Today at Microsoft's Build developer conference in San Francisco, the company formally announced a release date for the next update to its flagship Windows operating system. The Windows 8.1 Update, formerly known as Windows 8.1 Update 1, will be available via Windows Update for all Windows 8.1 users on April 8, Microsoft's usual Patch Tuesday date.
While Microsoft only made the update official today, it has already leaked in the most public way possible—it was actually downloadable from Microsoft's servers for a couple of days early last month. Like Windows 8.1 before it, this new update continues to tweak the core user interface concepts Microsoft introduced in Windows 8, and it focuses specifically on making the operating system more welcoming to mouse and keyboard users.For instance, Windows Store apps developed to use the full-screen "Modern" mode can now be pinned to the desktop taskbar, and the taskbar can be used from within Modern apps. In theory, this should cut down on the number of times users accidentally invoke a Modern app and can't figure out how to get back to the desktop. A new PC settings tile and dedicated power and search buttons on the Start screen also make those features more obvious to people coming from Windows 7 or older versions. And finally, when the new version of Windows 8.1 is installed to systems without touchscreens, they will now boot to the desktop by default instead of to the Start screen.
One criticism of the Windows 8.1 update is that Microsoft's mouse and keyboard-focused changes make the interface less consistent and still won't address complaints from users who want nothing to do with the touch-friendly Start screen and Modern apps. Those waiting for more drastic changes to Windows will likely need to keep holding out for the next version, which Microsoft may discuss in more detail later in the Build conference.
Microsoft is focusing on its traditional mouse and keyboard user base in the Windows 8.1 Update, but it's still making tweaks aimed at tablets. The update has apparently been tuned to run well on devices with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (namely low-end, inexpensive tablets), roughly half the acceptable minimum for current Windows tablets (Microsoft made similar changes to get Windows 7 running well on low-spec netbooks back in 2009). These changes should help Microsoft's OEM partners reduce the price floor on Windows tablets to help them compete with low-cost Android devices.
When we downloaded the update last month, it weighed in at about 700MB, so make sure you have a fast Internet connection and an extra hour or so to get everything installed. If you haven't yet updated to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8, you will presumably need to install it from the Windows Store before the new update will show up for you.
Listing image by Microsoft
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