There is now a new Windows 10 update and it has followed a new trend of expecting a new major update on Windows 10 every 6 months.
The new update is called Windows 10 October 2018 Update and it is currently rolling out right now. (Mine is downloading as we speak).
Microsoft this time round is further using AI for this rollout and is still using its phase strategy to rollout this update.
You can download the new update today by manually checking for it under “Check for Updates” and this will work well if you have been constantly updating your PC.
Here are some of its cool features:
Your Phone app
This is actually a pretty cool productivity feature on the new Windows 10 update. This will allow you to have instant access with a linked Android phone’s photos and texts on your computer. It will also allow you to view, send and receive texts from your Android phone to your PC. However, only phones with Android Nougat and later are compatible with the Your Phone App.
For iPhone users, this is rather limited. You can surf the web on your iPhone then send the webpages instantly to your computer to pick where you left off.
Timeline on phone
The last Windows 10 Update released on April introduced Timeline which allowed you to go as far as 30 days back to see what you did on your computer. It is like a time machine of sorts and it was one of the coolest features from that update.
Now for the October update, they have extended it for phones sof that you can see your PC timeline on your phone. You can use this feature to find files and websites you were using on your phone or computer. This feature is available on Android via the Microsoft Launcher app and is coming soon to iPhone.
New updates on Outlook
Outlook now has a new Tasks experience that helps you manage your tasks without breaking your flow and now brands can obtain a verified icon to make it easier to identify legitimate businesses.
New Emoji
Windows 10 October Update now comes with 157 new emoji thanks to Unicode 11. This is after Apple introduced the same support to their iOS devices recently and it is great Microsoft is upto snuff with this. There are also some tweaks to their existing emoji like the computer one, octopus, bee, dove and more.
Tile folder naming
You can now name your tile folders within your Start menu. To create these tile folders, just drag one tile on top of another for a second then release. You can add as many tiles as you can and when you expand the folder, you’ll see a new option to name it.
Better Search
Microsoft has improved Search on Windows in two ways: Enhanced homescreen so that you save time and keystrokes.
There is also expanded previews for all search results to include apps, documents, email people and more. Previews will help you get back to what you were doing, easily distinguish between files, get web search results and jump start your tasks.
New Skype for Windows update
Skype for Windows 10 also got a big update in this latest release. Microsoft says now we will get a consistent user experience across all platforms. However, exclusive to Windows 10, we got a new feature, Share Charm which will allow you to share content directly with your Skype contacts.
There are other features like call recording, private conversations, theming and adding tasks to your To-Do list.
Windows Defender has been renamed
Microsoft decided to rename Windows Defender Security Center into now we call Windows Security. This is a much better name since the previous one was a mouthful.
Windows Security now has been improved where now it can now easily understand current threats, more improvements in the controlled folder access, new device health assessment, windows Account Protection improvements, more complete view of our security and a Fluend Design refresh.