The Windows 10 October 2018 Update (1809): Let's Try This Again
by Brett Howse on November 14, 2018 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
- Operating Systems
- Windows
- Microsoft
- Windows 10
Windows Subsystem for Linux
The developer reaction to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) has been quite good, and Microsoft continues to update it with pretty much every release of Windows 10. There’s some really great functionality with this update which should improve the experience even further.
Distros
There’s now additional Linux distros available in the Microsoft Store. If you are an Ubuntu fan, version 18.04 is now available, and Microsoft has a guide on how to update to the latest version. Also, Ubuntu 18.04 can be run on ARM devices, which is interesting.
There’s also WLinux, OpenSUSE 15, and SLES 15 available in the store now.
Microsoft has also added the ability to install WSL distros right from the command line, which should make setting up a new dev machine quite a bit easier.
Notepad
Announced at Build to much fanfare, Microsoft has updated Notepad to support Linux line endings, which means you can use Notepad to open files from Unix/Linux, macOS, or Windows.
Shift Right Click Menu
If you’ve ever been in explorer and thought wouldn’t it be great to be able to launch a Linux shell from right here, today is your lucky day. The shift right click menu will now have entry to launch a Linux shell here, which will open your default WSL distro to that path, much like the existing PowerShell option did already.
Improved Per-Directory Case Sensitivity Support
Case sensitivity is now off by default on new directories created in WSL, which fixes an issue introduced previously when new directories were created in WSL which would then not work well in Windows where applications expected the directory to be non-case sensitive. You can switch directories back and forth with the setfattr command as needed. If this has been a pain point for you, check out Microsoft’s blog on the topic.
Copy and Paste
With the latest update, there’s a new option in the console option window to allow copy and paste from the keyboard shortcuts of Ctrl + Shift + C and V.
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jordanclock - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
The biggest concern our sysadmins had with WSL is that as they understand it, they cannot restrict what we install under WSL. WSL has many limitations on what programs can do, but it does open up a huge library of software that sysadmins cannot properly vet.MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I was going to comment about the same thing. Video ads are obnoxious, especially when you think you’re pausing it, only to load a new tab for the advertiser. Some sites won’t let you scroll until you stop them. If sites don’t want us using adblockers, they should dump these type of ads right away.PeachNCream - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Disabling javascript or selectively blocking it with something like NoScript can also shut down those sorts of videos. Unfortunately, we have to get rather creative to block or otherwise defeat a large quantity of invasive and frustrating advertising content in order to obtain a small amount of useful information from the Internet.Gigaplex - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Disabling Javascript disables too much of the modern web.PeachNCream - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
That's why NoScript is nice because you can selectively enable it based on the origin domain and decide for yourself whether to do so on a temporary per session or full-time basis.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
We have been telling that to website and advertisers for years, we blocked your ads because your ads were annoying and malicious. Their response was to make ads WORSE over time.PeachNCream - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Honestly, I would block them either way at this point. Anandtech was one of the last few sites I didn't block, but after the auto-play video mess, it's painfully obvious that Purch or whatever other random company owns the site couldn't care less so now I don't either.leexgx - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
when i have adblock off anandtech site is nearly unrecognizable (scam ads between the article and chat section and them silly anandtech video ads in between the article)mkozakewich - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I've been using a Windows accessibility theme, High Contrast, for the last year. It's actually been pretty good! Most web pages are still intelligible, even if they haven't directly been designed for this.I've customized my colours, obviously, so I have a faded golden text and reddish borders instead of all those high-saturation colours.
tommo1982 - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Hell froze. If someone said it 10 years ago I'd think he's insane.