Ask Slashdot: Any Idiosyncrasies of the New Windows 10 April 2018 Update?

shanen wants to know if anyone else has noticed any idiosyncrasies of the new Windows 10 April 2018 update, which was released on April 30th (global rollout on May 8): Only two machines so far [are running the new version of Windows 10], but I already noticed a few peculiarities. Do you have any to share? Here are mine so far:

1. Microsoft prefers tightly linking the machine to a Microsoft account, for example via Outlook.com. If you have a machine that is not linked that way, the antivirus software will now attempt to force a link to a Microsoft account. And what is that new PIN supposed to be about?
2. Accessing a gateway on the wrong private network can produce a hard freeze, forcing a hard reset from the power down state. Possibly a serious security vulnerability to the point where I'm not sure I should share the details in public.

Anything you've noticed about the new Windows 10? (Now I have to get back to dealing with the new OS X update and the latest Ubuntu...) Some of the new features include the ability to resume past activities in timeline, a file sharing feature with nearby devices, a rebuilt Game Bar with a new Fluent design UI, and a diagnostic data viewing tool in the Security and Privacy section. If you want to get the update before the global rollout, you can do so via Check for Updates under Windows Update.

Comments

CheckPoint VPN incompatible

[DigiShaman]

Uninstall the CheckPoint VPN client first if you have it installed.

During the upgrade process, it took an exceedingly long time than normal for a system with an i7 and NVMe drive (about an hour). Turns out that after it booted up, my entire TCP/IP stack wasn't working with any of my NICs. (Yellow bang next to all of them in device manager). The issue was te CheckPoint VPN client. Only until after I uninstalled it and rebooted did the issue clear up.

As for the long installation time, it was timing out attempting to communicate online at which point it was never going to.

Couple things typical of upgrading

[Anonymous Coward]

First off my Dell notebook went flawless upgrading and surprisingly fast with SSD. Only noticeable issue was possibly Chrome browser hanging sometimes with some sites. My wife's HP notebook had a more significantly long upgrade taking over two hours to download and upgrade. But her's runs way more apps and has significantly more files besides having a slow (5400) spin drive. The other issue is of course the upgrade reverts some defaults back to Microsoft products. Like PDF viewer which I set to Chrome and it defaulted back to Edge. This is a typical and expected complaint of upgrading and it appears Microsoft has still not learned to respect the users choice of defaults. Otherwise I don't give a shit about any of the new features, or Edge or anything other then don't break the shit I use!

Still can't detect incompatible hardware

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

I have a couple of older laptops and machines that are no longer supported by the drivers in Windows 10 automatic upgrades. Yet, they still try to apply themselves again. And again. And again; wasting gigabyte bandwidth and hours of time with each futile attempt.

Thank {deity} for the Windows tool that allows you to selectively disable major "upgrades" like this.

Re:Still can't detect incompatible hardware

[omnichad]

The hardware is not incompatible with Windows 10 (if it's like the many I've dealt with), but Windows thinks it has a "better" graphics driver than the one you're using. Their "better" driver doesn't work at all. So you can roll back and block that driver. Next semi-annual update of Windows, the exact same driver has a new version number and new timestamp and you go through the whole process all over again.

Granted, this is usually AMD hardware that only works with a Windows 8 driver, but the fact is that it works until MS breaks it again.

Re:Is there a way to avoid the update?

[thegarbz]

Switch to the "Semi-Annual Channel" rather than the "Targetted" one in the Windows Update Advanced settings. If you want a truly stable system you shouldn't be using the Targetted channel. If you don't have this option, upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, you're a tech head on a news for nerds site. Chances are you shouldn't be running the version targetted at common folk anyway.

Re:Blue Screen While Upgrading

[SuperDre]

Oh please, be realistic, it's not like any other OS is that much better.. And don't give me that Linux crap, it's even worse than Windows is. Any self-respecting programmer knows there is no holy grail OS, not Linux, not Windows, not OS/X or whatever OS you can think of. Any decent, self-respecting programmer knows how hard it is to actually develop a good OS, and knowing the infinity of configurations windows has to run and what customers want it's a hell of an acomplishment that it runs this smoothly on 99% of the hardware (just like linux does also a good job).. I do know you're a closeminded non self-respecting programmer, otherwise you wouldn't have made such a stupid remark.

Re:Blue Screen While Upgrading

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

No OS is perfect, it's true. But Linux has one thing going for it that neither Windows 10, iOS or Android have: it's not designed to put my ass under surveillance and rape my privacy behind my back.

I'll take any OS designed with honesty in mind, however flawed, over an OS backed by big data any day of the week.