Windows 10 ... seems faster

It's that time again. Microsoft recently released Windows 10 build '1903', or the Windows 10 May 2019 Update.

There are a variety of new features in Windows 10 1903, but here are my top three;

First - and most important to many of us, are the under-the-hood improvements. Bland, I know, but this stuff does matter. It matters because these changes improve the security of Windows, by bringing in new ways to block modern vectors of attack to the operating system. It's reason enough by itself to get the latest update.

Other under-the-hood improvements may actually speed up your PC. After the Spectre & Meltdown CPU bugs hit the headlines, OS vendors like Microsoft had to implement fixes to help block these attacks. However these fixes -for some- introduced a performance drag-factor. Windows 10 1903 includes better techniques for blocking these attacks which -in turn- remove most of the performance drag.

The second new feature I like is Windows Sandbox. Sometimes, you want to test out an application without having to actually install it on your machine. There might be various reasons for doing this. Maybe you're just trying out some software. Maybe you are only using something temporarily and don't want the hassle of having to uninstall afterwards. Maybe you're wanting to check a program isn't dodgy before installing it on your main system.

Windows Sandbox lets you do this without the heavy duty task of spinning up a full virtual machine. Instead, simply launch a Windows Sandbox, and you'll quickly get a full 'vanilla' Windows environment running. It's similar to a VM, but without all that mucking about actually 'installing' the OS. Throw it up, test your app, and then tear it down. No harm no foul.

Finally there's Windows 'Light Mode', because nothing says 'I've got the latest update' like a new Desktop Theme! In contrast to Windows Dark Mode, light mode is - well, light! Airy and bright, it's the perfect thing to blend in the colours of your desktop with the oncoming Summer! Microsoft have even given us a new default Windows Wallpaper. Similar to the old one, but bright and airy and Sky-Blue!

There are of course lots of other changes to Windows 10, and you may wish to go ahead and get the update right away. On the other hand, maybe not. Microsoft is being a little more cautious about the rollout of Windows 10 after some problems with the last update (1809). So if you head to Windows Update, you might not see it right away.

Regular / home users should be patient and wait for the update to appear for them. If you're an IT pro however, you'll want to start doing some testing, and then plan your rollout. You can head to Microsoft's download page and grab the updater, or the ISO image directly to get started.