With the official release of the Windows 10 feature update in October 2018, Windows 10 went to version 1809, codenamed Redstone 5.
Microsoft has therefore changed several things in its operating system, making important additions and changes that it will be better to know in order not to remain confused and to make the most of its resources.
In this guide we then go to see all the new features that Microsoft has included in the 1809 version of Windows 10, focusing above all on what can be done now on the PC, on the changes that have involved some apps and settings and on the removed functions that are removed from the Windows system.
1) Start menu
In this new feature update, you can now hide the scroll bars in the Start menu using the " Automatically hide scroll bars in Windows " option in Settings> Accessibility .
It is also possible to give the folders a title in the Start menu.
2) Research
Originally, the Start menu only included the search in previews for web results while, in the new version, the search expands to apps, documents and more.
The new search has a broader interface and will help you find recent documents, view more file information and access results on the internet.
In addition, Microsoft is modifying web previews so that if you are looking for an application, you can directly press the button to download the app.
3) Operations Center
In the Action Center, notifications are displayed in a fading animation.
Additionally, you will receive notifications when a supported and connected Bluetooth device has a low battery and when Windows 10 blocks an app from accessing the microphone.
4) File Explorer
In this new version, Windows 10 introduces a new dark theme for Espora File, that is for folders.
To activate the dark menu of the Windows folders, go to Settings and then to Personalization> Colors in the "Personalization" section of the Settings app.
In File Explorer you can also open PowerShell by pressing on a file with the right button together with the Shift key.
In addition, the ordering of the " Size " filters has been updated when viewing files using the " Details " view so that larger files can be found more easily.
The size groups are now: 0 - 10 KB, 16 KB - 1 MB, 1 MB to 128 MB, 128 MB - 1 GB, 1 GB - 4 GB and over 4 GB.
Finally, on the Share tab in File Explorer, the Remove Access and Advanced Security icons have been renewed.
5) Copy and paste
On Windows 10 version 1809, the management of the copy and paste notes has been finally improved (it was from the time of XP that this change was expected).
As always, you can use the Ctrl + C keys to copy and Ctrl + V to paste.
However, you can now open the history of the copied notes by pressing the Windows and V keys.
From here, you can clear all the history or enable the function if it is currently disabled.
Using the new Clipboard management, you can also paste everything that is listed in the timeline, and keep items and texts that you use to paste often, for faster copy and paste.
The clipboard history is then synchronized in the cloud and is visible on all Windows 10 PCs that use the same Microsoft account.
In Settings> System, you will now find options for configuring Windows copy and paste and clipboard.
READ ALSO: Use and activate Clipboard History in Windows 10 with synchronization between PCs
6) Projection on this PC
Starting with version 1809, Windows 10 shows a new control banner at the top of the screen when using the " Projection on this PC " function.
In this bar, pressing the gear-shaped button you can optimize the streaming video based on 3 modes: Game mode, Video mode, Productivity mode which is somewhere in between.
7) Game bar and game mode
As for games, the Windows 10 October 2018 update introduces a brand new game bar and game mode improvements.
Beginning in version 1809, the new game bar introduces a new design with a wider interface, with audio controls to change the default audio output device and disable or adjust the volume of games and apps.
You can now open the game bar from the Start menu or by using the Windows + G keyboard shortcut.
8) New Settings
Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018 update) also improves the Settings app with new features and changes, including the " Have a question " section in the right pane, to find answers to common questions about Windows 10 settings.
Regarding the Settings menu we can note the following changes:
- System> Screen : In the screen settings, there is a new Windows HD Color section to control the HDR (high dynamic range) and wide color gamut (WCG) settings for photos, videos, games and apps.
- System> Audio : you can change the names of the devices and select the preferred spatial audio format, there is an option to disable the speakers (or the microphone if you are on the input properties page).
- System> Notifications Assistant: The Notifications Assistant now activates automatically when you open a game in full screen.
- System> Storage : In Storage, an option has been added to the Memory Sensor to activate only if there is little space on the disk.
A new option only makes files saved in OneDrive available online when there is little disk space.
However, if the " Always keep on this device " option was used, those files will still be saved on the computer disk.
- System> Notes is a new section as explained in point 5, for the management of the copy and paste.
