Windows 8 user can run web browsers on the desktop or in the Start interface as an app. There are not that many browsers that support the feature right now: Internet Explorer does right out of the box, all versions of Chrome do, and Firefox Aurora and Nightly do as well.
It needs to be noted that the functionality becomes only available if you set one of the supported browsers as the default system browser.
If you have installed the latest Chrome Dev version on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, you may have noticed that Google has made a fundamental change to its Start app version.
Side note: You cannot make Chrome Canary the default browser, which is why you won't be able to use that feature on the system if you have only installed that version of Chrome.
When you start Google Chrome Dev on the Start interface of Windows 8 or 8.1, you will notice that it displays a Chrome OS-like interface instead of the full screen web browser that you may have used previously.
Chrome OS in Windows 8
While you will still get a Google Chrome Dev version in that window, it is no longer running in full screen at all times. Instead, you get a movable browser window and a task bar at the bottom of the screen that displays the time, links to popular Google services such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Docs and Search, and a grid icon that links back to the start screen.
You may notice several unique features of this implementation. First, it is possible to spawn multiple Chrome windows using the menu or keyboard shortcuts. Other Start browsers limit you to one browser window at a time.
You can drag and drop tabs around, to create new windows or move them from one window to the other, or spawn private browsing windows if you so desire.
The taskbar at the bottom of the screen is certainly an interesting feature. While it is currently limited to the services listed above, it is likely that Google will add customization options to it in the future. For now though, they only open the services in the Google Chrome browser window.
It is interesting to note that the grid icon links to the Start screen, and not to a listing of apps like in the Chrome OS launcher or on Google properties where it is used by Google to link to other services that the company owns.
Closing Words
The implementation shows that it is possible to display multiple windows at the same time in a single application environment. That's great because it shows to other app developers that it can be done. While it may introduce another interface layer to Windows 8, it is certainly more flexible than the operating system's own app snap feature as you can change the size of windows exactly, and display more windows next to each other if you so desire. Plus, you can also align windows horizontally on the screen if you so desire, which you cannot do in Windows 8's app interface.
If you already think Windows 8 is a flawed OS, Microsoft’s new 8.1 update won’t change your mind. But I've been digging into a preview release of the new system since Tuesday afternoon, and it's clear that Microsoft's course-correction efforts have paid off in loads of convenient new features.
Microsoft announced the long-awaited Windows 8.1 preview at its Build 2013 developer's conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. To download the preview, you can get it from the Windows Store on your existing Windows 8 or RT device—after backing up your hardware first, and reading both this installation guide and Microsoft’s FAQ. Microsoft executives say your current apps won’t be affected by installing the preview, but some could require re-installation once Windows 8.1 is released in its final form. The download appears to be about 2.44 GB, based on a demo Microsoft showed journalists Tuesday.
The preview holds few surprises for those who've been keeping track of the Windows 8.1 saga. Yes, it includes the new boot-to-desktop option, and Microsoft has re-organized the Start page to make finding apps easier. Within the desktop, the Windows flag serves as a faux Start button, although it’s really just a shortcut to the Start page.
The expected personalization options are there, including dynamic desktop art as well as the ability to share a background between your desktop and Start page. But there’s also a flood of other tweaks, apps and features, making this free upgrade a tremendous value in terms of volume alone.
Are new sorting options the answer to Microsoft's Start problems?Some highlights: There's a new Bing Food & Drink app that you can wave at to turn the page, Samsung Galaxy S4 style. There's direct control of 3D printers (yes, 3D printers). You can turn the PC into a Wi-Fi hotspot, and stream 1080p video via Miracast to the Xbox One. And Microsoft also confirmed that it has “alpha code” of Microsoft Office for the Modern interface that’s due some time in the future.
Although Microsoft will key the Windows 8.1 release to your Microsoft ID account, it seeded the upgrade to journalists and analysts on Surface Pro loaner units. While not much grabbed me from the get-go, poking into the nooks and crannies has been rewarding.
