The October 2018 Update is now being automatically pushed to Windows 10 PCs as Microsoft restarts its ‘phased rollout’ process.
Microsoft has just updated the ‘Windows 10 Version 1809 [October 2018 Update] Rollout Status’ to say that: “We are now starting our phased rollout to users via Windows Update, initially offering the update to devices we believe will have the best update experience based on our next generation machine learning model.”
But didn’t Microsoft already restart the October 2018 Update in November of last year? Well, yes and no. Yes, it un-paused the total freeze on the update after resolving various critical problems, but no, it didn’t kick-off the full rollout process again at that point.
What re-engaging the ‘phased rollout’ means is that Microsoft is now pushing the October 2018 Update automatically to Windows 10 machines, effectively forcing them to take on the upgrade (because with Windows 10 Home, when the upgrade hits your PC, there’s no option to defer it (aside from clunky workarounds).
In other words, it’s business as usual really, and it seems Microsoft is now fully confident that it can push the October 2018 Update across the Windows 10 user base.
As mentioned, though, certain computers still won’t have the upgrade pushed to them, with devices that will have the ‘best update experience’ being targeted by Microsoft’s AI and machine learning algorithms.
Manual check
Of course, if you want the update right now and haven’t been offered it, you can always run a manual check for it. Microsoft notes that only advanced users should be doing this, though. Which is kind of a roundabout way of saying, if you’re greedy, grab it, and subsequently run into trouble, then you’ll need to know what you’re doing.
Naturally, those running Windows 10 Pro can still delay the update if they’re feeling more cautious than curious about the new features offered up by the October 2018 Update.
As mentioned, though, there’s no such luxury for those running the Home version of Windows 10, although apparently the ability to at least delay updates for a short time is in the pipeline for these users.
Perhaps now that the automatic deployment floodgates have been fully opened, the October 2018 Update will see adoption pick up speed, because it’s been very sluggish rolling out thus far thanks to the many issues encountered this particular time round.
- Some of the best laptops of 2018 run Windows 10
Via Computerworld