- Devices> Bluetooth : you can now see the battery level for supported Bluetooth devices, such as mouse, keyboard and pen.
- Devices> Typing : there are statistics on how the system has helped to write better and correctly, if the automatic correction of spelling errors is active.
Note that the Windows 10 touchscreen keyboard is now the SwiftKey, the same that can also be used on Android and iPhone.
- Network and internet> Data consumption : you can now have statistics on the use of data in roaming if you use a SIM card.
You can fully enable or disable roaming in the cellular network settings.
- App> Video Playback : you can adjust the brightness of the video based on the lighting of the space in which we are, in order to see it better (it only works on tablets and PCs with a brightness sensor).
- Accounts> Family and other people : you can use a wizard to configure the assigned access of Windows 10, how to start Windows on a single app that can be Edge to navigate or even more.
- Date, time and language : there are now two different settings pages, one for Region and language and another for Language.
On the new Region page, in addition to the previously available settings, it is now possible to overwrite the default international settings and modify the Calendar, First day of the week, Dates and Times.
You can also change the date formats.
On the new Language page there is a link to add more language packs from the Microsoft Store.
- Games : Game DVR has been renamed to Capture .
- Search> Cortana : you can change the name that Cortana uses to call us.
On the " Permissions and history " page of the "Cortana" section, there is a Customize section to control the Microsoft account that the digital assistant uses to personalize our experience.
In the " History " section, you can enable or disable the advice to resume activities from where they left off after changing PC.
- Accessibility> Screen : There is a new option to make the text bigger.
- Accessibility> Magnifier : you can keep your mouse centered on the screen in Full Screen mode and you get more control over the zoom level increments with the addition of 5% and 10% options.
- Accessibility> Voice Assistant : Narrator now automatically reads the contents of a window when it is brought to the front.
You can now search for text using the new Find function, you can listen to the list of links, titles or reference points present in the application or in the content of a document.
You can select a block of data by moving to one end and pressing F9, then to the other end of the block by pressing F10.
Once F10 is pressed, the entire content between the two points will be selected.
- Settings> Privacy : Starting from Windows 10 update 1809, the voice recognition page allows you to activate online voice recognition.
The option on writing personalization instead allows you to collect info about yourself, i.e. typing history and handwriting patterns to create a local dictionary and improve suggestions.
- Update and security> Windows Update : in Windows 10 the restart after an update is more adaptive and does not happen if the PC is in use.
The Delivery Optimization feature is now repositioned in the "Update and Security" section, under "Windows update".
9) System operation
On Windows 10 version 1809, the Task Manager shows an icon when a process is suspended, in the " Status " column of the "Processes" tab.
Also, when you hover your mouse over the leaf icon, a hint will now appear describing what it means.
The Task Manager now includes two new columns in the "Processes" tab to show the energy impact of the process running on your system, to understand which programs and apps consume more energy and battery.
The metric takes into account the use of the processor, graphics and disk drive when calculating power consumption.
10) Capture screen
Quickly cut and share screenshots by pressing Windows keys + Shift + S which displays a bar with all the basic tools you need.
In the Keyboard settings you can activate the option to make the capture toolbar appear even just by pressing the Print key.
The button to activate the screen capture or screenshot is now also featured in the action center.
11) Windows Notepad, after so many years, is improved with the zoom of the text and with the search.
On Windows Notepad, if you select text and then open the search bar, it is automatically populated with the selected text.
Additionally, Notepad now supports the ability to display row and column numbers when word wrapping is enabled in the new status bar and you can use the key combination Ctrl + Clear to delete the previous word you typed.
In the Edit menu and use the new " Search with Bing " option (Ctrl + E) to search for the word using Microsoft Edge.
12) Your phone (explained in another post) is a new app to be found on the Start menu that allows you to receive notifications from your smartphone on your PC, to reply to SMS messages and to see photos of the phone.
13) Other minor changes and features added to Windows 10 with version 1809:
- The EMoji have been renewed
- SwiftKey is available in Windows 10 as a virtual keyboard and touchscreen, with corrector functions and writing predictions also included.
- New fonts can be installed without being an administrator.
- The functions of the Home Group have been permanently removed.
