microsoft unveils latest windows adjustments
Microsoft has released an update to Windows 8,
aiming to address some of the gripes people have
with the latest version of the company's flagship
operating system.
Associated Press reports that the company made a
preview of Windows 8.1 available for free as a
download on Wednesday.
At an event Wednesday in San Francisco,
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledged that
the company pushed hard to get people to adopt
a new tile-based user interface. Microsoft is now
back-pedaling, making it easier to reach and use
the older "desktop" interface.
Windows 8.1 will allow people to start in the
desktop mode automatically. In that mode, the
company is restoring a button that resembles the
old Start button. The button will now take people
back to the Windows 8 start screen, rather than
the old Start menu, but the re-introduction of the
familiar button may make it easier for longtime
Windows users to get accustomed to the changes.
Other new features of Windows 8.1 include more
options to use multiple apps. People will be able to
determine how much of the screen each app takes
while showing up to four different programs,
rather than just two. The update will also offer
more integrated search results, showing users
previews of websites, apps and documents that
are on the device, all at once.
The preview version of Windows 8.1 is meant for
Microsoft's partners and other technology
developers, but anyone can download it. The
release comes exactly eight months after desktops,
laptops and tablets with Windows 8 went on sale.
The version of the Windows 8.1 update meant for
the general public will come later in the year,
though the company hasn't announced a specific
date.
Many of the new features have been shown off
already. A three-day Build conference, which
started Wednesday in San Francisco, gives
Microsoft developers a chance to learn more
about the new system and try it out. It also will
give the company a chance to explain some of the
reasoning behind the update and sell developers
on Microsoft's ambitions to regain relevance lost
to Apple's iPad and various devices running
Google's Android software.
Windows 8, released Oct. 26, was meant to be
Microsoft's answer to changing customer
behaviors and the rise of tablet computers. The
operating system emphasises touch controls over
the mouse and the keyboard, which had been the
main way people have interacted with their
personal computers since the 1980s.
Microsoft and PC makers had been looking to
Windows 8 to revive sales of personal computers,
but some people have been put off by the radical
makeover. Research firm IDC said the operating
system actually slowed down the market.
Although Microsoft says it has sold more than 100
million Windows 8 licenses so far, IDC said
worldwide shipments of personal computers fell
14 per cent in the first three months of this year,
the worst since tracking began in 1994.
aiming to address some of the gripes people have
with the latest version of the company's flagship
operating system.
Associated Press reports that the company made a
preview of Windows 8.1 available for free as a
download on Wednesday.
At an event Wednesday in San Francisco,
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledged that
the company pushed hard to get people to adopt
a new tile-based user interface. Microsoft is now
back-pedaling, making it easier to reach and use
the older "desktop" interface.
Windows 8.1 will allow people to start in the
desktop mode automatically. In that mode, the
company is restoring a button that resembles the
old Start button. The button will now take people
back to the Windows 8 start screen, rather than
the old Start menu, but the re-introduction of the
familiar button may make it easier for longtime
Windows users to get accustomed to the changes.
Other new features of Windows 8.1 include more
options to use multiple apps. People will be able to
determine how much of the screen each app takes
while showing up to four different programs,
rather than just two. The update will also offer
more integrated search results, showing users
previews of websites, apps and documents that
are on the device, all at once.
The preview version of Windows 8.1 is meant for
Microsoft's partners and other technology
developers, but anyone can download it. The
release comes exactly eight months after desktops,
laptops and tablets with Windows 8 went on sale.
The version of the Windows 8.1 update meant for
the general public will come later in the year,
though the company hasn't announced a specific
date.
Many of the new features have been shown off
already. A three-day Build conference, which
started Wednesday in San Francisco, gives
Microsoft developers a chance to learn more
about the new system and try it out. It also will
give the company a chance to explain some of the
reasoning behind the update and sell developers
on Microsoft's ambitions to regain relevance lost
to Apple's iPad and various devices running
Google's Android software.
Windows 8, released Oct. 26, was meant to be
Microsoft's answer to changing customer
behaviors and the rise of tablet computers. The
operating system emphasises touch controls over
the mouse and the keyboard, which had been the
main way people have interacted with their
personal computers since the 1980s.
Microsoft and PC makers had been looking to
Windows 8 to revive sales of personal computers,
but some people have been put off by the radical
makeover. Research firm IDC said the operating
system actually slowed down the market.
Although Microsoft says it has sold more than 100
million Windows 8 licenses so far, IDC said
worldwide shipments of personal computers fell
14 per cent in the first three months of this year,
the worst since tracking began in 1994.
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