Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8, released back in October 26, 2012, has not been as popular as Microsoft could have wished for. In October 2013 the free upgrade (Windows 8.1) to Windows 8 will arrive to try and fix some of the issues and criticism of Windows 8. I have been able to test and get a look on what Microsoft have changed in this update and will give you a little tour of the changes Windows 8.1 brings to Windows 8.
Windows 8.1 Start Menu
The missing Start Menu has been a very hot topic in the Windows 8 discussions. Microsoft removed it in Windows 8, but are reintroducing it in Windows 8.1, but not in the traditional way. Microsoft has made it some kind of a system settings start menu (activated by right click) including the options for Sign Out, Sleep, Shut down and Restart the computer. That means that we now are able to shutdown Windows from within the classic desktop.
Customize Modern UI with desktop background
Another thing that has confused a lot of end users of Windows 8 is the Modern UI Vs the Classic desktop. Toggling between the two user interfaces felt almost like switching to another Operating System. With Windows 8.1 you can put the same background on both interfaces and it helps a lot if you ask me. It might be a simple thing, but it does make the look and feel experience a lot better. Another improvement in the Modern UI is that you can customize the tiles in many different sizes to customize your start screen just the way you want it.
Boot to Classic Desktop
Another thing you can customize with Windows 8.1 is login directly to the classic desktop. If you aren’t a big fan of the Modern UI with the tiles, but prefer the good old classic desktop you can configure your computer to start on the desktop at login time.
Search has been changed in Windows 8.1
On of the things I like most about Windows 8 is the Search feature and it has been even better in Windows 8.1. One of the new features is that Bing result is included in local search results. If you don’t find what you are searching for locally you might find in online using Bing. If you don’t like Bing search within local search it you can disable it.
Will Windows 8.1 update make Windows 8 successful?
Microsoft has made a lot of small changes to address a lot of the issues and criticism of Windows 8, but I don’t think it is enough. If you look at the changes from Windows 7 to Windows 8 I think that Microsoft has made to many changes at a time. PC users are often conservative and want to keep things the way they have learned it. Introducing a new desktop experience but still keeping the old one seems to big a compromise. The idea of a system where the codebase is the same on mobile phones, tablets, desktop computers, tablets and servers (Windows server 2012) might seems like a good idea from a developers point of view but I think there is to many compromises and to little options to customize the system to the platform you are running it on. Windows 8.1 sure does bring a lot of good improvements to Windows 8, but I don’t think that Windows 8 will ever be as popular as Windows XP or Windows 7.
Hi Thomas !
Microsoft has still got a lot of work to do on the Windows 8.1 O.S .Although they have introduced some unique features in their new OS,they have added features from its previous O.S versions..which will do no good for Microsoft . Thanks for sharing the information .
-Pramod
Hi Pramod
To be honest I don’t think that they will be able to fix it until a fresh start with Windows 9.
Looking good, although I still prefer to use the old start menu button. Much easier and faster to navigate.
By the way have you tried the “Classic Shell”?
I wonder what will happen if you use Classic Shell in Win 8.1
Hi Look
No, I have not yet tried the Classic Shell in Windows 8.1
Hey Thomas, Great Post!
There are a lot of features that i really like. Little things like bringing back the start menu and being able to adjust the tiles in different sizes to on the start screen go a long way with me!
Hi Jordan
Small improvements can for sure also be good, but I still can’t get used to the ModernUI on a normal laptop/desktop. I keeps throwing me back to classic desktop whenever I want to do something just a little bit advantage.
Did they make the IE in the desktop and the IE in the tiles the same? In V8 they are totally separate when it comes to history and favorites.
Hi Jason
I know that favorites are shared between them, but not sure about history, but I guess that is the same. I am not to happy about the MetroStyle IE. It does not support Java and a lot of other plugins and stuff that we use all the time.
that’s sad, it should just be the same IE. I ran into the same issue with onenote, a desktop version and a metro version and they were totally different.
Hi,
It’s my first time over here at TechWork , I really like your blog.
Regarding Windows 8.1, I mean microsoft hasn’t changed anything major but the fact that you can upgrade to 8.1 for free is amazing.
Hi Fahad
It is for sure great that the upgrade is for free. That was not the original plan from Microsoft, but I guess that the had to make it free because Windows 8 is not selling very well at all.
Hi Thomas,
I am using Windows 8. There are lots of features that I really like. Thanks for sharing such a nice information.
Windows 8 has the built-in capacity to mount ISO files. Seems like a nice thing.The image backup program is included
Hi
The ISO mount feature in Windows 8 is for sure awesome. I have always used Virtual CloneDrive from Slysoft, but now I don’t need to install that anymore 🙂
Thomas, thank for the reply!Yes that must be the reason why Microsoft made it avaiable for Free. 🙂
Hope the bugs seen in Windows 8 will be solved down in Windows 8.1
Some of the are, but I am not sure that it is enough to make it popular..!
Comeon, there is 8.1? I am still getting used to 8. I like the interface though. 🙂
The user interface is pretty much the same as in Windows 8, but with some small improvements.
I’m already using windows 8. The missing start button and metro look make me annoying about this latest windows. For me, Microsoft doesn’t need to change much about windows. Just update better interface, make it load faster, increase security and support. We know how to use windows with classic method. Classic method is good enough to be continue. Do not change much, we still love and using windows for whatever reason
Hi Juan
I can follow you a long way. Why change the things that are working great today. The improvements on load speed are great, but with both classic desktop and Metro/Modern UI it is almost like two different system and you never know which one to use. However, we could use a new way to organize icons on our desktop, but the Metro UI is a bad solution if you ask me.
Hi thomes
Microsoft regularly updating our operating system and its new windows interface (windows 8.1) is more easy to use and its interface is more smoother then windows 7 and 8. I’m also using windows 8.1, and it awesome and very fast.in new version of windows microsoft add more new icons and app store also available in windows 8 and 8.1.
Start menu is one of the main missing features of Windows 8.1 and many users don’t seem to like the start screen of windows 8.1
I have used windows 8.1 but didn’t feel so handy and useful. I would say Windows 7 is much better compared to Windows 8. But now using windows 10 and it’s just amazing . 🙂
Yeah, Windows 10 rocks 🙂