All the latest on the Windows 8 update
Microsoft has revealed full details about
the comprehensive update to Windows 8 ,
now known as Windows 8.1 and formerly
known as Windows Blue.
The Windows 8.1 release date is October
17 - it will be available to existing
Windows 8 users for free on Windows
Update. It will be available to buy in retail
from October 18 and has already been
released to manufacturers (this stage is
known as RTM). Volume licencees will be
able to get their hands on it ahead of the
update, too.
We've also had plenty of time with the new
update and are running it every day, so
check out our brand new Hands on:
Windows 8.1 review. To whet everybody's
appetite, Microsoft has released a preview
version, called the Windows 8.1 Release
Preview. It's now available to download .
The first Windows 8.1 laptops and
Windows 8.1 tablets have already been
announced, with numerous devices being
launched already including Toshiba's
Encore tablet , Dell Venue 8 Pro and
Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 . Surface 2 runs
the new version of Windows RT, which is
also known as Windows 8.1 RT .
The official confirmation from Microsoft
came back in the Summer: "Today we are
excited to share that starting at 12am on
October 18 in New Zealand (that's
12:00pm in the UK and 4:00am in
Redmond - October 17th). Windows 8.1
will begin rolling out worldwide as a free
update for consumers on Windows 8
through the Windows Store. Windows 8.1
will also be available at retail and on new
devices starting on October 18 by market."
October will mark a year since Windows 8
was released.
How to download the Windows 8.1
Preview free today
The big headline news is that the Start
button has returned to Windows 8 with
Windows 8.1, although it still goes to the
Start screen rather than the Start menu.
There is also more integration between the
desktop and Start screen to stop the
jarring of the two interfaces.
On stage at the Microsoft Build developer
conference in San Francisco, Steve
Ballmer said that in coffee terms,
Microsoft was "refining the blend" between
the desktop and Modern UI interfaces and
a lot of Windows 8.1 enhancements have
been designed to make the change
between the two interfaces far less jarring.
Ballmer also promised plenty of new,
smaller Windows 8 tabletswould be
released as well as new apps from
Flipboard, Facebook and the NFL - though
we didn't see any screenshots of these in
action.
In our own hands on review, Mary
Branscombe sums the new release up as
a moderate success. "Windows 8.1 isn't a
whole new operating system: it isn't the
same leap as Windows 7 to 8. But it's
more than a service pack as well.
"Performance feels generally faster, even
for simple things like zipping up files. The
interface changes won't please everyone,
especially if you liked the Windows 8 Start
screen and don't feel you need for yet
another Windows key on screen - or if you
were hoping for the Windows 7 Start menu
back.
"Some things, like customising tiles on the
Start screen, feel a little more long-
winded until you get used to them. But
generally the interface feels more
consistent and easier to learn. And the
expanded PC Settings gives the mass of
control panel options a clean, simple
interface that Windows has needed for
years."
Windows 8 review
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All our Windows 8 content
There will also be a boot-to-desktop
feature in the final build - news which
attracted massive applause from the
gathered Microsoft developers and fans
when it was announced at the Build
conference today.
Leblond is Head of Windows Program
Management and references the marked
change of tune that TechRadar detected
earlier this year : "Not only will Windows
8.1 respond to customer feedback, but it
will add new features and functionality
that advance the touch experience and
mobile computing's potential." The
feedback he's talking about is surely the
mellowing of the Start screen dream and
the reintroduction of a Start button of
some sort.
Windows 8.1 security: what's been
improved
"We're only a bit more than seven months
into [a] new, bold approach to computing,"
continues Leblond. "The response to
Windows 8 has been substantial - from
new devices to strong app growth to key
enhancements to the OS and apps. We've
learned from customers in how they are
using the product and have received a lot
of feedback. We've delivered hundreds of
updates to the product and to apps. We're
just getting started, and the potential
ahead is tremendous.
"We've been watching, we've been
listening"
We've picked out the top enhancements in
Windows 8.1 along with some quotes from
Leblond about each one.
1. Lock screen slideshow
"As people started using Windows 8, we
found that people were using their Lock
screens to show pictures of their families,"
Leblond says. So in Windows 8.1, you can
turn your PC or tablet into a picture frame
by making your Lock screen a slide show
of your pictures - either locally on the
device or photos from Microsoft SkyDrive.
You can unlock the camera or answer a
Skype call quickly without needing to
fiddle with a password. If small tablets get
popular, that will be useful.