Friendly, but frustrating
Because Windows 8.1 is a connected operating system, booting up the Surface is a rather blah experience. But after connecting your Microsoft account, enabling SkyDrive, and diving into the personalization options, Windows 8.1 comes alive. It’s just a lot harder than it could be.
The Start button! It's back! Well, sort of.A key goal of Windows 8.1 is to offer a highly personalized experience. Indeed, one of the many additions to the Start page is the “Personalize” option under Settings. To get there, swipe in from the right, select Settings, and then “Personalize." Once you do so, you’ll have an option to add different backgrounds, with various color schemes. I’m not sure if the Surface I had simply lacked the dynamic ‘Dragon” and “Robot” backgrounds that Jensen Harris, part of the Microsoft Windows User Experience team, demonstrated for reporters Tuesday. But Windows 8.1 either synced over the new backgrounds by copying over my old background options, or the content wasn’t there.
Windows 8.1 also adds the ability to share a background between the desktop and Start page. It's a pleasant feature that offers the impression that your desktop and Start page are simply two sides of the same coin. Adding this capability is harder than it looks, though: I had to manually change the desktop background, then wait for it to show up in the “Personalize” tab in the Start commands. A “sync Desktop and Start backgrounds” option would solve the problem, but it isn’t there (more on that later).
Start screen backgrounds: Not as nice as the dynamic backgrounds Microsoft showed off, but they tie the Start screen and desktop together.In fact, when I turned off syncing on my personal PC tied to my Microsoft account, the beach background I had on my Windows 8.1 desktop disappeared from my Start screen, but remained as a Personalize desktop option. Clicking it didn’t work, and it remained there as an unusable choice.
Another personalization feature is available via the “Change PC Settings” option: You can turn your PC into a photo frame with photos displaying on your lock screen. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get that feature to work, and it wouldn't pull my photos from SkyDrive. Windows 8.1 does offer the ability to sync apps, as well as Start screen tiles and layouts, Web browser shortcuts, mouse and printer settings, and more. For right now, however, I’m not sure the sync settings are that useful, especially between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 devices.
The "Change PC Settings" option also allows you to turn off “hot corner” access to the Charms and recent apps, eliminating one of the more confusing features of Windows 8.
Part of the problem is that Microsoft has hidden its power-user options within the desktop. In Windows 8, pressing the Windows key + “X” brings up a handy menu of commands, including the Control Panel, Device Manager, Disk Manager, and others. Within 8.1, you can access that power-user menu via a “long press” of the Windows flag/Start icon.
Microsoft hides some nifty features inside this menu, including Boot to Desktop.But right-clicking the taskbar at the bottom of the desktop brings up the really important stuff. A new “Navigation” tab within the Taskbar and Navigation Properties contains the boot-to-Desktop option; the option to sync the background of the desktop and Start screen; and the option to show the Apps view automatically every time you view the Start screen. These features (and others) are all incredibly useful options, but they're almost impossible to find unless you know what you’re looking for.
Smart Search: the command line for Windows?
One major complaint about Windows 8 concerns finding applications: Instead of clicking though a Start menu (as in Windows 7), you have to visually search within a mass of tiles, or key in a search from the Start page. One of the ways Windows 8.1 solves this problem is by organizing your software into an “All Apps” collection that can be accessed by swiping up from the Start page. The list can be organized several different ways, including most frequently used, last accessed and, of course, alphabetically.
Madonna gets the hero treatment within the new Search app, with a bio, music, videos, and a flattering picture.Microsoft has also significantly improved its search capabilities. Start typing, and a search window opens to the right, as it did in Windows 8. But the new Search capability searches the Web, your PC and SkyDrive, among other locations. Search for “Madonna,” and up pops a lovely, enormous “hero” page with the singer's biographical information and discography. (The Surface that Microsoft gave me linked the discography to Xbox Music, so I quickly switched to BB King for the rest of the night.) The amount of possible results could grow enormous, but Microsoft does a fine job of managing the output. Sadly, mail can’t be searched—yet.
