For now, though, Cortana's presence in search is very minimal, and rightly so, as many didn't like Cortana's dominance in the search area anyway.

Windows 10's new Your Phone app

Your Phone SMS syncing

Your Phone SMS syncing (Image credit: Windows Central)

Ever since Microsoft gave up on its own mobile platform, the company has been obsessed with ensuring Windows PCs are best friends with Android and iOS. With the October 2018 Update, that effort takes a leap forward as Microsoft begins to integrate your phone with your PC with a new app called "Your Phone."

Microsoft has big ambitions for this app, with the eventual goal of being able to control your Android phone straight from your PC. Right now, it only works with Android phones, but Microsoft promises that iPhone functionality will be coming at some point, albeit in a limited state thanks to Apple's limitations on what third-party developers have access to on iOS.

Using the Your Phone app, Android users can hook up their phones to their PCs and share photos and SMS messages between the devices. This means that you can start and respond to SMS messages you've sent on your phone directly on your PC. The SMS sync capabilities work OK, but it could be faster. It takes a few seconds for messages to come through in the Your Phone app once the text has landed on your phone, and sometimes it can take up to five seconds to send an SMS using the Your Phone app, which makes things feel sluggish.

I've also noticed that sometimes the Your Phone app will stop sending notifications when new SMS messages come through after a period of time, and that the notifications themselves, when they do come through, aren't actionable, meaning I have to open the app to respond to a text rather than just responding to it directly from the notification. These are all issues that can be solved via app updates independently from the OS.

The other Your Phone feature that works right now is the ability to see and share the last 30 photos taken on your phone, directly on your PC. The photos-sync function in Your Phone works way better than it should. Your photos show up as if they are locally available on your device, and you can edit them, share them across apps, and even drag them out of the Your Phone app and into other apps or the desktop. It works like magic and is super simple.

No longer do you have to wait for photos to upload to the cloud before you can download them onto your PC or rely on a cable to plug into your PC so that you can transfer photos to it. It's worth noting as well that the app features a pretty UI, with a straightforward layout with Your Phone's features in the left sidebar and content taking up the rest of the app.

Your Phone in the October 2018 Update is a good start. There is room for improvement, which is likely why Microsoft is still tagging the app as in preview in some areas, but overall, the experience is OK. I am looking forward to Microsoft building upon the foundations it has laid out.

How to setup the Your Phone app

The new Snipping Tool in Windows 10

If you're a fan of screenshotting stuff within Windows 10, Microsoft has reworked that entire experience; gone is the old snipping tool and in its place is a new, universal snipping bar that's accessible using the Windows key, Shift, and S. It simplifies the screenshot experience, providing you with three screenshotting methods: rectangular snip, freeform snip, and full-screen snip.

Once the screenshot is taken, Windows will pop up a notification saying it has automatically been added to your clipboard, meaning you can instantly paste it into a social network, app, or location. But, if you click the notification, it'll take you to a dedicated screenshotting app that allows you to edit it further with ink.

This doesn't replace the straightforward WIN + PrtnScn key combination that takes a full screenshot and puts it on a dedicated screenshots folder in your Picture area. But it does replace the WIN + Shift + S key combination that was used for the old snipping app. You can set the new snipping experience to show up by pressing PrtScn on your keyboard if that's something you'd prefer, which I recommend everyone does as it makes invoking the new snipping bar a lot easier.

Windows 10's new Cloud Clipboard

Microsoft's new clipboard experience in the October 2018 Update is arguably one of this release's biggest new features, even though it's off by default. Microsoft has built a new clipboard history feature into the OS that when enabled will save everything you've copied in a session for pasting later. So, no longer will Windows immediately forget the last thing you copied when you copy something new.

This new clipboard function can be accessed at any time using the WIN + V key combination, and once invoked you will be able to scroll through everything you've copied in that session. In addition to merely remembering everything you've copied, it also has the capability of syncing that copied data to the cloud, allowing you to sync data across all of your devices that are logged in with the same Microsoft Account.