2. The Start screen evolves
Windows 8.1 offers more colours and
backgrounds for the Start screen -
including some with motion. You can also
choose your desktop background as your
Start screen background.
However, it's still perfectly possible to get
a really garish looking Start screen, like
this - does anybody actually use these
patterns?
3. Different tile sizes
As in Windows Phone 8, the Windows 8.1
Start screen features a variety of tile sizes
including a new large and new small tile.
It's also even easier to name groups and
rearrange tiles, says Leblond: "We 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."
You can even have large double-size tiles
(check the weather in the picture above)
but apps need to be written specifically to
take advantage of this.
To select a tile, you now need to press
and hold it. You can now select multiple
apps all at once, resize them, uninstall
them, or rearrange them into a group:
"View all apps just by swiping from the
bottom to view all apps, and we've added
the ability to filter your apps by name,
date installed, most used, or by category.
"You want the Start screen to be about all
the things you love. 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."
The Start screen has also been refined to
work with all screen sizes more effectively
- Microsoft believes Windows 8.1 really
can scale from 8-inch tablets to 27-inch
devices.
4. Aggregated search
Instead of having to select an app and
then search when you go to the Search
charm, Bing now powers an aggregated
search system from the web, your files,
SkyDrive and elsewhere. Leblond says:
"We think this will really change the way
you interact with the Web and with
Windows making it quicker and easier to
get things done. It is the modern version of
the command line! Results from local files,
apps, and settings are easily accessed in
the same convenient view by scrolling to
the left."
In the Desktop, the Search charm now
overlays a Search pane on the desktop
rather than chucking you over to the Start
screen. More evidence that Microsoft is
'refining the blend' between desktop and
Modern apps.
5. Enhanced apps
New app enhancements are also coming
to all the built-in apps like Mail and Xbox
Music, while there are new apps for food
and fitness and there is a 'modern'
version of Office that's set to launch.
The Photos app now has some new
editing features that let you quickly edit or
adjust photos when you view them in the
Photos app or open them from other
places like the Mail, SkyDrive, and Camera
apps - you can now create Photosynth
panoramas directly within the app.
Windows 8.1 Photos app loses
Facebook and Flickr support
Mail includes some clever extra options
for filtering mails, while there's also a
Reading List to gather links from Internet
Explorer. The Photos app now has a lot
more editing options.
6. More snap views
If, like us, you use Windows 8 a lot, you'll
have been frustrated by the lack of 50:50
split snap views. This is the game-
changer for Windows 8 apps. "You will
have more ways to see multiple apps on
the screen at the same time," says
Leblond. "You can resize apps to any size
you want, share the screen between two
apps, or have up to three apps on each
screen if you have a multiple displays
connected, you can have different
Windows Store apps running on all the
displays at the same time and the Start
Screen can stay open on one monitor
(yes!).
This is one of the fundamental changes in
Windows 8.1 and makes multi-tasking
and multi-monitor use a lot easier. Also in
Windows 8.1, you can have multiple
windows of the same app snapped
together - such as two Internet Explorer
windows." We're really looking forward to
that.
7. An enhanced Windows Store
The Windows Store gets a new look in
Windows 8.1, designed to make it easier
for you to find new and interesting apps.
Instead of having to guess what the
featured apps at the front of the Store do,
a carousel flips through large images and
descriptions of each of the six featured
apps in turn (swipe down if you don't want
to wait for it to flip).
What's new in the Windows 8.1 Store?
App updates will now install automatically
in the background as they come through
the Store. And search is available in the
upper right hand corner for finding the
apps you want. Leblond elaborates: "The
improved Windows Store is designed to
show more info than before in Windows 8
with detailed lists of top free apps, new
releases, and picks for you on the
homepage. The app listing is more
descriptive and informative and includes
an area for related apps to help with app
discovery."
8. Save direct to SkyDrive, plus offline
files
In Windows 8.1 your files can be saved
directly to SkyDrive - it's completely
integrated into the OS. The SkyDrive app
has also got a new update so that files are
available even when offline - as in the
desktop version.
There's no longer a separate desktop
interface for picking folders to sync.
9. You no longer need the desktop Control
Panel
The updated PC Settings in Windows 8.1
gives you access to all your settings on
your device without having to go to the
Control Panel on the desktop. "You can do
things like change your display resolution,
set power options, see the make and
model of my PC, change the product key,
let me do Windows Update, and even join
a domain – all from PC Settings," says
Leblond. You can also manage SkyDrive
from PC Settings as well.