Xbox Music provides a free “radio station” of a particular artist or genre, no subscription needed. Microsoft executives said that it would auto-import playlists on a web page, such as the lineup of artists at a music festival, later this year.
A whole lot of Windows 8.1 apps
From a macroscopic level, Microsoft has also added flexibility to its Modern apps, adding the capability to “snap” up to four apps on a standard widescreen monitor. (Adding another monitor allows another four.) Only two windows—the standard for Windows 8—can be snapped on a Surface, however, due to scaling issues. I wasn’t able to test the "four-up" feature on a full-sized monitor, as I lacked a mini-DVI adapter for the Surface review unit.
Meet Reading List, one of the new Windows 8.1 apps.On a more microscopic level, a number of apps have either been rewritten or totally added for the Windows 8.1 release. Among these is Reading List—sort of a Microsoft-branded Instapaper. If you open up a web page, then bring up the “Share” charm, you can save whatever you're reading for later. It works as you might expect, but with some limitations. First, you need to remember to click the little “air mail” icon in the upper right of the Reading List tab. Second, it only works with the Modern version of Internet Explorer, rather than the desktop version. Stories then open in IE for later reading.
One of the more significant additions is Internet Explorer 11. It now includes side-by-side browsing and syncing of favorites, tabs, and settings across all Windows 8.1 devices. Microsoft also says it loads pages faster. We weren’t really able to test all these capabilities (we only had one Windows 8.1 device, for example), but the browser seemed to do the job just fine. Internet Explorer 11 can also prevent extensions from launching until it has a chance to hand of the code to an anti-malware program for scanning.
Windows 8.1’s Food & Drink app.Food & Drink is a new built-in app that includes a meal planner, a shopping list tool, and a searchable database of recipes that can be augmented with content you find online. The list of recipes isn't very remarkable, but it includes a nifty trick: You can enable a “hands-free” mode, and flip through pages just by gesturing above your device. The idea is to avoid gumming up your computer or tablet with your chicken-spattered paws, but you’ll still need several clicks to enable hands-free mode, and the Surface's webcam practically required my hand to cover its lens. Health Tracker is essentially Food & Drink for exercise. You can check out a range of exercises; monitor nutrition, diet, calories, blood pressure, and other health attributes; and examine an encyclopedia of drugs and health conditions. It’s all laid out well, and can sync with Microsoft’s HealthVault online record storage.
The new Health Tracker app from Bing offers a wide variety of health info.Microsoft also promised that a new version of Skype will alert users to incoming calls via a popup message on the lock screen, and then allow you to begin talking immediately. I created a test account on a nearby Windows 8 machine, then installed Skype on the Surface and called myself. I was able to see the alert, but I had to log in as normal to begin talking. Clicking on the alert didn’t work. SkyDrive is also supposed to gain photo editing capabilities, allowing you to simply swipe your screen for a range of photo filters and editing features. For some reason, this didn’t work for me, and the seemingly related Photos app didn’t have this capability either. Mail, another app that Microsoft’s Harris described as updated, also seemed to be exactly the same in the Windows 8.1 build loaded into my Surface Pro loaner unit. Nonetheless, when all is said and done, Mail’s inbox will allow you to flag and sort messages by sender, and social updates from Twitter and Facebook will be able to be separated into their own folders, Harris promised.
In addition, Windows 8.1 boasts a new Voice Recorder app, a new Alarms app, and a spiffy new Calculator app. (Note that there are both desktop and Modern versions of Calculator, if you want to test one against the other.) Microsoft promised that Sports, News, Weather, Finance, and Travel have also been updated for Windows 8.1, but I didn't have time to dig into all the apps before posting this article.
Windows Store gets a facelift
One subtle change in Windows 8.1 is the elimination of the little number at the bottom of the Windows Store icon. That’s because apps now auto-update in the background.
This sounds good on paper, but comes with a caveat: According to Microsoft’s Ted Dworkin, partner director of program management for the Windows Store, apps won’t necessarily alert you if they’re updated and their access policies change. This means that if an app wants more data, Microsoft will quietly grant permission unless certain undisclosed permissions are asked for, triggering a user notification.