That's where the "Cloud Clipboard" name comes in. If you enable the syncing capabilities in addition to the history function itself, you will be able to copy text and images on one device and paste it on another. Microsoft is aware that some users may not like the idea of syncing everything you copy to the cloud, which is why this functionality is off by default.

Microsoft will also be bringing the Cloud Clipboard to SwiftKey on Android in the future, meaning you'll be able to copy and paste content between not only Windows devices, but your Android devices as well.

The clipboard will only remember what you've copied per session, meaning if you log out or restart your PC, the clipboard will be empty when you log back in. There is a function that allows you to "pin" copied content to the clipboard, however, which will save it permanently until it's unpinned again. Pinning something you've copied will allow you to retain it in the clipboard even after a restart.

The most significant problem with this new feature is that it's utterly undiscoverable unless you've been told it exists. For one, it's off by default, and the switch to turn it on is buried in the Settings app. Even when it's on, there's no real obvious way to invoke it unless you know the key combination. Microsoft really needs to work on making this function more discoverable to users.

How to enable the new Cloud Clipboard feature

Microsoft Edge

As is always the case with a new Windows 10 feature update, Microsoft added new features and improvements to Microsoft Edge. Most of the improvements are under the hood, with the only real differences on the surface being some minor UI changes and behavior tweaks.

Users can now finally customize which buttons show up along the right-hand side of the address bar. Previously, those buttons were inexplicably not customizable, but now, you can change them. You can hide them, or add more. There's also a subtle drop-shadow effect apparent across the tabbed, which is nice.

Microsoft also updated the "Settings and more" menu with an improved UI that also includes icons and reveal effects, which look pretty nice. The settings area itself has also been updated with the same UI you can find in the Hub area, meaning both areas now feature consistent designs that should make things less confusing.

Also new in Edge with the October 2018 Update is the ability to block websites from automatically playing audio or video content.

You can now mute tabs before any audio begins playing, even if there is no audio element on the webpage. Just right-click the tab, and select mute.

The PDF reader has been improved with minor changes, and the PDF icon has been updated with a much nicer looking one. If you tried Edge when Windows 10 first came out and didn't like it, try it again. It's improved two-fold since it's initial debut.

Windows 10 Settings

There are more settings than ever in the Settings app in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. Microsoft has continued to add more of its legacy Control Panel into Settings, and this time sound settings are the latest to be ported over. You can customize all your system sound settings directly in the Settings app, including setting your default audio source for input and output.

Microsoft added a new "typing insights" feature into the Settings app that will keep track of all your typing habits and data, just like SwiftKey does on iOS and Android. This is off by default, but once enabled, you will see typing statistics such as autocompleted words, suggested words, keystrokes saved, and spelling corrections.

Windows Defender has been renamed to Windows Security in the Settings app, and the Windows Security settings app now features Fluent Design in some areas. Microsoft has also given Delivery Optimization its own category underneath Windows Update. Previously, it was buried within the Windows Update area.

Bluetooth devices will now finally also show you their battery percentages when connected to your device. This is something that was available in the Surface app initially, but it's now built natively into Windows 10.

The Settings app also provides tips and tricks on its homepage and will even suggest questions being commonly asked in the sidebar of specific categories, providing quick and easy answers to those questions.

Lastly, and this is a big one, Windows Update now uses machine learning to determine when the best time is to install a new update. Microsoft continues to try and improve the system behind Windows Update so that it doesn't interrupt your workflow. Machine learning should allow Windows Update to figure out when you are and aren't using the PC, and slot in a good time to alert you that an update is ready. This functionality works in the background and isn't configurable. Since this is the first release to feature such functionality, it's not been tested all that much, so it's too early to determine if the Machine Learning is actually helping.

Miscellaneous changes, improvements, and notables

Game Bar has been updated with a new UI, which looks much cleaner. You can still stream straight to Mixer, and in a future update, Microsoft will be adding performance data to the Game Bar, as well.

