Even before Windows 8 was released last October, it was clear that Microsoft hadn’t got it right. The question was, would they fix it? If so, when and how? And what would they actually ‘fix’?
We’ve learned the answers to some of these questions over the last few months: yes, there will be a new version later this year (named Windows 8.1), it will address some of the complaints about Windows 8, it will be a free upgrade, and it will demonstrate that Microsoft is now listening to customers. As regards what would actually be fixed, though, any answers have been based mainly on rumour, supposition and hope.
Some of the major changes:
•There will be an option to land at the desktop after logging in, rather than at the Start screen – a tiny detail, but one that will make Windows 8 feel a lot more like its predecessors.
•The Start button makes a welcome return to the taskbar: clicking the Start button takes you to the Start screen; right-clicking it opens the handy ‘Power User’ menu (currently available by pressing Win+X).
•The Start screen can display the same background wallpaper picture as your desktop, making for a less-jarring experience when you switch back and forth between the two.
•The Start screen can be made to display its ‘All Apps’ view by default – an alphabetical list of every installed program (and the closest thing Windows 8 has to a Start menu).
•That ‘All Apps’ view can also be made to arrange all your programs by usage, so that the programs you use most appear first in the list.
•Apps will update themselves automatically in the same way that Windows itself does, rather than forcing you to visit the Windows Store and update them manually.
That’s not the whole list by any means, but it covers the main points, and for anyone already using Windows 8 it should be apparent that some real improvements are being made. We’ll see most (if not all) of these on 26th June, when Microsoft releases a ‘Public Preview’ of the new version which, like the final release due later in the year, will be free for all Windows 8 users to install.
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