The revamped Windows Store now devotes the first screen to a single app.Within the Windows Store app itself, look for the first “page” of tiles to go away. Instead, Microsoft is curating apps, pushing forward a single software title that it thinks most users will like. There's also a special selection culled for individual users, based on their preferences.
Microsoft will also now allow in-app purchases for special costumes and other consumables in games, and will offer stored-value options, allowing you to carry a balance of dollars, yen, euro, or other currency from which to buy apps, movies, music, and so on. In Windows 8.1, you will also be able to install apps on an unlimited number of Windows devices, but Microsoft will monitor user activity to make sure apps aren’t copied across, say, an entire dormitory’s worth of hardware.
Windows 8.1 for businesses
If you read our earlier report on Windows 8.1 for businesses, you’ll get a good grasp of what Microsoft intends for the enterprise features of the new OS.
Using a featured called Assigned Access, a Windows 8.1 PC can be “locked down” to boot to a single app. For example, you could lock down PCs to a dedicated test-taking app, preventing students from launching Internet Explorer during exams.
The Start Screen configuration can be exported to an XML file, and enforced as a policy. And Windows 8.1 has been designed with Mobile Device Management in mind: Users get to bring their own Windows 8.1 devices into the workplace, but businesses can put their own apps and documents on the user hardware—and revoke access to this material as they wish.
Other new capabilities more directly benefit employees: Users can set up their PCs as Wi-Fi hotspots, sharing a paid-for work connection, and new “virtual smart cards” can be used as tokens to launch VPNs. Third-party VPNs now work with WIndows RT as well, Dustin Ingalls, a group program manager at Microsoft, said.
Prettier but not perfect
So what’s the bottom line? Right now, Windows 8.1 offers somewhat moderate improvements to a controversial design, together with a few bugs. And, personally, I would have appreciated better organization of the new personalization options.
For now, my thesis remains unchanged: Windows 8 bolts a tablet interface on top of a PC interface, and most people who approach it from the PC perspective are in for a shock. When it comes to user interface design, familiarity breeds not contempt, but rather content—content, happy users who would rather see their beloved interface polished up, but not overhauled entirely. Over time, however, Microsoft will benefit from user familiarity, as people learn how to navigate Windows 8 (and all its updates) and the Modern interface becomes the new normal.
Windows 8.1 is Microsoft’s chance at a do-over. So far, the company has stuck to its guns, offering a few changes to ease the transition from Windows 7. But the company has also promised to increase the pace of change, with more frequent updates. I like what I see—a company that’s scared of becoming irrelevant, listening to its users. I appreciate what Microsoft has done with Windows 8.1, but I like a responsive Microsoft even more.
The Windows 8.1 preview is here, giving us a first-hand glimpse at the fruits of Microsoft’s newfound rapid-release religion. Remolding an operating system in eight scant months is a tall task indeed, and while Windows 8.1 is still far from perfect, Microsoft managed to craft a fairly capable reimagining of its new-look OS in the short time since Windows 8 debuted last October. Steve Ballmer said it well: Windows 8.1 refines the blend, making the core modern UI experience far less jarring than before. Don’t dig all the Live Tiles? Windows 8.1 even tosses several sizable bones to desktop aficionados. Here, folks, are the five most enticing reasons to upgrade to Windows 8.1 when the final version becomes available. Microsoft has said the official release is slated for 2013, but hasn't announced a firm release date. If you’re feeling adventurous enough to run beta software—preferably on a secondary computer, for precaution's sake—you can install the Windows 8.1 preview today, but be sure to back up your data first.
