Windows 8.1 Update -- what's in it for you?

Believe it or not, it's not actually all that long sinceWindows 8 was released, but just 18 months after the initial launch there have already been two huge updates. The move from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 took place after a year and re-introduced the Start button that many people missed. In April 2014, Windows 8.1 Update was made available and this again saw Microsoft responding to feedback from customers, and making refinements to the way the operating system looks and works.

But just what's in it for you? There are in fact a surprising number of changes, many of which focus on blurring the boundaries between modern apps and traditional programs, or try to make the modern interface rather more appealing to those users who yearn for a more traditional look and feel. Changes have also been introduced that make Windows easier to use with a mouse and keyboard rather than a touch screen.

It's all well and good hearing that there have been all manner of changes and additions, but where are they, how do you take advantage of them, and what do they mean for you?

Born to make you appy

There have been a number of changes made to modern apps, starting with the addition of a title bar. Much like legacy applications, there's no a title bar that can be used to control modern apps. Windows 8.1 Update doesn't go quite as far as allowing modern apps to be run in a window, but it does help to make them more approachable. You'd be forgiven for missing the title bar to start with as it's not visible straight away, but move your mouse to the very top of the screen and it will slide gracefully into view.

Click the icon that appears to the left and the menu that appears can be used to split the app to the left or right of the screen, or to minimize it. Over to the far right are familiar close and minimize buttons that do precisely what you would expect them to do. Of course, it is still possible to swipe an app off the bottom of the screen to close it, and to drag and drop it to a screen edge to snap it into position, but now there are new ways to achieve the same thing.

The addition of new controls is not the only nod to traditionalists; the Start button and taskbar can also be accessed from within modern apps. All you need to do is slide your mouse down to the bottom of the screen and it will glide into view. Modern apps can also be pinned to the taskbar just like older applications. Right click an icon for a modern app in the taskbar and select the "Pin this program to the taskbar" option.

Start as you mean to go on

Whether you see the Start screen when you power up, or the desktop will depend on the type of device you're using. Windows 8.1 Update should be able to detect whether you are using a computer or tablet with a touchscreen and will automatically offering up the Start screen as the defaulting starting point -- if not, you'll get the desktop as you're more likely to be using a mouse and keyboard in conjunction with legacy apps.

But of course there will be some people with touch screen devices who prefer to start at the desktop, and some people will want to boot right to the Start screen regardless of the type of device they are using. Manually choosing which should be used is very simple. In desktop view, right click the taskbar and select Properties before moving to the Navigation tab. If you would like to boot to the desktop, tick the box labelled "When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start", but leave it unticked for the Start screen.

Whether you're a fan of the Start screen or not, the chance are that you are going to have to interact with it at some point. Following the installation of Windows 8.1 Update, you'll notice that there are a few other changes worthy of note. All that right clicking you're used to doing in desktop mode? That can now be done in a more familiar fashion on the modern Start screen.

Right click a tile on the Start screen and the context menu that appears can be used to uninstall apps, resize the tile, pin icons to the taskbar or Start screen or taskbar and more.

Shutting down Windows can now also be done via the Start screen -- something that will please anyone who missed being able to do this in the way that was usual in older versions of Windows. It may not have made much sense to click the Start button in order to stop using your computer, but it became second nature! The Start screen now features a power button to the upper right of the screen and this provides access to all of the shutdown options you might need. To the right of this is another new feature -- a search button.

It has long been possible to just hit the Windows key to call up the Start screen and start typing a search term. This is still possible now, but the search button is something that has a more comfortable feel to it, and it will be welcomed by users old and new.

Worth the upgrade?

At first glance it may seem that Windows 8.1 Update is hardly bursting with new features, it is still very much worth installing. In fact, it is classed as an essential security update, so unless you grab yourself the update you'll receive no further updates for Windows! As an added incentive, there's a chance that you'll benefit from performance boost as there are now lower system requirements - 16GB of hard drive space for installation, and a mere 1GB of RAM are need to run Windows 8.1 Update.

تصنيف : windows