Windows 8.1: Visual Tour
Can Windows 8.1 avoid the fate of Windows 8? Take a look at Microsoft's newest OS.
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Windows 8.1 is now available, almost a year after its predecessor Windows 8 hit the market with a resounding thud. Early reviews of the update run the gamut, with some pundits lauding Microsoft for delivering what Windows 8 should have been in the first place, and others claiming 8.1, although improved, is still plagued by the same core problems.
Although reactions have tended toward cautious optimism overall, the divergent reactions speak to the variety of critics the update seeks to please.
Windows 8.1 will need to reassure desktop users, many of whom resented Windows 8's attempts to force feed them Live Tiles, and the clumsiness with which it joined the touch-centric Modern UI to the traditional desktop.
The update addresses many of these issues with additions such as the boot-to-desktop mode -- but questions remain. Will users accept the new Start button and search functions? Or will some dismiss the OS because it still doesn't have a built-in Windows 7-style Start menu?
Then there's Windows 8.1's impact on PC sales. It's unfair to blame Microsoft for the market's ongoing slump, as the consumer shift toward tablets was inevitable. But based on Windows 8's desktop market share, the OS didn't help.
At this point, analysts generally agree that the traditional PC market's best days are behind it. But if Windows 8.1 can show the value of touchscreen desktops, or at least convince some with aging Windows XP and Windows 7 systems to give the boot-to-desktop mode a chance, Microsoft might be able to slow the bleeding.
Windows 8's desktop-related problems would be somewhat less distressing if the OS's Modern UI had achieved its primary goal: to give Microsoft a presence in the tablet market. That hasn't happened; IDC said in August that Windows tablets account for only 4.5% of the market. With cheap Android tablets becoming increasingly capable and new iPads expected to dominate holiday sales, Windows 8.1 slates will face an uphill battle.
In many ways, Windows 8.1 is oriented toward technologies that are years away from their mainstream peak. Many people are still getting used to the cloud, but Windows 8.1 bakes SkyDrive deeply into the system. The benefits of device convergence are still uncertain, but Microsoft continues to push the idea that one slim package can house both a tablet and a laptop.
Still, for those looking toward the future, the update offers intriguing potential. Windows 8.1 devices such as the Surface Pro 2 can be used as tablets one moment, attached to a keyboard accessory to become laptops the next, and then docked to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse to function as desktops. Windows 8.1 scales screen sizes automatically.
Will Windows 8.1 be able to convince users, developers and hardware partners that Windows is back on the right track? Microsoft's market share is sure to jump in the short term, thanks to existing Windows 8 users who take advantage of the free upgrade. The fact that Windows 8.1 devices will be cheaper, lighter and more powerful than Win 8 models won't hurt. Now take a closer look at what the new OS does and does not improve.
With animated backgrounds and numerous small interface refinements, Windows 8.1 appears livelier and prettier than its predecessor. This effect is evident even before users sign on, as the Lock screen can now support slideshows.
Windows 8.1 includes a number of animated backgrounds, where background color and accent colors can be customized by the user. The designs don't add functionality, but they do inject a hint of iOS-style delight into the Start screen.
In Windows 8, moving between the desktop and Modern UI was jarring on a number of levels, including visual ones. But Windows 8.1 lets users set the same background for the desktop, Start screen and "All Apps" view. It sounds like a small change, but if you frequently switch interfaces, the effect goes a surprisingly long way. It adds some depth to the experience, anchoring a constant background image beneath a changing foreground layer of apps and windows.
Windows 8's redesigned interface threw users into the deep end of the pool, leaving them without familiar visual cues to keep them afloat as they learned the new interface. The resulting learning curve has been a multi-faceted problem, but Microsoft's decision to remove the traditional Start button from the desktop has provoked particular criticism. In Windows 8.1, the Start button is back, with a new look to reflect Microsoft's modern logo. But as the next slide elaborates, its return isn't necessarily triumphant.
The Start button might be back, but it didn't bring the Start menu with it. By default, if users click or touch the button while in the desktop mode, they're simply returned to the Start screen. Users can configure the button to jump to the "All Apps" screen instead, however.
To configure the "All Apps" screen, access the Settings menu from the desktop via the right-hand hot corners if you're using a mouse, or by swiping from the right side of the screen if you're using a touchscreen. From there, select the Personalization sub-menu, then the Taskbar and Navigation sub-menu, and finally the Navigation tab.
Though the Start menu is absent, many of its functions are still preserved. The Start button includes a secondary menu of options, pictured here, that can be accessed either with a right-click, or by holding down on the button on a touch screen.
Although not enabled by default, Windows 8.1's boot-to-desktop mode is arguably the new feature that's most important to winning back disenchanted desktop users. Windows 8 greeted all users with the Live Tile-dominated Start screen, slowing down those who rely primarily on legacy software, and fueling concerns that the desktop is being subjugated. Users can activate the boot-to-desktop mode using the same menus described on the previous slide.
Windows 8.1's Bing Smart Search crawls through not only local files but also SkyDrive and the Web. The results are displayed in a single, fluid page. For some searches the effect might be overkill, but more often than not Smart Search manages to both present a lot of information and organize it clearly and intelligently.