- The Control Panel no longer includes settings for adjusting brightness, which are now in the Settings app.
- In Windows 10 Pro for workstations, you will find a new maximum performance energy saving scheme.
- Support for HEIF file format for images.
- Diagnostic Data Viewer is the app with reports of problems that have been sent or will be sent to Microsoft.
- The registry editor is updated with a new drop-down menu to complete the next part of the route.
- Disk Cleanup is no longer in the Disk Properties, but you can still use it by pressing the Start menu with the right button> Run> cleanmgr / sageset: 50 .
14) Improvements for Microsoft Edge
The browser built into Windows 10 Microsoft Edge is updated to a new version with some changes.
There is an updated main menu (that of the button with three dots) which organizes the elements into groups, with an icon for each element and the indication of the keyboard shortcut (when applicable).
"Reading List", "Books", "History", "Downloads" and "Help and Feedback" are new items in the menu list.
The main settings page has also been redesigned with the options divided into four groups, including "General", "Privacy and security", "Password and automatic filling" and "Advanced".
You can decide whether web videos should be played automatically in Advanced settings > Automatic media playback .
In addition, you can check the autoplay permissions at the level of each individual site in the " Website authorization " section of the website identification box.
Finally, there is a new PDF icon in File Explorer, when Microsoft Edge is the default application for opening PDF files.
15) Safety section improvement
The "Windows Defender Security Center" is renamed to Windows Security.
Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) for Microsoft Edge offers performance improvements to make the experience lighter and faster.
In this Windows 10 October 2018 update, Windows Defender Application Guard introduces a new interface in Windows Security to enable and configure the functionality without the need to change registry settings.
You can activate Application Guard in Windows Security> App and browser control> Navigation isolation .
Accessing controlled folders that blocks ransomware and other types of malware attacks is easier and allows you to create a list of applications that are always allowed without disabling the functionality.
When an app is blocked, it will appear in a list of recently blocked apps, on the Virus and Threat Protection page, under Manage Settings in the Ransomware Protection section.
On the Device Health and Performance page, a new assessment is available for the Windows Timetable service. If the time is not correctly synchronized on your computer, you can reactivate the synchronization service.
Microsoft has therefore changed several things in its operating system, making important additions and changes that it will be better to know in order not to remain confused and to make the most of its resources.
In this guide we then go to see all the new features that Microsoft has included in the 1809 version of Windows 10, focusing above all on what can be done now on the PC, on the changes that have involved some apps and settings and on the removed functions that are removed from the Windows system.
1) Start menu
In this new feature update, you can now hide the scroll bars in the Start menu using the " Automatically hide scroll bars in Windows " option in Settings> Accessibility .
It is also possible to give the folders a title in the Start menu.
2) Research
Originally, the Start menu only included the search in previews for web results while, in the new version, the search expands to apps, documents and more.
The new search has a broader interface and will help you find recent documents, view more file information and access results on the internet.
In addition, Microsoft is modifying web previews so that if you are looking for an application, you can directly press the button to download the app.
3) Operations Center
In the Action Center, notifications are displayed in a fading animation.
Additionally, you will receive notifications when a supported and connected Bluetooth device has a low battery and when Windows 10 blocks an app from accessing the microphone.
4) File Explorer
In this new version, Windows 10 introduces a new dark theme for Espora File, that is for folders.
To activate the dark menu of the Windows folders, go to Settings and then to Personalization> Colors in the "Personalization" section of the Settings app.
In File Explorer you can also open PowerShell by pressing on a file with the right button together with the Shift key.
In addition, the ordering of the " Size " filters has been updated when viewing files using the " Details " view so that larger files can be found more easily.
The size groups are now: 0 - 10 KB, 16 KB - 1 MB, 1 MB to 128 MB, 128 MB - 1 GB, 1 GB - 4 GB and over 4 GB.
Finally, on the Share tab in File Explorer, the Remove Access and Advanced Security icons have been renewed.
5) Copy and paste
On Windows 10 version 1809, the management of the copy and paste notes has been finally improved (it was from the time of XP that this change was expected).
As always, you can use the Ctrl + C keys to copy and Ctrl + V to paste.
However, you can now open the history of the copied notes by pressing the Windows and V keys.