1. A better desktop experience
Just look at all those desktop-friendly features! (Click to enlarge.)Hey, this is PCWorld, not TabletWorld, and while the times they are a-changing, the vast majority of computers found in the wild don’t rock the touchscreens that really take advantage of the modern UI. Microsoft seemed to forget that point with the original Windows 8 release, but fortunately the Windows 8.1 preview packs a bevy of improvements that make using it much more palatable to keyboard jockeys. After some mild tweaking, you won’t have to jump through hoops to largely eliminate the modern UI from your computing life. Windows 8.1 reintroduces boot-to-desktop, and if you pair that with the ability to configure the returned Start button to jump to the Start menu-esque All Apps screen, you may rarely, if ever, see a Live Tile. Assuming nothing incredibly major changes between now and the time the final release appears, Windows 8.1 still isn’t compelling enough to coax staunch Windows 7 lovers to upgrade, but it does make the transition much easier if you do decide to switch to Microsoft’s modern vision.
2. More seamless overall
Speaking of transitions, one of the major complaints about Windows 8 was the disjointed way that the desktop and the modern UI interacted. All too often, they felt like warring, totally separate universes, and the OS was all too eager to rip you out of one to dump you unceremoniously in the other—a disorienting (and frustrating) experience. Windows 8.1 smooths that feeling over quite a bit. The walls are definitely still there, and you’ll occasionally find yourself whisked from one UI to the other, but overall, the experience is far less intrusive. With the addition of the revamped Start button, the ability to carry your desktop background over to the Start screen, and the fuller-fledged modern PC Settings, the Windows 8.1 preview gives you a greater feeling of control over the UI. Now, if Microsoft would only introduce a modern-style file explorer app…
3. Versatile app snapping
Two Internet Explorer windows, each Snapped to fill half the screen.Another big plus in the Windows 8.1 preview is its more-flexible Snap function, which allows you to have multiple modern-style apps open at once. In Windows 8 vanilla, you’re limited to having two apps open simultaneously: One fills 75 percent of the screen, while the other is relegated to the last quarter. That seriously cramps Snap’s usefulness. Windows 8.1 shatters its predecessor’s artificial barriers. Depending on your display’s resolution, you can have as many as four apps snapped on a single screen, and you can now dynamically alter the size of snapped windows. Being able to dedicate half the screen each to two apps seriously boosts Windows 8.1’s productivity chops. The Snap changes may sound minor, but they add up to a huge usability improvement—especially when paired with the newfound ability to open the modern version of Internet Explorer 11 in multiple windows at once.
4. Cohesive search results
Windows 8’s Search charm was pretty helpful, but Windows 8.1’s Smart Search blows it out of the water. Rather than separating search results into distinct Apps, Settings, and Files categories, Windows 8.1 pools everything into a single cohesive search results page, complete with results from other apps, including SkyDrive, Bing Web search, and the Video and Music apps. Windows 8.1’s Smart Search pools local and Web-sourced data into one collection of search results, like this aggregate on Queens of the Stone AgeThat makes Windows 8.1’s search incredibly versatile and incredibly helpful. Searching for the band Queens of the Stone Age, for example, popped up an eye-catching picture of the group, a couple of documents where I’d mentioned them, biographical info, the ability to stream their songs using the Music app, Bing search results, and recommendations for a couple of apps that could provide more info about the group. Windows Smart Search also scooped up a barrel o’ data on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with impressive ease.Searching for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, on the other hand, also revealed some local documents, but his results included numerous videos, related search topics, and a lot more. If Microsoft had added only Smart Search to Windows 8.1, it would’ve been enough to convince me to install the update. Yes, it’s that good.
5. New features in every corner
Windows 8.1 includes support for 3D printers. How cool is that?The Windows 8.1 preview is also jam-packed with all kinds of hidden features. From Miracast streaming to 3D printer support to Photosynth-style panoramas in the Camera app to the veritable cornucopia of new features buried in the revamped PC Settings menu, there’s something new and interesting in every nook and cranny. (And that’s not even counting the deep bench of new and updated native apps, like the vastly improved Windows Store.) You could spend several days discovering all the tweaks Microsoft stuffed into the Windows 8.1 preview. Few of them can be classified as all-star additions, but all are welcome extras nonetheless—and it’s kind of exciting never knowing what you’ll find when you dive into an unexplored corner of the OS.
