You have got to hand it out to the person who wrote the script. Microsoft picked the perfect date to launch its latest products. Windows 8.1 taking flight on October 18, a Friday, and this gives the technology world the whole weekend to talk about the new OS.
Then the very next day after the Monday morning blues, the second generation Surface units will start shipping — the company could not have picked a better release schedule.
Anyway, Windows 8.1 is the first ever refresh of Redmond’s modern operating platform, and has already been up for grabs for free for Windows 8 adopters from the Windows Store since yesterday.
Retail boxes of the new operating system have also reached stores across the United States, and in fact, across the globe, with prices starting at $119.99 for the core package, and $199.99 for the Professional flavor of Windows 8.1.
The new operating system comes with a number of enhancements and improvements to both the core features and the built-in Metro apps. Microsoft even decided to call back the Start button (not the Start Menu, mind you) after it was not included in the vanilla Windows 8.
The company claims that this newest version of Windows has got everything to do with public demand.
Now all we have got to find out is what kind of an effect Windows 8.1 has on the install base of the world’s most popular operating system. Many, if not all, Windows 8 users will quite definitely upgrade to this new version in the coming weeks and months.
Just how many Windows 7 (and Windows XP) users decided to make the plunge will be of real interest.
