Redmond promised more details on Windows 8.1 before this month was out, and true to its promise, the company has officially unveiled all the details of the upcoming operating system.
An elaborate new post on the Windows Blog emphasizes that the new version will be specifically designed to respond to all the customer feedback the software titan has received after releasing its latest platform, Windows 8, last year.
First and foremost, Microsoft has notably improved the personalization side of the OS. The Start Screen is also in line to get a lot of improvements, and will allow users to change everything from colors to the background. As the company explained:
“You can now select multiple apps all at once, resize them, uninstall them, or rearrange them. We also found people were accidentally moving tiles on their Start screen so in Windows 8.1, you press and hold (or right click) to move things around.”
Users that install a lot of apps are also in for a pleasant surprise. The Start Screen will allow users to filter apps by name, date installed, most used or even by category.
“So when you install a new app from the Windows Store, we no longer put that app on your Start screen. Instead, you’ll find these apps under apps view as mentioned above and marked as ‘new’ where you can choose to pin the apps you want to your Start screen.”
Search is also something that is getting a number of enhancements in Windows 8.1. The built-in search will, obviously, be provided by Bing and allow users to search almost everything — from local folders, apps and files, SkyDrive data, web, even the actions they take, like play songs and videos.
The software titan also detailed a ton of other improvements, including a redesigned Windows Store, along with improved Metro apps that come built-in to the operating system.
All in all Windows 8.1 is shaping up to bring out whole bunch of enhancements to the core Windows experience, and what is even more interesting is that this will open up new horizons for the platform on a number of smaller and affordable devices that are slated to hit store shelves later in the year.
What is your take on all these official details? Is this everything you wanted from the upcoming refresh of Windows? The comment box is your new friend, so put it to good use and discuss.
All Comments
I see metro office apps.