The built-in Skype app for Windows 10 has been updated to the same version of Skype for desktop. This is version 8, meaning it comes with the new modern UI and more. In fact, you'll find that the Windows 10 app is faster than the desktop one, thanks to it using React Native.

App windows will no longer feature a colored accent around them by default. Now, the colored border is simply dark grey, which matches the drop-shadow effect behind windows, making for a cleaner UI. You can turn on the colored borders, but otherwise, colored borders are no longer the default behavior.

For reasons unknown, Timeline is still incredibly laggy. Animations are not smooth, and that makes using the feature feel sluggish and broken even on the highest-end PCs. I find that the lag is present mainly on devices with screen resolutions higher than 1080p. Microsoft really needs to fix this.

October 2018 Update final thoughts

The October 2018 Update is not a major release. At this point, that's par for the course when it comes to "Windows as a Service." This is still a great update, though, packing lots of little changes and improvements that make using the OS more pleasant.

As should always be the case with a new release, the October 2018 Update is the best version of Windows 10 yet. It's more refined and well-put together. Microsoft has really nailed making sure these updates don't change everything all at once, as users hate nothing more than coming back to their PC and finding everything has changed.

Pros:

  • Cloud Clipboard is awesome.
  • Your Phone has potential.
  • Edge is really good now.
  • Lots of little changes add up.

Cons:

  • Buggy at launch.
  • Cortana is in limbo.
  • Some features are undiscoverable.
  • Timeline is (still) laggy.
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter: @zacbowden.