From here, you can clear all the history or enable the function if it is currently disabled.
Using the new Clipboard management, you can also paste everything that is listed in the timeline, and keep items and texts that you use to paste often, for faster copy and paste.
The clipboard history is then synchronized in the cloud and is visible on all Windows 10 PCs that use the same Microsoft account.
In Settings> System, you will now find options for configuring Windows copy and paste and clipboard.
READ ALSO: Use and activate Clipboard History in Windows 10 with synchronization between PCs
6) Projection on this PC
Starting with version 1809, Windows 10 shows a new control banner at the top of the screen when using the " Projection on this PC " function.
In this bar, pressing the gear-shaped button you can optimize the streaming video based on 3 modes: Game mode, Video mode, Productivity mode which is somewhere in between.
7) Game bar and game mode
As for games, the Windows 10 October 2018 update introduces a brand new game bar and game mode improvements.
Beginning in version 1809, the new game bar introduces a new design with a wider interface, with audio controls to change the default audio output device and disable or adjust the volume of games and apps.
You can now open the game bar from the Start menu or by using the Windows + G keyboard shortcut.
8) New Settings
Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018 update) also improves the Settings app with new features and changes, including the " Have a question " section in the right pane, to find answers to common questions about Windows 10 settings.
Regarding the Settings menu we can note the following changes:
- System> Screen : In the screen settings, there is a new Windows HD Color section to control the HDR (high dynamic range) and wide color gamut (WCG) settings for photos, videos, games and apps.
- System> Audio : you can change the names of the devices and select the preferred spatial audio format, there is an option to disable the speakers (or the microphone if you are on the input properties page).
- System> Notifications Assistant: The Notifications Assistant now activates automatically when you open a game in full screen.
- System> Storage : In Storage, an option has been added to the Memory Sensor to activate only if there is little space on the disk.
A new option only makes files saved in OneDrive available online when there is little disk space.
However, if the " Always keep on this device " option was used, those files will still be saved on the computer disk.
- System> Notes is a new section as explained in point 5, for the management of the copy and paste.
- Devices> Bluetooth : you can now see the battery level for supported Bluetooth devices, such as mouse, keyboard and pen.
- Devices> Typing : there are statistics on how the system has helped to write better and correctly, if the automatic correction of spelling errors is active.
Note that the Windows 10 touchscreen keyboard is now the SwiftKey, the same that can also be used on Android and iPhone.
- Network and internet> Data consumption : you can now have statistics on the use of data in roaming if you use a SIM card.
You can fully enable or disable roaming in the cellular network settings.
- App> Video Playback : you can adjust the brightness of the video based on the lighting of the space in which we are, in order to see it better (it only works on tablets and PCs with a brightness sensor).
- Accounts> Family and other people : you can use a wizard to configure the assigned access of Windows 10, how to start Windows on a single app that can be Edge to navigate or even more.
- Date, time and language : there are now two different settings pages, one for Region and language and another for Language.
On the new Region page, in addition to the previously available settings, it is now possible to overwrite the default international settings and modify the Calendar, First day of the week, Dates and Times.
You can also change the date formats.
On the new Language page there is a link to add more language packs from the Microsoft Store.
- Games : Game DVR has been renamed to Capture .
- Search> Cortana : you can change the name that Cortana uses to call us.
On the " Permissions and history " page of the "Cortana" section, there is a Customize section to control the Microsoft account that the digital assistant uses to personalize our experience.
In the " History " section, you can enable or disable the advice to resume activities from where they left off after changing PC.
- Accessibility> Screen : There is a new option to make the text bigger.
- Accessibility> Magnifier : you can keep your mouse centered on the screen in Full Screen mode and you get more control over the zoom level increments with the addition of 5% and 10% options.
- Accessibility> Voice Assistant : Narrator now automatically reads the contents of a window when it is brought to the front.
You can now search for text using the new Find function, you can listen to the list of links, titles or reference points present in the application or in the content of a document.
You can select a block of data by moving to one end and pressing F9, then to the other end of the block by pressing F10.
Once F10 is pressed, the entire content between the two points will be selected.
- Settings> Privacy : Starting from Windows 10 update 1809, the voice recognition page allows you to activate online voice recognition.
