Recent Windows 10 updates have been notably lacking in big, splashy new features, perhaps because several previous attempts, such as My People—remember that?—never saw much usage. And other would-be flagship features, like the multi-app Sets, never even saw the light of day. Indeed, only diehard Windows watchers likely know of the existence of these once-touted initiatives.
No October Surprises, Please
That's just fine with many Windows users, who tend to shun glitzy new changes to their OS and actually gripe about any major changes. In fact, I find some of the more-recent features like Clipboard History and the excellent new screenshot tool indispensable. It's also important to realize that new capabilities occasionally roll into Windows 10 in between these major feature updates—usually things like redesigned icons and updated default apps.
In any case, a new Windows update is upon us, such as it is. This time Microsoft is calling it the October 2020 Update. Most Microsoft pundits and Windows Insider beta testers know it as version 20H2, to signify that it's the second update for 2020, and in fact that's how it appears in the System Info page of Settings.
The update has started rolling out to Windows PCs already, but there's a thorough vetting process for PC hardware to pass in order to receive it. These Windows Updates can take months to propagate automatically to every PC, but you can always open Settings > Update & Security and tap the Check for Updates button to see whether the October 2020 update is available to your machine.
Aside from a few design tweaks, the biggest change is that the new, more compatible Google-powered Chromium version of the Edge web browser is now built into Windows. It replaces Microsoft's own previous homespun Edge to power not only the default browser, but Windows store apps that need access to web content.
By comparison, Apple has been far more aggressive with adding new features to macOS. The latest version, Big Sur—now in preview—includes a new Maps app (Windows 10 has a pretty nice built-in Maps app, too, in case you forgot), rounded window corners, new system sounds, widgets, and more iOS-like functionality in general.
There are even more updates specifically for business and education installations, which require deeper management and security options. You can read more about those on the Microsoft Tech Community site. Finally, less sexy but just as importantly, many security updates that are intended to harden the platform against known vulnerabilities are implemented in the 20H2 version of Windows 10.
1. Edge Browser Updates
Yes, I already mentioned this above, but there's more news for the default Windows browser than just far greater site compatibility compared with the old Edge. After resisting Google's total takeover of the web as evidenced by Microsoft's adopting the search giant's browser-engine code at first, I've been won over by Edge. Its start page is truly useful and appealing, its secure password saving feature is spot on, and the syncing with the mobile phone app versions of Edge is well executed. I've even used the Collections feature, which does a slick job when it comes to web research.
The best new actual feature in Edge is support for Alt-Tab. The key combination now works with websites just as it's always worked on applications: hit the combo and it takes you through your open browser tabs. True, it's a minor feature, and you could always tab through tabs with Ctrl-Tab, but our motor memory is so in tune with Alt-Tab for switching that it just makes sense. Of course, you can turn this off in the main Settings app if you prefer.
The other user updates involve pinning sites and shopping. Now, when you pin a site to the Taskbar, hover the mouse cursor over its icon shows all the open tabs for the site. New for the Collections feature is Price Comparison, which automatically lists other shopping options for an item you added.
2. A Redesigned Start Menu
This is a fairly superficial change, but the redesign lets the quick-access tiles in the Start Menu take on the color mode you've chosen in Personalization. You can see the light mode version in the top image of this article, and here's the dark-mode version. The new design does have a more consistent appearance and adds a bit of transparency to the menu so you have an idea of what lies beneath it.
3. Better Notifications
The Action Center right-side panel provides a great way to access basic computer settings but also shows notifications from apps you've set up for them. Now a redesign makes them clearer, by placing the app from which the notifications comes in the upper-left corner of the notification—also known as the toast.
4. Smoother Tablet Mode Switching
If you have a device such as a Surface Pro tablet or Surface Book convertible, you no longer have to deal with the "Do You Want to Switch to Tablet Mode?" prompt every time you yank off the keyboard. The updated behavior is just to switch to the mode that makes sense. Make sense? But that's not all: Tablet mode sees improvements for touch usage by increasing space between taskbar icons, replacing the search box with a search icon, optimizing File Explorer windows for touch.
5. Settings Improvements
Microsoft continues to slowly migrate detailed settings from the legacy Control Panel to the newer Settings app. With 20H2, you can change the refresh rate for your display—something gamers will appreciate. You can now copy system info from the Settings page, too.
6. Reset PC From the Cloud
This is huge for anyone who's had to do a clean install on a PC but didn't have the requisite disks. You can simply choose "Cloud download" to save yourself from having to hunt down that installation media for Windows.
Keep This Window Open
You can follow all the latest developments on Microsoft's operating system at our Windows 10 landing page. For a feature-by-feature comparison with Apple's OS, you can read Windows vs. MacOS: Which OS Really Is the Best?