50 Comments
  • Would the new revised update bring back my deleted favorites on Edge?
  • No. Not sure if I somehow overwritten them
    but no they haven't come back.
  • I did a 'repair' for Edge to resolve issues with my favourites not syncing (Settings->Apps->Edge->Advanced Settings->Repair) - all working fine now
  • Thank you sir (or madam), doing that on the machine running the October Update made the favorites reappear on all my other devices.
  • Not yet. I'm hopeful it will get fixed though. My favorites are all still on the machine that got upgraded to 1809, they just aren't syncing with Edge on iOS or Edge on my other machine still running 1803.
  • Would you not have them backed up? i use Cent as my browser, but my bookmarks are backed up weekly to a external drive. Can you do that with edge? i presume there is a file somewhere in Windows that stores your favorites just like there was with Internet Exploder. Also, don't Windows back it all up to the cloud if you are using a MS account?
  • One of your best walkthroughs, Zac. Kudos.
  • What about the new File Bug?
  • It's been fixed. 17763.55/17763.104
  • The new bug (ZIP files) isn't fixed, but the original bug was fixed in build 17763.17
  • All the more reason to get away from the default archive manager and switch to something like 7-Zip, 8-Zip, or (if you hate yourself) WinRAR.
  • I love Winrar, I have been using it for years, I have never ever had a problem with Winrar. I have rar files going back years and they are still fine. i don't know why you have a problem with Winrar, is it because it is not free?
  • It might be worthwhile to mention that the release in question is not available.
  • If you read literally the first paragraph, it says the update will begin rolling out in a couple of weeks.
  • My apologies -- I did miss that.
  • Hi Zac, how about that color space wallpaper where can we get it?
  • Sounds like progress. But the Timeline sluggishness really is terrible and puts a big hamper on serious multitasking. Also, on 1803 it utterly fails to remember something you had open for a few seconds only a few moments ago. Like if I open a PDF to take a quick look, close it, then open Timeline, it's not there. I sure hope they fixed that on 1809. Anyway, good overview, Zac.
  • Timeline is sluggish, i do not use it and have disabled it myself, but I know of someone who does and their machine is pretty beefy and they have told me a few times that the timeline was sluggish and have been since it was released.
  • This wonderful update pushed me to discover the 365 day delay on updates in Windows 10 Pro. This update was alpha status garbage.
  • oh the horror the horror
  • That's an insightful article. Thanks, Zac.
  • I heard somewhere that the whole keyboard was now going to be 'swipe-able' in this update. Is that true?
  • In some contexts that's already true in 1803. But not in all. I'm a little confused about the difference, but it's progress.
  • It seems that somehow I dodged the bullet on the big bug. But since I keep most of my stuff in the cloud anyway, it wouldn't have been devastating for me even if I had. Still, even if only a moderate disruption for me, it's a disruption that I'm glad I haven't had to contend with. I agree that dark mode is inconsistent, but I'll still take it. I'm also using the new dark mode in macOS Mojave, and it is certainly cleaner and more consistent. But with everything being a dark grey with really no true black to be found, plus the harder borders on everything, I'm not sure I can say that I necessarily like Mojave's dark mode look better overall. In fact, I think for all its warts, I still prefer Window's iteration. Though some consistency would certainly be a welcomed next step. I went straight for the "Your Phone" app upon upgrade completion, and in pairing it with my Pixel 2 XL, I found it to be a buggy, not immediately satisfying experience, frankly having better luck using Windows 10's own photos app, and "Android Messages for Web" in a browser tab. But I know that it will improve, and I not only have no real doubt of that, but am actually pretty excited for what this app will (or at least is supposed to) turn into. I think it will mature into a fantastic tool, and I still welcome it's arrival! Cloud clipboard and the whole smart typing thing (already blanking on the name) are both things that I'll go turn on. And I am very tempted to turn Edge back into my default browser over Chrome. But with as much as I feel this update is an improvement, I am growing so disillusioned by the, now "dangerously buggy" updates as well as with how slowly any semblance of consistency is coming to the OS. The "insider program" that I once thought was so amazing, and as such a tremendous virtue is maybe more of a vice if it's being used as a substitute for robust internal professional testing, and not as a supplement. And that cuts into my enthusiasm a bit, even though my world was not turned upside down by it. Still, dark theme is pretty rad at least! We are definitely seeing one of the best looking (or maybe even THE best looking) OSes only continue to look even better! :-D Cheers!
  • That dark theme is dope! I can't stop using it!!!
  • I would give it a 2/5. More useless features to disable and uninstall. Ton of bugs and UI glitches. Settings is still awful. I rather load up control panel 99% of the time. Dark mode even though its half assed, its the only feature that I liked.
  • Thanks for the disagreeing comment chock full of non specifics. Sounds like a personal preference issue and not a valid criticism. Oh well.
  • This is the problem I have with the updates, lots of things I got to disable or change, still at least MS had sense and disabled the clipboard manager as default on this one.
    Settings is a mess, MS should have kept things as they was with the control panel until settings was ready, saying that we could be looking at 2030 before it is. I will pass on this update.
  • It's the little things... I've used the Controlled Folder Access, which requires that one whitelists applications to make them work properly (everything from CheckDisk to Acrobat...). Used to be that one had to find and point out the .exe manually to whitelist. Now one can choose "Recently blocked apps" from the "Add an allowed app" button. Helps a lot.
