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.
The official confirmation from Microsoft: "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. There's also aWindows 8.1 RT version, too, if that floats your boat.
To whet our appetites in the meantime, Microsoft has released a preview version, called the Windows 8.1 Release Preview. It's now available to download.
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 tablets would be released as well as new apps from Flipboard, Facebook and the NFL - though we didn't see any screenshots of these in action.
"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."
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 : "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.
"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.
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).
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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
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