Microsoft is officially killing Windows version 1809, better known as the October 2018 Update. The failed release will stop being supported starting May 12, 2020.
Of Microsoft's litany of recent update fails, the October 2018 Update stands out for its long delays and deadly bugs. Microsoft was so far behind with the update that it skipped the Release Preview phase altogether before launching in October 2018. It didn't take long for Microsoft's mistake to catch up to them.
Shortly after its release, the update was determined to be permanently deleting users' files. Early adopters found that data had been removed from their Photos and Documents folders upon startup. The bug was so bad that Microsoft stopped rolling out the October update to investigate.
A fix was found, but the issues were only getting started. The file deletion bug was the first in a series of headaches that ranged from driver compatibility to Intel processor problems. Microsoft has been patching Version 1809 since it released, with the latest fix arriving just last month.
Now Microsoft is getting rid of the baggage it carried around last year by ending security updates for all editions of Windows 1809, including Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro for Education, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations and Windows 10 IoT Core.
That shouldn't be a concern for most Windows 10 users considering Microsoft announced that it would start forcing people to upgrade past Windows 10 1809 to the latest Windows 10 November 2019 update.
Still, some Windows 10 users are still clinging on to the troublesome update, perhaps out of fear of how bad the sequel could be. If you're one of those people, here are the steps you should take to keep your device safe.
What to do after Windows 10 1809 dies
It's generally a good idea to keep your system up-to-date. Why? To ensure you're getting the latest security updates that fix any vulnerabilities in the operating system. That said, updates like 1809 show why you should probably wait for any bugs to be ironed out before installing a new update.
With the Windows 10 October 2018 losing support, it's more important than ever that you update your system to the latest Nov 2019 version. Microsoft is going to force an update before May, but you should do it manually as soon as possible.
Before doing so, make sure you backup important files and photos. We have a handy guide on how to do so using File History.
Once you've gone through those steps, your system will be ready to update manually. The process is pretty simple and can be found in our How to Update Windows guide.
For now, the latest version of Windows 10 is relatively stable, so there's no need to worry about losing files or getting blue screen of death errors.