  • Thank GAWD for that!! I turned controlled folder access *OFF* because hunting for exe files got way too annoying to deal with. Edit: spelling
  • I'm not happy with this update. Simply needs cumulative update to fix all bugs
  • Thanks for the review! I have October Update since day 1, and thankfully I haven't faced any problems with it, except for screen dimming and brightness one. On a side note though, I didn't know where to post this because I couldn't find a feedback link on the site (forgive me if there is one and I missed it), but please can you redesign your website so that each post has its own page and not having all other posts appear under it in full length? It's really confusing and very unintuitive design. Thanks!
  • Just more bloat, more ways to get people to connect to their cloud, with cloud clipboard and then you get your phone, while at the moment it don't use the cloud, so they say, but for how long.
    The old snipping tool is fine, but now that will be bloated., Instead of mucking around with stuff like this, it would really be in MS best interest to sort out the bugs, updates are getting worse not better, we had problems with Windows Xp, but they seem to be worse with Windows 10.
  • Which update? Microsoft has paused the October Update and my 2 laptop are still 1803. No update, no fix. What a clumsiness. I like Windows 10 but Microsoft ruin everything again.
  • Are you kidding me! This is the worst bit of code released by Redmond ever! Have you tried the right click context menu anywhere when using the dark mode? It displays the text as white on a very light grey background! And you call this a little refinement that makes a big difference? Are you blind or did you really take the time to evaluate the new code and all of its FU'd stupidity? IMHO Satya Nadella is a piss poor CEO and should be held accountable for this kind of BS!
  • Currently there is no October 2018 update for the general public though. MS haven't re-released it.
  • Just curious it's already November, 6 and still no update... maybe it worth renaming it into November update? Or to be more real December update? :)
  • Someone please give me the wallpaper of this post! Thanks!
  • how do you turn off messages in edge like sites asking to send notifications or use your location?
  • Great release. Have to admit, killing off mobile was a great idea if it brings superb quality releases like this. BTW I think the issues with the October release were way overblown. Microsoft was able to recover the files for ppl as long as they called support quick enough. So no prob. Just chill ppl, really.
  • I tried it on a couple PC's a XPS 13 quad i5 and a older HP desktop with Haswell core i3. I ended up reverting back to 1803 after several flaky black screen flashes and everything just seemed slower over previous version. Maybe more Spectre Meltdown fixes were implemented? Definitely felt sluggish.
  • I had the same screen flicker and blackout issue with my Dell XPS 2720. I uninstall the old Intel display driver and manually install the latest driver from Intel Support. The flicker is gone. If it comes back with the Check for Update in the settings, roll back the driver to the one you installed from the Intel support...
  • Intel has been having all manner of driver issues the past year or two. Best not to force the update on Intel Machines. It might be delayed for our configuration because of the Intel Hardware, and pending an OEM-approved driver update. I've had tons of issues using Intel Reference drivers on OEM machines, especially laptops. Blue Screens, Awful Performance (click File Explorer and it pops up 8-10 seconds later), Rampant Flickering, Background Driver Crashes/Restarts, etc.
  • Since moving to the Note9, I've moved almost everything to Google's ecosystem. Microsoft just doesn't feel as good on Android. Actually surprised at how good Google Docs and Sheets are. I think they offer all I need, and I've just replaced Office 365 with WordPerfect Office Home & Student for an offline office suite with a bit more power (Super Cheap... always on sale @ Amazon). Not sure how I feel about "Your Phone." Samsung has their own Continuity Software that is better optimized for their devices, and works well on Windows 10. IMO, Microsoft should have just partnered with a big OEM like Samsung for this, and then extended it out to other OEMs moving forwards. That way, we could have had something more akin to what Apple offers between iOS and macOS. Your Phone really misses the mark, there. I don't like the UWP Skype App because it's always loaded in the back ground. I prefer not to deal with this on my lower end laptop (which I use mostly for productivity things and very light video/graphics tasks while on the go). Microsoft needs a set of default light productivity and media apps for their platform. A clean install of Windows feels barren compared to what you get with macOS (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie, GarageBand, etc.). I wish they would introduce something like "Boot Camp" for Linux installs, though.
  • Any comment on why MSFT would release an OS that produces white text on a very light grey background when a right click context menu pops up in the file explorer set to the dark screen mode? This isn't something I would call a bug, but rather an overlooked feature the was not taken care of before it went final, and that's the way MSFT operates it's business now. Complete garbage from a once reputable software/technology company!
  • Have they pulled it again ?
    I haven’t got any updates om my SP4. And not with the Update Helper either ?
  • edge gets worse every update. it's absolute trash at this point
  • Do you guys have any insight on when the slow/laggy timeline issue is going to get addressed? I bought a brand new Surface Pro 6, upgraded to version 1809 hoping for the issue to be fixed but it is not. It's extremely frustrating as this is something I use countless times to multitask.
  • Does anyone knows IF the 1809 upgrade has been stopped again?? Iam stuck in 1803 in Home Edition
  • yet more installed apps i cant delete, just give us the choice