As robotic a name as it gets, but hey, the motherboard has got a first row ticket. It is now officially the first Windows 8.1 certified motherboard and will soon hit the store shelves across the world.
The Z87-G43 has just received hardware certification from Microsoft for use with its upcoming OS.
Soon enough the market will be swarmed with plenty of Windows 8.1 certified hardware, software, accessories and devices, so MSI will not hold the advantage for long. Besides, it is not like all other motherboards will have trouble running Microsoft’s latest operating system.
But this is just more an extra guarantee, nothing else.
For all intents and purposes, Microsoft just scampered to the finish line late last year, as it rushed to release its latest operating system (two, if you count Windows RT as a separate entity). The Windows 8 platform did a lot of things right, but at the same time, everyone admitted, it could have done more.
The hurried launch also left hardware makers a tad startled.
Nevertheless, Redmond is hoping to set things right soon with Windows 8.1 — the first major upgrade to the platform. The technology titan is placing due emphasis on both hardware and software this time around, as the last two of its annual conferences highlighted.
Fingers crossed the hardware vendors are also better prepared for the fight this time around. And from how things are shaping up, they may well be.
Windows 8.1 will have to make its mark on desktop and laptops, as well as tablets, to become a bona fide success that people expect it to be. The return of some familiar features, the enhancements to already available once, and the addition of new options may just do the trick.