Windows 8.1 ushers in new versions of Microsoft's core apps, including a Photos app that can edit, rather than just display, photos; Internet Explorer 11, which supports WebGL and other standards and can allegedly open 100 tabs without a performance hit; and a Mail client that actually goes beyond barebones functionality. Microsoft also introduced several new core apps. Some are welcome afterthoughts, such as the Food & Drink app, while many -- such as the Sound Recorder and Alarms apps -- really should have been included the first time around.
Windows 8.1 encourages users to live in the cloud: SkyDrive is fully baked into the OS. Win 8.1 not only puts a SkyDrive Live Tile front and center, but also encourages users to use the cloud as default storage for all the documents they create. Bing Smart Search's ability to comb through SkyDrive, mentioned earlier, only enhances the package.
Windows 8 featured traditional multitasking in the desktop mode, but in the Modern UI, the "App Snap" feature allowed just two apps to be used at the same time. It also only allowed the apps to be displayed so that one of them occupied three-quarters of the screen, which limited the function's use on tablets and smaller-screened hybrids.
Windows 8.1 addresses these shortcomings by allowing users to snap together up to four apps. The update also gives users more granular control over how much of the screen each app occupies. In addition to snapping apps side-by-side, users can even layer open Modern UI apps on top of one another, giving the Live Tile interface a touch of the classic Windows desktop.
In Windows 8, Live Tiles came in only two sizes and could be arranged on the Start screen in only so many ways. Windows 8.1 delivers twice as many ways to resize tiles, as well as more flexibility for categorizing them. The Live Tiles themselves, which were rather finicky in the original version, are also magnitudes easier to manipulate.
Windows 8 has suffered from a shortage of quality touch apps, compounded by the fact that the Windows Store makes it difficult to find those quality apps. The revamped Windows Store in Windows 8.1 is a different story. Apps are clearly organized in a single scrollable screen, instead of spread across tabs as in the previous version. The new store also includes an integrated search bar, whereas before you had to summon the hidden Search charm.
Many users found Windows 8 discouragingly difficult to use. Windows 8.1 tries to rectify this problem in a variety of ways. Visual cues now direct users to hidden menus, such as the downward pointing arrow in the bottom-left corner of the Start screen that points users toward the "All Apps" view. Microsoft also includes a pre-installed Help + Tips app to help users learn the new operating system's ins and outs.
The Windows 8 "app gap" is slowly getting better. The Windows Store still has only a fraction of the touch apps available to iOS and Android users, but Microsoft is making progress getting top apps. An official Windows 8.1 Facebook app, for example, was available from day one.
The Windows 8 "app gap" is slowly getting better. The Windows Store still has only a fraction of the touch apps available to iOS and Android users, but Microsoft is making progress getting top apps. An official Windows 8.1 Facebook app, for example, was available from day one.
Windows 8.1 is now available, almost a year after its predecessor Windows 8 hit the market with a resounding thud. Early reviews of the update run the gamut, with some pundits lauding Microsoft for delivering what Windows 8 should have been in the first place, and others claiming 8.1, although improved, is still plagued by the same core problems.
Although reactions have tended toward cautious optimism overall, the divergent reactions speak to the variety of critics the update seeks to please.
Windows 8.1 will need to reassure desktop users, many of whom resented Windows 8's attempts to force feed them Live Tiles, and the clumsiness with which it joined the touch-centric Modern UI to the traditional desktop.
The update addresses many of these issues with additions such as the boot-to-desktop mode -- but questions remain. Will users accept the new Start button and search functions? Or will some dismiss the OS because it still doesn't have a built-in Windows 7-style Start menu?
Then there's Windows 8.1's impact on PC sales. It's unfair to blame Microsoft for the market's ongoing slump, as the consumer shift toward tablets was inevitable. But based on Windows 8's desktop market share, the OS didn't help.
At this point, analysts generally agree that the traditional PC market's best days are behind it. But if Windows 8.1 can show the value of touchscreen desktops, or at least convince some with aging Windows XP and Windows 7 systems to give the boot-to-desktop mode a chance, Microsoft might be able to slow the bleeding.
Windows 8's desktop-related problems would be somewhat less distressing if the OS's Modern UI had achieved its primary goal: to give Microsoft a presence in the tablet market. That hasn't happened; IDC said in August that Windows tablets account for only 4.5% of the market. With cheap Android tablets becoming increasingly capable and new iPads expected to dominate holiday sales, Windows 8.1 slates will face an uphill battle.
In many ways, Windows 8.1 is oriented toward technologies that are years away from their mainstream peak. Many people are still getting used to the cloud, but Windows 8.1 bakes SkyDrive deeply into the system. The benefits of device convergence are still uncertain, but Microsoft continues to push the idea that one slim package can house both a tablet and a laptop.
Still, for those looking toward the future, the update offers intriguing potential. Windows 8.1 devices such as the Surface Pro 2 can be used as tablets one moment, attached to a keyboard accessory to become laptops the next, and then docked to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse to function as desktops. Windows 8.1 scales screen sizes automatically.
Will Windows 8.1 be able to convince users, developers and hardware partners that Windows is back on the right track? Microsoft's market share is sure to jump in the short term, thanks to existing Windows 8 users who take advantage of the free upgrade. The fact that Windows 8.1 devices will be cheaper, lighter and more powerful than Win 8 models won't hurt. Now take a closer look at what the new OS does and does not improve.
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