Microsoft resumes rollout of Windows 10 October 2018 Update

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
AP

• Microsoft is resuming the rollout of the October 2018
  Update to Windows 10 today.
• The update originally came out in October (naturally),
  but Microsoft stopped the rollout after some users said that it
  was wiping their personal files. 
• The update is now available again to early adopters who
  are willing to manually install it, but generally speaking,
  Microsoft is proceeding with caution. 
• It brings new features to Windows 10, chief among them
  a new integration with Android phones.

The October 2018 Update, which brings an armload of new features
to Windows 10, is finally starting to roll out to users starting
today, according to a Microsoft blog post. 

Now, you might notice that it is no longer October 2018, and that
it is, in fact, November. So why is Microsoft releasing the
October update now? 

It’s because the first rollout of the update, which happened back
in the real, literal October, didn’t go so well for some users.
Some said that installing the October 2018 Update actually wiped
some of their internal files, while others reported that they had
significantly worse battery life. Microsoft
“paused” the update while it investigated.

Now, Microsoft says that it’s cracked the case, and the update
should be clear for launch — but that it’s going to be more
cautious than usual until it’s completely and totally confident
that these issues are fixed. Specifically, Microsoft is slowing
down the normal process by which Windows 10 forces users to
update to the newest version.

The way Microsoft rolls out Windows 10 updates is thus: First,
Microsoft makes the update available to a self-selected group of
early adopters, who have to either download it directly from
Microsoft’s website, or else manually run Windows Update to find
it. In other words, if you want it first, you have to go get it.

This is as far as the October 2018 Update got the last time out,
before Microsoft hit the pause button. Today, Microsoft is
bringing the Windows 10 October 2018 Update back to this stage,
so this is how you’ll get it. 

Then, after everything goes well, Microsoft will start bringing
it to users in waves, prioritizing those users with PC
configurations that it knows will handle the update well, and
gradually trickling down from there.

This time, though, Microsoft says that it’s going to be far more
cautious about approving the update for users — if Windows 10
detects any kind of anomaly in your PC setup, whatsoever, the
update simply won’t appear for you. You won’t get bugged to
install it, you won’t be able to download it via Windows 10, no,
nada. Then, Microsoft will review that data to figure out how to
work around the problem and make sure you won’t run into that
nasty bug. 

In a broader sense, Microsoft says that it’s reforming the way
that it develops and tests Windows updates to make sure that this
never happens again — users in the Windows Insider beta testing
program had reported this bug well before it went out to users,
but Microsoft missed it thanks to a flaw in its feedback process.
In a blog entry, the first in a series, Microsoft goes into depth
about its testing process, and its plans to fix it up for next
time.

Anyway, if you’re able to install the Windows 10 October 2018
Update, you’ll find yourself with all kinds of tweaks to the
operating system, chief among them, a new way to
integrate your PC with an Android phone.

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