Windows 8.1, The Anticipated Upgrade

The iconic Windows 8 Start Screen with Modern UI

October marks the one year anniversary of Microsoft's game changer Operating System, Windows 8. The month also marks the release of Windows 8.1, formally known as Windows Blue. The precise dates as as follows:

October 17 - Free update for current Windows 8 users through Windows Update

October 18 - Available for purchase through retail or pre-installed on a new PC.

The Start Button makes its return

Probably the most talked about change is the return of the start button. But just to be clear, this is just the Start Button. The Start Menu we all know and love all the way from Windows 95 to Windows 7 unfortunately doesn't a return. However, this is still a major improvement. Particularly for touch screen users because this allows easier access to the Start Screen. With the original Windows 8, Microsoft left less than a centimeter of space between your first application on the task bar and the edge of the screen. This quirky placement mated with many manufacturers building thick bezels around touchscreens made trying to get to the Start Menu almost impossible half of the time. Thus forcing users to either through either the Charms Bar or the Start key on the keyboard to get to the Start Screen. Now with a more definitive object to press, this ongoing problem has been solved without the use of third party software.

 

The new 8.1 Start Screen

Another key feature of this update is the tweaks Microsoft has done to the Start Screen. With 8.1, users can now personalize their own Start Screens even more to their liking with more tile sizes and the ability to name groups of applications. Other features like having the wallpaper be displayed as the Start Screen background has been implemented. The master list of applications has been re-organized and separated between Start Menu apps and desktop applications.

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Reviled first in Windows 8, the split screen function is finally designed to be usable in a productive manner. The problem with the original implementation was that Windows 8 apps or the desktop was only given a set amount of space if they we. And this reserved portion barely took up even a quarter of the page. Any attempt to extend this space would either cause the content to be minimized or extend across the entire screen.
With 8.1, users are not only given more space by default, but several different size options to choose from. Thus making far more possibilities of this feature used for productivity.

Some more tweaks including the ability to go straight onto the desktop on start up rather than going to the Start Screen were included. Overall, Windows 8.1 is not an entirely new operating system. Rather, its just like those old service packs Microsoft offered in XP, Vista, and 7 but named differently. That being said, as a current Windows 8 user, these really should have been features that were incorporated in Windows 8 when it first came out back in 2012.

Groups can now be named for better organization