10. A new Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer 11 will ship with
Windows 8.1. "IE11 will offer even better
touch performance, faster page load times
and several other new features we think
you will enjoy," says Leblond. "For
example, you can now adjust the
appearance of modern IE11 to always
show the address bar and you can have
as many open tabs as you like. And you
can access your open tabs in sync across
your other Windows 8.1 devices."
11. Better with a mouse and keyboard
For devices without touch, Windows 8.1
features a number of improvements for
easier navigation using a mouse and
keyboard. "PCs today are evolving for a
world of mobile computing where people
interact with their devices through touch,
and we designed Windows 8 for this,"
explains Leblond. "But we also recognize
there are many non-touch devices in use
today - especially in the commercial
setting."
12. A change to the Start 'tip' and the
Start button
You've already heard about this one, right?
Leblond adds that there are also options
to change what the corners do, and
options to boot into alternate screens: "For
example, if you prefer to see the Apps
view versus all the tiles, you can choose
to have the Start screen go directly to
Apps view."
Here's a picture of the new Start button on
the desktop.
13. Improvements to the Desktop and All
programs
Your tiles will overlay over your desktop
background when you access the Start
screen from the desktop, while you can
now swipe up from the Start screen to
access your All programs view. This really
is a game changer.
14. Changing app switching
You can now also change the settings for
the hot corners and App switching, so you
can prevent the Charm bar or app
switching bar from appearing if you don't
want them to.
15. Changes to Windows Explorer
File libraries no longer show up in
Explorer automatically, even though
they're still the way you put media into the
Xbox Music and Video apps and the first
place Mail looks when you add
attachments.
To avoid filling all the storage on a tablet
with a small drive, all you get by default is
the Documents and Pictures folders from
your SkyDrive.
You can see your other folders and the
names of all the files in them and when
you click on a file Windows 8.1
automatically pulls it down from SkyDrive
and caches it offline and syncs changes
to it.
When you right-click on folders in Explorer
the option to add them to a library is still
on the context menu, but if you want to
find and work with them in Explorer you
have to turn them back on in the
navigation pane. Instead you see This PC
where you're used to seeing Computer,
along with SkyDrive which is installed as
part of Windows (in both 8.1 and Windows
RT 8.1) and syncs some of your files
automatically.
16. Native 3D printing support
Windows 8.1 also includes baked-in
support for 3D printing . It's still niche, of
course, but it's an interesting
development.
Here are our earlier Windows 8.1 rumors
Windows 8.1 release date
The final Windows Blue release date is
late 2013, while there will also be some
new Windows Blue hardware.
In a post on the official Windows blog
early in May, Tamy Reller, Microsoft's
chief marketing office and chief financial
officer, confirmed what we already knew -
the update will be available "later this
year", and certainly by Christmas.
Reller went on to say that the update will
provide "more options for businesses, and
give consumers more options for work
and play". Microsoft now has more than
70,000 Metro/Windows 8-style apps in the
Windows Store.
Reller later confirmed the Windows 8.1
name during a conference call with J.P.
Morgan, where plans for the operating
system were discussed.
Quite how the upcoming preview release
will work in practice remains to be seen,
but you might not be able to install it
straight into an existing Windows 8 install.
If you happen to be one of the small
number of users who have a Windows RT
device like Surface RT, we're sure you'll
be thrilled to know that the Windows 8.1
update will also be coming to your device.
Microsoft: emphasis on Start Screen
shackled Windows 8
There aren't likely to be too many massive
surprises from Blue, which our writer Kate
Solomon says "we feel a bit guilty for
passing off as a minor Windows update"
now that we've seen plenty of Windows
Blue screenshots .
Windows Blue is actually Windows 8.1
Windows Blue, we now know for sure that
Windows Blue will not be the software's
official name . Shame. Instead Windows
Blue is just the internal name for the
software.
Windows Blue will officially be deemed
Windows 8.1, first revealed in early April.
Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet's All About
Microsoft blog said the original Windows
8.1 tip came from a reliable source and
screenshots of the About Windows screen
also appeared on Twitter - see below.
In stores, the update will still be called
simply Windows 8 - that means Microsoft
isn't about to start naming its incremental
OS refreshes like Apple does (like OS X
10.8 Mountain Lion ). But it does indicate
a new attitude to the type of software
updates that it has previously called
Service Packs.
