14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft announced the Windows 10 October 2018 Update with much fanfare on October 2, and the same day, the company started allowing users to get it from Windows Update.
Also known as version 1809, the October update was described by Microsoft as an evolution of a product that’s supposed to bring productivity to a completely new level.
“With the new Surface devices, Windows 10 and Office 365, we are beginning our journey to empower you in this new era of personal productivity. We recognize our incredible opportunity and responsibility as a technology company to help you make the most of your digital lifestyle,” Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President, Modern Life & Devices, Microsoft, said on October 2 before announcing even more improvements.
“We’re just getting started,” he said before going into a round-up of the products that were introduced at Microsoft’s event, including the October 2018 Update.
As it typically happens when Microsoft releases new software, customers across the world rushed to download and install version 1809 from Windows Update, despite Microsoft saying that the automatic rollout would begin on October 9.
After being in preview stage for so many months as part of the Windows Insider program, Microsoft decided that the October update was stable enough to skip the Release Preview ring and bring it directly to users. And as many found out the hard way, the October 2018 Update was anything but ready for the public launch.
The bug reports that have made the rounds lately pointed to several issues, including upgrade struggles, activation problems, and, the worst of all, data losses.
An issue that impacted an undisclosed number of devices caused the removal of user files in the Documents folder without actually creating a backup first. The number of reports pointing to such problems increased at a worrying pace, so Microsoft eventually decided to pull the October 2018 Update completely.
In other words, the update which was so stable that testing in the Release Preview ring was no longer necessary eventually turned out to be so buggy that Microsoft had to yank it completely and block more users from downloading it.
What’s worse is that finding the culprit of the data removal issue appears to be quite a challenge, and Microsoft doesn’t just want to rely on a software fix, but instead requires impacted customers to get in touch with the company.
This is the second time a major OS feature update is hit by such a critical issue. Earlier this year, the April 2018 Update was delayed at the very last minute after a blocking bug was discovered in the RTM build supposed to be shipped to users.
Microsoft eventually cleared the release on April 30, the day when users were allowed to download it via Windows Update. However, the rollout was far from smooth, and just like it happens with the October 2018 Update, there were many bugs experienced on computers across the world.
For the time being, Windows 10 version 1809 just seems to be an update that you’d better avoid. Microsoft itself says that you should delay the install until it gives the go-ahead, but needless to say, there’ll be lots of users out there who would push back the deployment even after that.
Today, Windows 10 October 2018 Update will reach two important milestones. First, it’ll get its first cumulative update as part of the October Patch Tuesday cycle, and second, it’ll be offered automatically to the first devices according to the planned rollout.
A fix for the file removal issue doesn’t yet exist, though more news in this regard could be shared later today.
Are you still planning to install the October 2018 Update after the rollout resumes? What do you think about this never-ending saga of buggy releases? What’s Microsoft doing wrong and what’s the best way to go to launch flawless Windows updates?
Let us know what you think in the comment box after the jump.