The Windows 10 May 2019 Update offers many improvements and subtle changes that may improve performance to some extent. Microsoft’s Windows 10 version 1903 offers much-needed improvements to Windows Update, a new search experience, a proper light theme and even performance improvements.
Windows 10 May 2019 Update comes with two important changes that could address reliability problems on some PCs.
Robust protections for Spectre and Meltdown
Microsoft’s latest Windows update brings more robust protections for Spectre and Meltdown. Microsoft’s previous attempts at patching these vulnerabilities have resulted in performance issues, but the May 2019 Update should make things better.
Microsoft is bringing Retpoline patches to Windows 10 which should finally address performance issues and still deliver robust protections for vulnerabilities.
Microsoft describes Retpoline as a performance optimization for Spectre Variant 2. The software maker says that the new technique improves performance of Spectre variant 2 mitigations to noise-level for most scenarios.
The previous patches for the vulnerabilities made use of capabilities exposed by CPU microcode updates and while this fixed the security problem, many users noticed performance degradation on some PCs, mostly on old devices.
Microsoft says implementation of Retpoline on Windows has significantly improved the performance of the mitigations. For instance, Microsoft noticed up to 25% faster startup when launching Office apps.
After installing Windows 10 May 2019 Update, the slowdown caused by patch for the vulnerabilities will be largely eliminated and basically become unnoticeable.
Start menu performance improvements
Start menu is getting subtle changes in Windows 10 May 2019 Update. It now comes with an expandable navigation bar, and the power button has been also updated with a new indicator to remind users when updates are pending a system reboot.
But the most important change is a new process for Start. With Windows 10 version 1903, Microsoft is moving Start into its own app (process). In older versions of Windows 10, Start was part of the broader Shell experience which resulted in reliability issues.
If a problem occurs with the main Shell process, the Start menu would remain responsive as it has its own process and this change will also contribute to the overall performance of the system.
During beta testing with Insiders, Microsoft noticed measurable improvements in Start reliability. For example, Start is opening significantly faster and works smoothly when the main Shell is busy.
These two changes may not make a significant impact on the performance of high-end PCs, but you’ll notice better performance on a mid-core or low-end device.
Windows 10 version 1903 has been finalized and Microsoft is now ironing out the remaining glitches. The update is scheduled to launch in late May and like the previous releases, the rollout of May update will also take place gradually.
View Comments (12)
My Lenovo ideapad 110 has some issues with its R5 graphics drivers. Laptop freezes after some time if I keep my R5 graphics enabled(Device Manager) I moved over to Linux bcoz of this. Will this update resolve my issue ?
1) The SPECIFIC drivers causing the freeze could be the problem, try a different driver version, either a Microsoft version or a different/older version. The update could also help the problem if it installs a newer version of your graphics driver.
2) Your GPU could also be failing. Windows uses more of the GPU technologies than Linux does. Using Linux is not a fix, it is just creates fewer opportunities to place load/use on the GPU. Windows uses more GP-GPU and concurrent GPU use for additional performance, even when not using GPU specific software. (This of it like having a car that overheats if you drive 50mph, by using Linux you are seldom driving the car over 50mph, which isn't a real fix.)
Another thing to test to see if it is a GPU hardware issue, Flip to the generic Microsoft Basic Display driver - if the freezing stops, but the freezing keeps happening with other drivers specific to your GPU, then you have a hardware GPU issue.
- Update BIOS
- Install Windows 10 Home 1903
- Windows Update install drivers
Never use windows update to install the R5 graphics drivers. My pc has Radeon R5 graphics installed and windows update always gives a 2015 version of the driver when amd constantly updates the drivers on its site. I also notice windows update downgrades the driver sometimes out of nowhere and when you open the amd radeon settings it gives an error.
I've had the opposite, on my R9 280X Windows updates force the latest graphics drivers on me.
probably it's because your gpu is added onto the motherboard via pcie (and it's a higher end gpu probably.) Mine is integrated into a budget apu which is the amd a8-6410. Amd still supports this chip of mine surprisingly and it was created in 2014.