Microsoft must be feeling pretty good about itself.

I don't say that because it's just done something clever or impressive or noteworthy, but because it's done something relatively boring. The company is announcing the availability of the latest update to Windows, called the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

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You may recall the last couple of updates to Windows were called the Windows 10 Creators Update (announced in late 2016 and formally rolled out in early 2017) and the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (released in October). From the names, it's pretty clear what the intent of those releases were, and each beefed up the software tools for creators -- especially those who work in 3D.

So who, then, is an "April 2018" update for? Users who like spring?

In a briefing with Microsoft, Yusef Mehdi, corporate vice president of Windows and devices, explained to me that this release is about "attention hacking" and features that get you to the information you want quicker. Fair enough, but after using the software for a couple of weeks on a loaner Surface Laptop, I'd argue the Windows 10 April 2018 Update is more about catch-up. Most of the new features are clearly an attempt to offer what's already available on Apple's macOS. There's not much vision here other than making Windows 10 more complete, stable, and usable.

If that sounds good to you, you're right, which is why, as I said at the beginning, Microsoft must be feeling pretty good about itself -- or rather, Windows 10. It didn't see the need to make some radical update that packages in features users don't want. While Apple's computers have recently fallen from grace (the recent MacBook Pros have plummeted in reviewers' rankings) for doing just that, Windows machines are getting high praise again, and a lot of that has to do with the polish of Windows 10.

So Microsoft might be sitting pretty, but that doesn't mean Windows is standing still. This update is incremental, yes, but it adds some much-needed features.

Focus Assist

The one users will like the most is probably Focus Assist. If you, like pretty much everyone, have grown to hate those tiny dialog boxes that interrupt you throughout the day, you can get your flow back by engaging this mode via Windows Settings.

Focus Assist has three modes:

1. Off:Notifications work normally

2. Priority only: You get only notifications from apps you've whitelisted.

3. Alarms only: Nothing gets through except alarms.

Except No. 3 is actually a lie. Notifications do get through, because, while Focus Assist does a great job of preventing those dark-colored dialog boxes from sliding in from the left side, it doesn't do a damn thing about browser notifications from Chrome.

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Here's what the Focus Assist settings panel looks like. Note that the feature is activated. Note also the notifications from Chrome on the bottom right.Credit:

Yes, I know, I should never have enabled notifications for any website. Bad me. But there are practical reasons to do so, believe it or not (say, when you can't or don't want to download the Slack client), and in-browser notifications are unfortunately a reality in 2018. You're either blocking all notifications or you're not.

On Mac, this works the way it should: When I turn on Do Not Disturb, I don't get notifications from Chrome. However, I do prefer that Windows makes it easy to turn on Focus Assist via a quick tap of an easy-access tile that you get when you swipe in from the right edge. I wish there were a similar box I could click in macOS instead of hunting down the setting in System Prefs.

Timeline

It's happened to all of us: You're in the middle of a task and you suddenly realize something you were doing yesterday or the day before or last week is relevant. So you start hunting down that useful webpage, needed document, or perfect song. Sometimes you're successful, and sometimes you're not, but Windows now helps stack the deck in your favor with Timeline.

This button takes you to TimelineCredit:

Timeline is a button in the Taskbar that replaces the app switcher that "explodes" the individual windows you have open so you can see miniaturized versions of them all on the screen at once. It still does that, but now there's a slider on the right side that lets you scroll down through days and weeks of activity, showing you what you were doing on any particular day.

The things you were doing in Microsoft apps, that is. I have to say, I like Timeline -- the idea is great, and I find the slider and clear labels on the days and dates much more intuitive than macOS's Time Machine (which isn't the same thing, since Time Machine is intended more as a backup/recovery system, but it's the closest corollary). But all I could find as I scrolled through my many days of work were the few sites I visited in Microsoft Edge.

What Timeline looks like when you hit the button.Credit:

Even native Windows 10 apps, like Deezer, didn't show up in Timeline, which was disappointing. Microsoft stuff like Wordpad and Paint were there, but nothing else. Those already using Office as their daily driver software will love Timeline, I'm sure, but anyone who likes to mix up their ecosystems even a little bit will lament what it isn't rather than appreciate what it is.

The little things, and the big point

Microsoft threw in a few more improvements meant to help with productivity and focus. Microsoft Edge has a new full-screen mode for reading PDFs and books, you can use a secure autofill for payment methods in the browser, and you can finally -- finally -- mute individual browser tabs.

There's also improved dictation. Or, supposedly improved dictation. According to Microsoft, dictation on Windows now works in any text field -- basically wherever you want to dictate text, just plunk your mouse cursor there, press the Windows key+H, and your PC will convert your speech into written text.

For the most part, this worked... except when I tried to do it in a Google Doc in Chrome. In that case, I got a "Dictation isn't fully supported in this app." But when I opened the same Google Doc in Edge, Windows had no trouble hearing me and turning the words into text. Glitches to work out, or just more collateral damage in the Microsoft-Google Cold War that benefits absolutely nobody? If it's still not working months from now, we'll know the answer. (For the record, dictation on the Mac works just fine with Chrome.)

Dictation is improved... unless you use Chrome a lot.Credit:

So, despite the refinements in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, there are still frustrations. Are they deal-breakers? Not at all -- in fact, after revisiting Windows for an extended period of time on an excellent piece of hardware, I have even more admiration for how far Windows 10 has come since its initial release three years ago.

For starters, having touch is a dream. Every time I switch back to macOS after using Windows, there's a transition period where I reach up to scroll or tap an icon on my non-touch Mac, sort of like going home after an extended vacation and forgetting there's no minibar or balcony with lawn chairs in my house. I don't needtouch on my laptop, but it was pretty sweet to have it for a while.

I was more impressed, however, that during my weeks using the Surface Laptop, I wasn't kicked to an old gray-and-blue segoe-font dialog box once. That's never happened before. When Windows 8 debuted the new "modern" look back in 2012, you couldn't do anything remotely complicated without running into, "ugh... Windows" boxes within a few minutes. Now, most everything you'd need day-to-day is in the Windows Settings, a much friendlier environment. That's progress.

So even though Microsoft still has work to do (especially in the playing-nice-with-Chrome department), Windows 10 is more realized than ever. Touch is excellent, Edge is a full-featured browser (if a bit thirsty), and I wouldn't mind at all if Apple stole helpful features like Timeline. The April 2018 Update may be mostly incremental and even a bit boring, that's because Windows 10, now fully mature, doesn't need much help to be good.

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