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Windows 10 October 2018 Update: Microsoft hustles to kill bugs

With just a month to go before the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, Microsoft says it's not done just yet.
Written by Liam Tung, Contributing Writer

With only a month to go before releasing the Windows 10 October 2018 update, or version 1809, Microsoft's latest preview build is all about eliminating glitches rather than introducing new features.

The latest preview from its Redstone 5 (RS5) branch for Windows insiders on the fast ring is build 17754, and comes less than a week after build 17751 hit the fast ring.

Both contain over a dozen bug fixes each, with the earlier of the two addressing GSOD or 'green screen of death' issues, crashing apps, false 'You're up to date' messages, and flaky network connectivity.

The latest preview fixes a host of minor bugs, several issues causing crashes, and weird glitches that would annoy the masses if they slipped through to the final release.

And Microsoft expects to iron out more bugs in coming weeks as it enters "the phase of checking in final code to prepare for the final release".

Windows 10's Action Center notification system should now be more reliable after Microsoft fixed an unnamed problem that had caused it to behave erratically.

SEE: 20 pro tips to make Windows 10 work the way you want (free PDF)

Some insiders may have previously noticed that quickly opening one taskbar flyout after another, such as network or volume, would jam the popup.

And insiders with multiple monitors may have noticed that if the Open or Save Dialog was moved between monitors, they'd unexpectedly shrink. Microsoft has fixed this.

Crash events fixed in this preview include one caused by a pen writing on Edge web notes, as well as Task Manager crashes, Settings crashes for multi-monitor setups, and a crash that happened when clicking the Verify link on the Accounts Setting page.

Microsoft also fixed two glitches affecting PWAs or Progressive Web Apps, which started to appear in the Microsoft Store earlier this year alongside the Windows 10 April 2018 update, the first version of Windows 10 to support PWAs.

Twitter, Pinterest, Tinder and a host of other sites have launched PWAs, which work offline, and visually appear to work outside the browser.

According to Microsoft, previously clicking on links in PWAs like Twitter didn't open the browser. Also some PWAs were not rendering well after the app was suspended and resumed.

This build also fixes a bug that caused League of Legends and the games to fail to launch or connect properly.

The October 2018 Update will mark the sixth major Windows 10 release, which are now rolled out twice per year, since Microsoft moved Windows to a service model in 2015.

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