Microsoft today revealed that the next free Windows 10 update is called the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. For those keeping track, this is Windows 10 version 1809. Although the company had not announced this update before today, Windows Insiders have been getting builds from Windows 10’s RS5 branch since February.
Windows 10 October 2018 Update includes a dark theme for File Explorer, a new snipping experience, a cloud-powered clipboard, support for extended line endings in Notepad, integration with the Your Phone app, new web sign-in and fast sign-in features, a mixed reality flashlight feature, SwiftKey in the touch keyboard, and many other improvements. The highly anticipated Sets feature did not make the cut.
Windows 10 is being developed as a service, meaning it receives new features on a regular basis. Microsoft has released five major updates so far: November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, Fall Creators Update, and April 2018 Update.
As you can see, with the fifth one Microsoft stopped naming Windows 10 updates. The company is now simply sticking with the month and year of release (two free feature updates are expected every year).
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If all goes according to plan, Windows Insiders will see October 2018 Update finalized in September, and the public will get it a month later. Microsoft does indeed expect this update to become available for customers starting in October, sources say. That said, the company will delay it if the quality isn’t up to snuff (the April 2018 Update had to be pushed back a bit, but it did arrive on the last day of that month).
Microsoft today also said “nearly 700 million devices” are running Windows 10. That’s, uh, the same figure the company’s outgoing Windows chief shared in March. So Windows 10 adoption has definitely slowed — Microsoft’s latest and greatest operating system passed 600 million devices in November 2017. As I’ve argued before, however, it’s the adoption of these free updates that’s really impressive.