The option on writing personalization instead allows you to collect info about yourself, i.e. typing history and handwriting patterns to create a local dictionary and improve suggestions.
- Update and security> Windows Update : in Windows 10 the restart after an update is more adaptive and does not happen if the PC is in use.
The Delivery Optimization feature is now repositioned in the "Update and Security" section, under "Windows update".
9) System operation
On Windows 10 version 1809, the Task Manager shows an icon when a process is suspended, in the " Status " column of the "Processes" tab.
Also, when you hover your mouse over the leaf icon, a hint will now appear describing what it means.
The Task Manager now includes two new columns in the "Processes" tab to show the energy impact of the process running on your system, to understand which programs and apps consume more energy and battery.
The metric takes into account the use of the processor, graphics and disk drive when calculating power consumption.
10) Capture screen
Quickly cut and share screenshots by pressing Windows keys + Shift + S which displays a bar with all the basic tools you need.
In the Keyboard settings you can activate the option to make the capture toolbar appear even just by pressing the Print key.
The button to activate the screen capture or screenshot is now also featured in the action center.
11) Windows Notepad, after so many years, is improved with the zoom of the text and with the search.
On Windows Notepad, if you select text and then open the search bar, it is automatically populated with the selected text.
Additionally, Notepad now supports the ability to display row and column numbers when word wrapping is enabled in the new status bar and you can use the key combination Ctrl + Clear to delete the previous word you typed.
In the Edit menu and use the new " Search with Bing " option (Ctrl + E) to search for the word using Microsoft Edge.
12) Your phone (explained in another post) is a new app to be found on the Start menu that allows you to receive notifications from your smartphone on your PC, to reply to SMS messages and to see photos of the phone.
13) Other minor changes and features added to Windows 10 with version 1809:
- The EMoji have been renewed
- SwiftKey is available in Windows 10 as a virtual keyboard and touchscreen, with corrector functions and writing predictions also included.
- New fonts can be installed without being an administrator.
- The functions of the Home Group have been permanently removed.
- The Control Panel no longer includes settings for adjusting brightness, which are now in the Settings app.
- In Windows 10 Pro for workstations, you will find a new maximum performance energy saving scheme.
- Support for HEIF file format for images.
- Diagnostic Data Viewer is the app with reports of problems that have been sent or will be sent to Microsoft.
- The registry editor is updated with a new drop-down menu to complete the next part of the route.
- Disk Cleanup is no longer in the Disk Properties, but you can still use it by pressing the Start menu with the right button> Run> cleanmgr / sageset: 50 .
14) Improvements for Microsoft Edge
The browser built into Windows 10 Microsoft Edge is updated to a new version with some changes.
There is an updated main menu (that of the button with three dots) which organizes the elements into groups, with an icon for each element and the indication of the keyboard shortcut (when applicable).
"Reading List", "Books", "History", "Downloads" and "Help and Feedback" are new items in the menu list.
The main settings page has also been redesigned with the options divided into four groups, including "General", "Privacy and security", "Password and automatic filling" and "Advanced".
You can decide whether web videos should be played automatically in Advanced settings > Automatic media playback .
In addition, you can check the autoplay permissions at the level of each individual site in the " Website authorization " section of the website identification box.
Finally, there is a new PDF icon in File Explorer, when Microsoft Edge is the default application for opening PDF files.
15) Safety section improvement
The "Windows Defender Security Center" is renamed to Windows Security.
Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) for Microsoft Edge offers performance improvements to make the experience lighter and faster.
In this Windows 10 October 2018 update, Windows Defender Application Guard introduces a new interface in Windows Security to enable and configure the functionality without the need to change registry settings.
You can activate Application Guard in Windows Security> App and browser control> Navigation isolation .
Accessing controlled folders that blocks ransomware and other types of malware attacks is easier and allows you to create a list of applications that are always allowed without disabling the functionality.
When an app is blocked, it will appear in a list of recently blocked apps, on the Virus and Threat Protection page, under Manage Settings in the Ransomware Protection section.
On the Device Health and Performance page, a new assessment is available for the Windows Timetable service. If the time is not correctly synchronized on your computer, you can reactivate the synchronization service.
