Are you bored of working on Windows XP or Windows VISTA has been troubling you? Or you want something funkier than Windows 7. But one thing is for sure, you are a loyal Windows user; because it is so easy to use. If you have also heard that Windows 8 is difficult to use, trust me it must be someone from the opposite lobby who is simply jealous of the lovely innovation done by Microsoft. ‘No START button’ didn’t make many loyal windows users happy and lot of prospective updates go cancelled due to this. Few other reasons that were told for not upgrading to Windows 8 included new app screen, search options, new layout, etc
I believe Microsoft has been listening to all the comments and feedback on Windows 8. Not only because they are a consumer driven company, also because with Windows 8 they have lot at stake. Though they are close to monopoly in Desktops/Laptops OS market share, they are under threat from Apple by their aggressive marketing and Open Source platforms Ubuntu, Firefox offering zero entry barrier. Microsoft has just confirmed the release of Windows 8.1 with some new features and corrections. Below, I will be sharing some interesting changes done on Windows 8.1 and why should you get the revamped OS. I am sure you will ask me - How do I get Windows 8.1?
Personalization
Windows8.1 is full on personalization options that are sure to generate lot of smiles. Many Windows8 users started using their lock screen for their personal images. So on the new version, go a step ahead and turn your PC or Tablet into a personalized digital album with slideshow of pictures. These images can be on your local drive or on cloud i.e. Skydrive. You can also click pictures using your camera from the lock screen.
Windows8.1 offers more color and backgrounds for the START screen. The default themes have motion sense built into them. With horizontal scroll the images moves across the screen. This also works with the menus connected with the Start Screen e.g. the search result screen
New version allows you to make your Desktop background as your Start screen background giving you a unified experience. You can change the size of tiles on your START screen i.e. new large and new small tile so you can organize your screen exactly the way you want it. You can create app groups as per your liking i.e. app category type, your usage style or any other option. Many users complained of accidentally moving tiles on their start screen. Therefore in the new version, you have to select the tile and hold(or right click) to move things around. You can select multiple tiles together re-size them, re arrange them and also remove them at once.
Search
Search is more powerful on Windows8.1 with global search option powered by Microsoft’s own search platform Bing which is rich, simple to read and aggregated. When you search something it fetch results from Bing(Bing is a search engine from Microsoft), files on local disk, skydrive, apps and predicts actions that you could take. I feel for an end-user it’s a very good experience where he can search for anything without opening the browser. It’s both convenient and time-saving.
App store and apps
Windows 8.1 will see lot of changes in the default apps that are available by default when you install windows on your system. My personal Favorited apps on Windows 8 are the Photos and Music app. Both are very user friendly and have had great experience using them. In the new version, the photos can be edited seamlessly on mail, Skydrive(i.e. cloud), etc. The existing version of the music apps had few issues when it came to accessing your favorite music files and creating playlists. Both these issues are resolved in the new version. I also read about few more default apps being introduced in the latest version. As of now, Microsoft is keeping quiet.
Multitasking
The news OS is evolving itself to consumer behavior. If you are the multi-tasking type then this system will work right for you. You will be able to open multiple apps on your screen and prioritize screen space for all of them. If you have a giant screen, say 32” then you may also have four different apps running in parallel. All that will be required is high processing speed and that you will surely have, I guess so:)
You also have the option of connecting multiple displays to one system and open multiple apps on different screens. Therefore, if you have four display screens connected, on first put the start screen and on the remaining three open different apps. You may open the same app on three different screens as well. On the app home screen, set names for categorizing all your apps. Even this is a better way of organizing your work and multi-tasking.
How do I get Windows 8.1? Is this what you are asking? I know you are quite excited. Wait a minute there are couple of more super features that I want to share before I share how to get your Windows 8.1?
Cloud Connectivity
The world is moving with technology and everything is moving towards cloud. On the new platform, you can save files directly on SkyDrive. These files are accessible even when you are offline. When you login to the Windows 8.1 using your default email account with Outlook.com all your personalization, favorites gets saved which helps you when you setup a new device or upgrade your system. It also helps you to sync your profile with windows mobile and tabs.
Internet Explorer
IE lost its monopoly at the hands of Firefox and Chrome. However, it still has a large user base by virtue of being the default browser on windows platform. Windows 8 gave us the modern avatar of Internet Explorer 10 that was less buggy, more secured and quite fast. Internet Explorer 11 is supposing going to be even better with faster page load times and other personalization options. You can have as many open tabs on the new browser which is accessible in sync with all your windows 8.1 devices be it mobile or tablet.
Start Menu is back
Microsoft realized that when world is evolving towards portability and accessing their devices through touch there are many devices that still use mouse and keyboard and continue to do so. Mouse gestures on new platform work incredibly well. You can move your mouse pointer to left bottom and get back your old friendly START button in a new Avatar. On click it will take you to the new app home screen instead of the old menu that consumed lot of screen space and memory. You can also permanently configure whether your computer should boot to the app screen or desktop.
I think by now, we have many reasons to get our own Windows 8.1 OS. How do I get Windows 8.1? Just wait to bleed BLUE. Blue? Yes, it’s the name given to the new OS. I have been told that the new version is expected to be released on June 27th in India. I am excited and waiting to upgrade my systems to the new platform and have a window-full experience.