Windows 10 October 2020 Update Is Here, Prepare Your Backups

We're practically two months away from closing this rather accursed year, which means it's time to tempt fate with a new major update to Windows 10. Now simply dubbed 20H2 to denote which half of the year it launches instead of the month, this new version is low-key on big features and full of polish and refinement, or at least that's how it's supposed to be. Windows 10 20H2 still does bring a handful of notable changes, including one that has ruffled a few feathers given Microsoft's not-so-subtle push to get its Edge browser into every PC.

This has already been revealed before and Microsoft clearly didn't change its mind despite complaints and criticisms. The Windows 10 October 2020 update now installs Microsoft Edge even if you don't want it, something some users have held off for months. More than that, though, you won't be able to uninstall it either, despite Edge not being an integral part of the operating system the way Internet Explorer was decades ago.

It's not all bad, though, as the new Windows version does give users some more control over their computers. The most visible change is the not so new Start Menu that now matches Microsoft's new Fluent design language. Since this is mostly an aesthetic change that not many might agree with, Microsoft, fortunately, leaves the user to decide which theme to use.

The Windows 10 Settings app is slowly but surely becoming a Control Panel replacement, though it's still far from completely displacing the venerable program. It does gain a few new features in this round, one of which includes the option to use a higher screen refresh rate, presuming, of course, you have the hardware to support it.

While the October 2020 update is a relatively smaller one compared to the 20H1 version, it's still a major update that calls on users to apply computer best practices. In other words, now might be a good time to back up your computer before it updates, given how Windows updates have never really been completely problem-free.