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Windows 10 October 2018 Update: The new features that matter most

Windows 10 version 1809, officially the October 2018 Update,started rolling out October 2. Here are some of the new capabilities you can expect in this surprisingly feature-packed release. (This gallery is based on a near-final Insider Preview release.)
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Snip & Sketch replaces Snipping Tool

The Windows key + Shift + S shortcut has been around for a couple of versions, but that shortcut gets a major set of new features in this release. You can copy a rectangle, a freeform region, or a full screen, with a delay of up to 10 seconds. After the clip is complete, annotate it in the app and then save, share, or paste it. (The old Snipping Tool is still present but will be deprecated in the future.)

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Windows finally gets a built-in Clipboard manager

The Clipboard has been a part of Windows since the very start, and it's always been hamstrung by its ability to handle one and only one item at a time. In this release, that all changes. Use these new settings to keep a Clipboard history and (optionally) sync clips across devices signed into the same Microsoft account.

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Get instant access to photos from your phone

This feature in the Your Phone app (Android only) addresses a fairly common scenario. You take a photo on your phone, then want to use it in an app on your PC. But surfacing the most recent photos on this page, immediately, you no longer have to wait for cloud apps to sync or use workarounds like sending the photo to yourself in email.

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See exactly what's in a problem report

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And finally, Emoji goes to 11!

The October 2018 Update supports all the new emojis approved as part of emoji 11.0, including a swan, lobster, skateboard, and six new smileys. Press Windows key + . (period) or ; (semicolon) to begin searching. Look for "pistol," for example, and you'll see a cartoonish water gun rather than a realistic-looking weapon.

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