Windows 10 October 2018 update starts rolling out

Microsoft has primed caches and content distribution networks around the world with the stable release of its Windows 10 October 2018 "Redstone 5" update that brings in a raft of new features for users of the operating system.

Officially known as Windows 10 version 1809, Build 17763, the October update should appear for users in Windows Update from today onwards, with a full rollout worldwide on Wednesday October 10.

The update can also be found via Microsoft's early adopter program, Windows Insider, if the Slow Ring cadence is selected, and the company's Visual Studio Subscriptions, and Software Download Centre.

For enterprise customers, Windows 10 version 1809 starts the semi-annual channel servicing model with a feature update cycle targeting March and September releases.

Version 1809 brings in an overhauled Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) security system with a new user interface, interactive threat analytics reports, and custom detection queries.

ISO 27001 certified artificial intelligence-modelled antivirus capabilities with machine learning that support geolocation and sovereignty of sample data is also included with the new Windows 10.

With version 1809, Microsoft continues the push to replace passwords for Windows users with multi-factor authentication. This includes facial recognition through Windows Hello and hardware FIDO2 keys, plus Web Authentication (WebAuthn) and the Microsoft Authenticator app.

Embracing users wanting to run open source Linux distributions on the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Microsoft has extended its operating system firewall to allow the creation of rules for WSL in version 1809.

Like Apple has done in macOS, Microsoft provides a dark theme for File Explorer, and version 1809 also has the overhauled Notepad text editor that debuted in July this year, featuring improved search capabilities, UNIX-style line feeds, zooming and better performance on large files.

Microsoft intends to kill off the Snipping Tool screen capture program, replacing it with Snip & Sketch that is better integrated with Windows.

Windows 10 users upgrading to version 1809 can also mirror their Apple iOS and Android devices on their computers, and sync content to a limited extent with the Your Phone app.