Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18298 with Notepad improvements and updates to File Explorer and the Start menu

Although the Windows 10 October 2018 Update is still only trickling out to users (AdDupex says as of the end of November under 3 percent of users have it installed), Microsoft is hard at work on the follow up due out next spring.

The latest Windows 10 19H1 Insider preview Build for Insiders in the Fast ring offers a number of new changes including File Explorer and Start menu improvements, and Notepad updates.

File Explorer gains a new icon which is designed to work better with 19H1’s new Light theme. Also, when you download items, a new sorting approach will show the most recent files at the top to make them easier to find.

Start menu improvements include the ability to unpin groups and folders from the context menu. Some Insiders have been able to do this for a while, but now it’s available to all.

Elsewhere, there have been improvements made to the touch keyboard, and console, and Notepad will now alert you if there are unsaved changes by showing an asterisk in the title bar. There’s also now the option to save files in UTF-8 without a Byte Order Mark, and Insiders can send feedback directly from Notepad.

Other Notepad Improvements include:

• Added support for some additional shortcuts:
  • Ctrl+Shift+N will open a new Notepad window.
  • Ctrl+Shift+S will open the Save as… dialog.
  • Ctrl+W will close the current Notepad window.
• Notepad can now open and save files with a path that is longer than 260 characters, also known as MAX_PATH.
• Fixed a bug where Notepad would count lines incorrectly for documents with very long lines.
• Fixed a bug where, when you select a placeholder file from OneDrive in the File Open dialog, Windows would download the file to determine its encoding.
• Fixed a recent regression where Notepad would no longer create a new file when launched with a file path that didn’t exist.

This build also introduces improvements to Narrator and adds the ability to set up a security key straight from Settings that you can use to log into applications. There are new cursor sizes and colors too, so they should be easier to see.

General changes, improvements, and fixes include:

• Fixed a merge conflict resulting in the Dynamic Lock settings being missing from Sign-in Settings.
• Fixed an issue resulting in Insiders seeing green screens with error System Service Exception in win32kbase.sys when interacting with certain games and apps in the last two flights.
• The update block for a small number of PCs using Nuvoton (NTC) TPM chips with a specific firmware version (1.3.0.1), due to a bug causing issues with Windows Hello face/biometric/pin login not working, has been removed as this build contains a fix for that issue.
• If you’ve turned off transparency effects, that preference will now also be reflected on the sign-in screen.
• Fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing for some Insiders when clicking "Check for Updates".
• Fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing for some Insiders when going to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
• Fixed an issue resulting in night light settings not working and getting stuck in the last few flights.
• Fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected amount of space between the categories and subcategories in Settings in recent flights.
• Fixed an issue where the folder size wasn’t calculated correctly in File Explorer’s Properties dialog when there was a path that was longer than MAX_PATH involved.
• Fixed an issue resulting in menu flyouts appearing blank when using the Arabic display language.
• Fixed an issue where when inking on a PDF in Microsoft Edge, if you erased some ink quickly after starting the inking session, then added more ink, upon saving the PDF not all ink may be saved.
• Fixed an issue where the handwriting panel might crash when using your pen to input into win32 apps in recent builds.
• Fixed an issue resulting in not being able to type into certain tables using the Vietnamese Telex keyboard.
• Made some adjustments when text scaling is enabled to emphasize the icon in the Action Center quick actions so that the text doesn’t overlap.
• Made some improvements so that if theme truncation is detected, Microsoft will now handle this more gracefully and not result in unexpectedly thick borders around your windows.
• Made some improvements to reduce the number of times where you might see the error "Windows can’t find one of the files in this theme. Do you still want to save the theme?" appear.
• Updated the timeout period when dictating (WIN+H) to be from 5 seconds to 10 seconds, to give you a bit more time to think about what you want to say. If you’d like to stop the dictation before then, just say "Stop dictating" or press WIN+H (same as in previous builds).
• Fixed an issue on the touch keyboard resulting in some letters unexpectedly being black instead of white in dark theme.
• Fixed an issue where the "…" menu in clipboard history (WIN+V) was clipped in recent builds.
• Fixed an issue where when displaying the name of a known file type (one registered under HKCR\<.File Extension>) File Explorer would display an empty string for the file name in some cases. Now, if a file name is not available, File Explorer will always show the extension name, even if Show File Name Extensions is turned off.
• Updated the microphone and camera privacy settings pages to provide information on which apps are currently using the microphone and camera and the date/time apps last accessed your microphone and camera.
• Fixed an issue where Magnifier would not start automatically even when "start after sign-in setting" for Magnifier was enabled if Narrator was not set to auto start after sign-in.
• Fixed an issue where Magnifier did not work with Touch when Centered mouse mode was enabled.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator sometimes would not start after completing Out of Box Experience (OOBE).
• Fixed the issue causing Narrator to start unexpectedly. Microsoft has also made it easier to turn off Narrator when it was launched unintentionally.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator scan mode did not turn off automatically when you focused the address bar in Microsoft Edge.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator heading navigation was skipping some headings in Chrome.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator read page loaded notification multiple times in Chrome.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator did not read Edit box placeholder text in Chrome.
• Fixed an issue that caused the settings page to crash after changing the account password or PIN.

Known issues in this build include:

• The hyperlink colors need to be refined in Dark Mode in Sticky Notes if the Insights are enabled.
• Settings crashes when clicking on the "View storage usage on other drives" option under System > Storage.
• The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
• Delete previous version of Windows in Configure Storage Sense is not selectable.
• Settings will crash when opening Speech Settings.
• The cmimanageworker.exe process may hang, causing system slowness or higher than normal CPU usage. This can be bypassed by rebooting the machine if it occurs.
• Launching games that use BattlEye anti-cheat will trigger a bug check (green screen).
• USB printers may appear twice in the Devices and Printers under Control Panel. Reinstalling the printer will resolve the issue.