Add font display issues to the growing number of Windows 10 version 1809 issues
Reports are coming in (via Windows Latest) that users who upgraded their devices running Windows 10 to the October 2018 Update -- Windows 10 version 1809 -- may face yet another issue.
The issue at hand this time is display related. Machines affected by the issue display garbled or entirely unreadable text.
The screenshot below shows how the Settings application may look like on a system that is affected by the bug.
Errors seem to have appeared first in the Foobar 2000 application but it did not take long before users reported that fonts were broken in web browsers such as Chrome or internal system applications such as the Settings application.
The most likely explanation for the garbled font issue is that it is a font fallback issue. Windows uses font fallback options when it cannot display a certain glyph because of the font that is used.
Basically, when Windows can't use the default font to display a glyph on the screen it uses a fallback instead.
The issue appeared in Windows 10 version 1809, the new feature update, on affected machines and did not exist in previous versions of Windows.
Some users reported that they fixed the issue by installing the latest graphics drivers on the machine. Intel users may head over to the Intel website to download the latest drivers for the integrated graphics adapter. AMD and Nvidia drivers are available as well.
It appears that the installation of the latest video card driver updates the font usage of the Windows 10 operating system as well; at least that is what is reported by users who fixed affected machines by updating video card drivers on the PCs.
Microsoft's new feature update Windows 10 version 1809 is plagued by a number of bugs including serious ones that may lead to data loss during use or after the upgrade to the new version. Some users who did update to the new version before Microsoft pulled it reported audio issues and bluescreens as well.
Closing Words
The number of machines that were upgraded to Windows 10 before Microsoft pulled the release is unknown but it is likely not very large when compared to the number of all Windows 10 devices. One has to wonder if the full release of the operating system will increase the number of serious bugs further.
Users are advised to create a system backup of the operating system before they upgrade. Those who are in no hurry to upgrade are advised to wait a month at the very least before they start the upgrade.
Now You: What is your take on the whole bug situation?
hi Martin. I saw this article posted on Softpedia news several days ago titled “Is Windows 10 version 1809 the new Windows Vista?”:
https://news.softpedia.com/news/is-windows-10-version-1809-the-new-windows-vista-523357.shtml
Better way should be to say what’s currently work in this awful upgrade. LOL.
No one else than Microsoft could have got away (for the time being) with such bad quality software. Not IBM, not Google, not Mozilla, not the lowliest Firefox extension developer or Android app script kiddy. It’s getting almost funny — provided you don’t use the wretched thing, of course.
However, this will stop at some point. Either Nutella-something will get fired by shareholders, or he will chop heads himself, or the US gov is going to bust Microsoft on anti-trust grounds, or we’ll all migrate to some free, polished flavour of Linux gifted to us by the gentle folks at Google — something will happen. It can’t go on like that.
This is a national security threat for all the countries in the world, and some of them, the US of A first and foremost, doesn’t take such things lightly, even coming from domestic actors.
It’s nice to see you quoted at Ask Woody.
And that, boys and girls, is why Apple sticks to the trusted old method of one significant upgrade a year, which is heavily beta-tested internally beforehand, releasing only security and bug fixes in the interim.
Is this still going to be called “October Update” if released in November… or later?
Bottom line those of us not willing to endure these bugs need a opt out for at least a few months. So glad I find nothing about any of these upgrades so compelling that I have to be the first to get them. Just the opposite I try my best not to get them.
hi,
i have problem on 1809. i can not save text files as ANSI Encoding.
please help me about this.
thanks.
Strange… I’m running 1809 since it was released with no apparent issue.
No data loss, no font issues, anything. Do I have more luck than judgment?
I hope the 1809 fixes when they come clearly say what problems they fix, instead of the specifics hidden in some vague quality update. However, I am pleased I went to 1809 the day it was released, as many of the subsequently reported 1809 problems I have not personally experienced or am able to circumvent.
Funny as hell, considering that a certain microsoft engineer, recently said something like: “font rendering taking place in the kernel level is backwards and obsolete” referring to windows xp / vista / 7…
Funny how it only affects the new app-bullshit they are trying to push everywhere and replace the old and tested stuff with.
They sure as hell did fix ClearType now, eh? ;)
A good laugh every day keeps the doctor away (so does an apple…;-) )!
Thank you, Microsoft, for taking so much care of people’s health!
So satisfied we keep all customers’ clients and servers on Win 7/SRV2008!
What the hell are they doing in Redmond? Meeeh, if they only had competitors…
This what happens when testers are fired and when software testing procedure fails.
M$ wanted to save some money and now they will need to spend some more.
I have a problem in that the 1809 upgrade made a star symbol that I use in various places in Windows (★ Unicode character U+2605) display as an empty rectangle now wherever the OS is responsible for displaying it, 3rd party apps display it ok though still, there are various other unicode symbols that no longer display either, although they have worked on all previous versions of Windows 10.
I am a little frustrated as this strange change, if anyone has info on why this change was made or an easy fix, please let me know. I am thinking about trying to install the font from 16299, but haven’t got an install of that currently to grab it from.
What’s with all the issues with Windows 10 1809? This is supposed to be the next LTSC build and also Windows Server 2019 build. Disaster.
Microsoft unintentionally is giving Windows 10, Windows Mobile’s level of attention to detail and quality. It’s not favorable in any way. Linux Mint is ridiculously superior, as long as you don’t require actual Windows programs to run. Most work can be done with web apps these days. Even Chromebooks work great and are great if you’re an Android user.
Would you say Linux Mint is superior to Windows 7 as well ?
I have Foobar and the win10 update. For a couple of weeks the fonts got scratchy on my desktop and apps, but since another windows update, they appear to have solved the problem.
I wonder how many more bugs will be found in 1809 and I wonder how long MS will delay the re-release because of them?
Good thing I stuck to the Semi-Annual Channel (not targeted) and deferred everything to the maximum time allowed, so I didn’t get updated to this version.