The latest, large-feature update for Windows 10 (October 2018 – Build 1809) is upon us. Curious what’s in-store? Some neat features for sure! And we’re rather excited. But there are also always pre-cautions to be made.

Let’s start with the precautions; we’ll get to the fun stuff afterward.

Update Precautions

Backup

As every computer user should be aware, backups are important and there should always be one on-hand. Why do we bring this up in anticipation for a Windows Update? Well, Windows Updates —especially the quarterly releases— make big changes to the computer. And where changes occur, snags can too. If you don’t have data backed up, or would like assistance with backup solutions, please contact us.

Known Incompatibilities

Some computers with modern Intel CPUs and Audio might see the following warning during the upgrade. If you do, we strongly recommend clicking Back. There is a patch available to install prior to running the Windows 10 update. Please contact us if you require assistance.

The Fun Stuff

Your Phone

Android users rejoice! Soon, you’ll have enhanced mobile-to-PC synergy as far as instant messaging, photo sharing and —what us nerds are most excited about— the ability to run Android apps in Windows.

Power Usage (Task Manager)

We recently covered Windows’ power-saving settings and tactics in our Technology Blog here. But now we’ll have a brand new tool in our tackle! The Windows Task Manager will now display how much battery each app is taking, allowing the informed user to close those that are unnecessarily running — and draining the battery!

Dark Theme for File Explorer

Windows 10 has had a dark theme option for some time, but it didn’t affect File Explorer. Now it does and it looks pretty sharp!

Snip & Sketch

Well, technically Screen Sketch was a part of the tablet / pen friendly Windows Ink in the past, but it’s now been improved and rebranded as its own app called Snip & Sketch. It should serve as a simple, yet powerful, alternative to MS Paint or the beloved Snipping Tool (which is no longer seeing development).

Tip: Windows (key) + Shift + S to start snipping like a pro!

Would you like to see any of these new features covered more in-depth? Let us know on our Facebook page. And if you have any questions about today’s topics, or any tech-help at all, please don’t hesitate to contact Tech-Tree.