A must-have for Windows 8 adoptees
Now, don’t get me wrong. Windows 8.1 won’t do anything to soothe your concerns if you hate the very premise of the core Windows 8 experience. The Live Tiles and modern UI aren’t going anywhere. (You can read our in-depth impressions of Windows 8.1 here.)
But with the Windows 8.1 preview, Microsoft has shown that it’s willing to compromise a bit on its post-PC push to nudge along the desktop diehards. The raft of changes—refinements—in Windows 8.1 soften some of the bumps in the migration path for newcomers. And if you’re already aboard the Windows 8 bandwagon, there’s no reason not to upgrade to Windows 8.1 whenever it becomes officially available.
Windows 8.1 users can easily move and resize tiles, create and name groups of tiles, change the background image, and pin freshly installed apps on the Start screen.
You can more easily tweak the Start screen in Windows 8.1.
(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)
The Windows 8 Start screen is largely a love-it-or-hate affair. But even those who aren't too keen on the screen may welcome the new ways you can customize it in the Windows 8.1 Preview.
Right off the bat, Windows 8.1 offers a dedicated Customize button for the Start screen where you can tweak a variety of settings. Right-click anywhere on the Start screen to display the app bar and click on the Customize button. You can also right-click on any tile to open the Customize view.
The screen dims slightly. You can now drag and drop any tile to another spot on the screen. Moving a tile by dragging and dropping is nothing new. But in this Customize view, you can't accidentally open an app by clicking on or tapping its tile.
You can select multiple tiles by clicking on them, and then drag and drop all of your selected tiles en masse to another spot. There's an array of other options that can be run on multiple tiles.
You can unpin them from the Start screen, uninstall them, resize them, turn off any live tiles, or just clear the selection. You also have more tile sizes from which to choose. Certain tiles offer a choice of small, medium, wide, and large. You can enlarge the tiles for your favorite apps and shrink the ones for apps you rarely use.
If you organize your tiles into distinct groups, you can more easily name them. In the Customize view, simply click on the text box for Name Group and enter a name.
What other tricks will you find in the new Start screen? Less clutter for one.To get out of Customize view, just click or tap on the Customize button on the app bar.
In Windows 8, any app you install automatically takes up residence on the Start screen, easily turning it into a crowded and disorganized mess. In Windows 8.1, apps don't make their way to the Start screen unless you pin them there.
After you install a new app, click on the down arrow in the lower left corner of the Start screen. That takes you to the App screen where you'll see any recently-installed apps highlighted with the word New. Right-click on the tile or tiles of any apps that you wish to appear on the Start screen and click on the Pin to Start button. Windows 8.1 then transports you back to the Start screen to reveal the new tile.
Finally, more choices are available for you to change the color and background of the Start screen.
Hover your mouse over the small dash icon in the lower right corner of the screen to display the Charms bar. From there, click or tap on the Settings charm and then select the Personalize option. You can pick background and accent colors from the on-screen palette or choose a specific background image. Best of all, you can pick the same background image used by your desktop. That option makes the visual trip between the Start screen and desktop less jarring.
The Start screen may still seem like an unnecessary annoyance to many Windows users, especially those working with a non-touch PC. Windows 8 does offer a boot to desktop modewhere you can bypass the screen entirely. But the latest tweaks in Windows 8.1 do make the Start screen a bit friendlier and decidedly easier to manage.
With Windows 8.1 comes scads of hybrids from PC makers eager to show the world that you really don't need to carry around that iPad anymore
Steve Ballmer holds a Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hybrid tablet-laptop at the Build Conference on Wednesday.
(Credit: Microsoft)
Will new Windows 8.1 hybrids finally expose the iPad for what it really is, a mere tablet?
That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested this week.
When speaking at the company's Build Conference on Wednesday, he described in colorful -- and maybe just a tad exaggerated -- terms how tablets don't measure up to laptops (or even pencil and paper).
