If you are using touch, it acts just like 8.1, but if you are using a keyboard and mouse, there are now context boxes on the right click menus. The Modern interface is now aware of how it’s being used. PC makers building tablets or types of hybrid machines with touchscreens can now set a flag to identify the device as a Slate, which will make them boot to the Start Screen. Traditional PCs – desktops and laptops – will now boot to the desktop by default. Almost every single feature added in the Update is geared towards making the Desktop environment a first class citizen again, and it’s wonderful – and I say that as someone who uses and enjoys Windows 8 and 8.1 every day. If Windows 8 was touch first, then 8.1 Update is most definitely keyboard/mouse first. The built in apps were much better, the store was overhauled, and more people were happy. As a bonus (or not – depending on who you are) everything was synced with SkyDrive, and SkyDrive was installed on both x86 and ARM versions for file sync with the cloud. And on the touch side, some of the gestures were changed, and many more of the PC settings could be configured from the Modern interface. You could choose to boot directly to the desktop. The Start button could be configured to launch into the All Apps mode rather than the Start Screen of Windows 8. The Start Button was back – even if its functionality was not the same. Windows 8.1 addressed a lot of the complaints. The design decisions of the touch based system were all based on edge gestures, but there were no obvious way to know that. Even though Windows 8 was actually quite a good touch based operating system, it wasn’t finished. Many settings and functionality could only be accessed by the desktop control panel which was decidedly non-touch. To add extra fuel to the fire, even the touch first interface (called Modern by this point) wasn’t finished. In the case of Windows 8, this didn’t happen, and many people don’t appreciate that. In the history of Windows, there has always been a way to go back to the old version’s look and feel, but keep the new functionality. A lot of the criticism was valid, and was likely exaggerated due to there being no way to re-enable any legacy mode. Most of the bad focused on how Microsoft forced a touch interface and mobile app system onto a market that was, especially at the time, dominated by non-touch PCs and devices. Much has been said of Windows 8 since its launch, some of it good, some of it bad. As a product launch, it certainly didn’t halt the decline in PC sales that were already beginning. For the project head of Windows 8, it didn’t work out with Steven Sinofsky leaving the company only a couple of weeks after the launch event. Windows 8 was likely the biggest ever change to Windows, and was a pretty big gamble on Microsoft’s part. When Windows 8 launched, “touch first” was the talking point used during the reveal. With that launch, Windows was put on a rapid release cycle, which resulted in Windows 8.1 a mere 12 months later. ![]() ![]() Notice it’s not called Update 1, which means there may or may not be more of these updates later in the year. Microsoft’s day 1 keynote for the BUILD developer conference detailed an update to Windows coming on the next scheduled patch Tuesday called 8.1 Update.
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