One thing we definitely would say, it's
unlikely that Windows Blue will mean the
merging of Windows 8 and with Windows
Phone 8 into a single product .
Windows 8.1 Start menu
There has been a lot of speculation over
whether Windows 8.1 will actually
introduce a Start Button and on May 30
we saw a preview of what the brand new
button will look like, thanks to Paul
Thurrott at Windows SuperSite.
However, we'd like to point out a big
caveat with this screenshot - the new
button shown by Thurrott looks awfully
like Stardock's Start button replacement
tool Start8 . Will we actually get a Start
button in Windows 8.1?
Credit: Windows SuperSite
New Windows 8 apps
As well as the operating system itself,
Microsoft is apparently building some new
Windows 8 apps, looking at new ways to
run apps side-by-side on smaller-
screened devices without needing hefty
black-box-level resolution. That's in
addition to the March updates for standard
Windows 8 apps.
Blue is also bringing in new Snap Views
so you can share your screen 50:50
between different apps rather than the
current 70:30, including across multiple
monitors.
As expected, Microsoft is upping the Sky
Drive integration, with some new treats
like auto-camera uploads and more back-
up options, as well as tab sync which will
see your tabs mirrored across devices.
The grabs also reveal the inclusion of IE11
but not much detail on the next iteration of
browser beyond that.
And for the personalisation fans, the grabs
show a quick and easy menu of options
for customising your desktop background
and other design elements
Windows Blue desktop
Could Windows Blue enable users to boot
straight to the desktop? Some rumours
think so . You can't boot straight to the
desktop in Windows 8, though you can
resume to it.
Some coden supposedly includes an
option that disables the start screen so
users would jump straight to the desktop
layout - known as
"CanSuppressStartScreen".
Certainly there are no plans to ditch the
desktop any time soon. In an interview
with TechRadar, Windows Product
Manager Ian Moulster was candid about
the desktop's important role in Windows.
"To be honest I don't have an answer
because I don't know. I'm loathe to
speculate. It seems highly unlikely to me. I
haven't seen anything either way. I'd be
surprised, but that's my personal view."
"I think it's a continuation of us always
building on what's there. Windows 8 is
built on Windows 7 and starts from where
Windows 7 stops, and I don't think there
will be a change to that approach. We'd be
crazy to throw anything away.
"But what form that takes we'll have to
wait and see I suppose. I think we have
said that we'll be releasing updates more
frequently, but precisely what that means I
don't know. There's the apps as well,
we've released plenty of updates to our
apps."
Windows Blue sync
It seems that more features will be
synchronized between PCs and your user
account with Windows Blue. It looks like
this will extend to the Start screen as well
as device associations and Internet
Explorer tabs.
Further Windows development
According to a February 15 job posting on
the Microsoft Careers site, the software
giant is seeking an engineer to join its
Windows Core Experience Team.
That part of the operation will be working
on improving the centrepiece of the new
Windows UI, including the start screen,
application lifecycle, windowing and
personalisation, according to the post.
This seems to suggest that Windows Blue
will bring more than a few tweaks under
the bonnet and offer tangible visual
enhancements to the Windows 8 software.
Indeed, the post mentions Windows Blue
by name and says the updates will look to
"build on and improve Windows 8" as time
goes on.
An excerpt reads: "We're looking for an
excellent, experienced SDET to join the
Core Experience team in Windows
Sustained Engineering (WinSE). The Core
Experience features are the centerpiece of
the new Windows UI, representing most of
what customers touch and see in the OS,
including: the start screen; application
lifecycle; windowing; and personalization.
Windows Blue promises to build and
improve upon these aspects of the OS ,
enhancing ease of use and the overall
user experience on devices and PCs
worldwide."
Windows Blue will extend to other
platforms
It is also thought that Windows Blue
updates will be extended to multiple
Microsoft platforms, including Windows
server, the mobile OS Windows Phone 8
and applications like SkyDrive and
Outlook.com.
Indeed, another post on Microsoft's job
site mentions Windows Phone Blue by
name, so that is definitely on the horizon.
The plan from Microsoft's point of view is
reportedly to move towards a more regular
update pace, rather than the three year
gap that separated Windows 7 and
Windows 8, with little improvements in
between.
Apple has enjoyed great success in this
arena, gradually adding new strings to the
bow of Mac OS X every year, through its
feline-themed updates.
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