Enter the "2-in-1," as Microsoft likes to call hybrids. During his keynote presentation, Ballmer brandished the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix as an example of a 2-in-1 he has used.
The Helix can be a pure tablet or can snap into a dedicated keyboard and become a full-fledged laptop, replete with a mainstream Core i5 processor and a 1,920x1,080 resolution 11.6-inch display.
And Ballmer knows that a lot more Helix-like 2-in-1 devices are on the way, packing Intel's battery-life friendly Haswell and Bay Trail processors.That was essentially Ballmer's pitch at Build. The salient advantage Windows 8.1 devices have over Apple tablets is that you need only one hybrid, not two separate devices.
That's all good except that Apple's iPad 5 is coming too. The 2,048x1,536 pixel-density, 9.7-inch tablet is expected to be lighter/thinner and more powerful, sporting iOS 7 and next-gen Apple A7 silicon.
And there's a booming market for third-party keyboards that turn the iPad into a quasi-laptop.
Then there's the next-gen iPad Mini, which will likely be even more popular.
Microsoft has made significant changes to Windows 8, making life for desktop users more like it used to be on Windows 7 - while aiming to keep tablet users happy
Right-click the 'Start' button in Windows 8.1 to get this familiar menu - including shutdown. Photograph: Microsoft
Last year Microsoft reimagined Windows. Windows 8 was released in October 2012, complete with a new touch-friendly personality intended to make the operating system work well on tablets as well as with keyboard and mouse.
It was a bold but controversial experiment. Users have not found it easy to adjust to the Windows 8 Start screen, which replaced the Start menu in Windows 7, and the Windows 8 app market is weak compared to that for Apple or Android apps. "I installed Windows 8 two months ago. I have yet to use a Metro app for anything," said developer Robert Smallshire on Twitter, where "Metro" refers to the new tablet apps which Microsoft officially calls "Modern" apps or Windows Store apps.
Most Windows users still live in the traditional desktop environment, which is why many Windows 8 tablets are "hybrids", with keyboards and trackpads as well as touch screens.
On Wednesday at its Build developer conference in San Francisco, Microsoft unveiled the preview of Windows 8.1, an update which refines the operating system without changing its character. I've been running the preview on the Surface Pro tablet given to all Build attendees.
No retreat
Microsoft is not backtracking on concepts such as the Start screen or the "immersive UI" which presents Modern apps without the clutter of visible menus and toolbars. Yes, there is a Start button on the desktop - but it takes you to the Start screen rather than restoring the menu in Windows 7. The Start button will be a point of familiarity for new users, but its main benefit is the enhanced administrative menu (known as Win-X because of its keyboard shortcut) which pops up if you right-click, including an option to shut down.
Users who want to avoid Modern apps have other new options, offered if you right-click the taskbar and choose properties. Here you will find "boot to desktop", the ability to list desktop apps first in the Start screen when sorted by category, and an option to default to the "All apps" view in Start. Unlike the mainly cosmetic Start button, these are significant changes. Engage them all, and when you tap Start you get a list of desktop apps grouped almost like the old menu, though it is not hierarchical. You can also show the desktop background in Start, making the transition to the Modern UI less jarring.
You can make this desktop-friendly app view the default in the 'start' screen. Photograph: Microsoft
The Start screen no longer shows all apps in the default tiled view, but only apps you select. It is also easier to customise Start groups. A swipe down takes you to the All apps view, unless you chose this as the default.
Snapped to it
Most of the changes in Windows 8.1 relate to Modern apps. In Windows 8.0, you can have up to two apps on view, with one snapped to the side. This snapped view has gone (a Microsoft engineer admitted to me that few people used it). If two apps are on view, you can now size them as you like by dragging a vertical bar, and if you have a large screen you can have up to four apps on view, though my Surface only accommodates two. Apps can also be written for two displays, with different data on each, so for example you could have a controller view and a presentation view. All good stuff.
New search
A search for Adele in the Bing app brings back results that look more like a media player. The app morphs according to the type of search. Photograph: Microsoft
The way Search works has changed. Previously, if you invoked search by pressing Win-S or selecting it from the right-hand Charms menu, you would be taken automatically to the Start screen. Now, search opens in a panel, and by default searches "Everywhere" rather than just Apps as before. One effect is that you can now easily open a new desktop app without ever leaving the desktop environment, using search as an app launcher. On the other hand, if you are searching more generally, you get results in a new Bing app that combines local and web search in a rich view. A search for "guardian", for example, shows Word documents with that word in the title as well as matching websites. Search for a celebrity and you get photos, biography, and for a musician, options to play songs in Xbox Music, the native music app on Windows 8.
Each search creates a kind of custom app, Microsoft explained, and this feature is fun to use. The prize for Microsoft is greater Bing adoption if the approach proves popular.
SkyDrive: now landing
New navigation options, including boot to desktop, make Windows 8.1 more accommodating for desktop users. Photograph: Microsoft
SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage, is deeply embedded in Windows 8.1. It has its own section in PC Settings, and you can opt to save all documents to SkyDrive by default. Open Notepad, for example, type something, hit save, and it goes to SkyDrive if you do not change the location. Another SkyDrive change is that the Modern SkyDrive app now works offline, sharing local storage with the Desktop version. This makes sense if you travel or regularly work on more than one machine.
Talking of PC Settings, Window 8.1 has more settings in the Modern settings app, reducing the need to run the old Control Panel. It is still not comprehensive. Mouse settings, for example, has just three options in PC settings, with many more in Control Panel. This is an improvement though.
PC Settings is also the place for new features like Workplace, which when combined with the forthcoming update to Windows Server will let users access a business network under the control of IT administrators, but without the full "domain join" that corporate machines normally require. This is in keeping with the Bring Your Own Device trend, where a machine is used both for home and business. Combined with another feature called work folders, this lets users synchronize with documents on their business network, while allowing the IT administrator to switch off access if the machine is lost or the employee leaves.
Turning IE up to 11
Windows 8.1 comes with version 11 of Internet Explorer (IE), which will also be available for Windows 7. The big new feature is WebGL (Web Graphics Library) support, a standard for showing 3D accelerated graphics in the browser without a plug-in, and ideal for browser-based games. Previously Microsoft had resisted WebGL because of security concerns, which it says are now resolved thanks to improvements both in the standard and in IE itself. There is also better touch support and faster performance, though I have not noticed much difference in day to day browsing so far.
The presence of two versions of IE in Windows 8 - one on the Start screen, one on the desktop - remains confusing.
Fun in Store?
The Windows Store has a more appealing home page and easier navigation. Photograph: Microsoft
The Windows Store has been revamped. The home page is more appealing and magazine-like, categories are selected from the top menu rather than by endless scrolling, and apps now update automatically if you allow it.
What about the built-in apps? A new recipe app has what looks like a brilliant feature, called Hands-Free mode. If your machine has a front-facing camera, you wave your hand to navigate pages, avoiding touching the screen with sticky fingers. Unfortunately this hardly works on my Surface, suggesting that Microsoft has more work to do here, or that it is fussy about the exact hardware you use.
I had better luck with Reading List, essentially an app which lists shortcuts for future reference. Run Modern IE, for example, and you can add links to the Reading List using Share on the Charms menu. This also works with maps and other apps.
Mailed it
The Mail app can now show a web link side by side. Photograph: Microsoft
The Mail app is slightly improved. When I tried to add my Exchange Server account, it actually told me why it was not working (a digital certificate issue), whereas the old Mail app used to fail with infuriating silence. You can also view web links with an automatic side-by-side view, making a better experience.
The new photo app, with an edit option for fine-tuning the image Photograph: Microsoft
The Photo app now has an Edit feature with a range of options for adjusting the colour, tint, light and various effects. It is easy to use and effective.
Conclusion
Windows 8.1 is a significant improvement. After just a short spell with the preview, I do not want to go back. The experience for desktop users (which is most users most of the time) is smoother, and there are many small enhancements which combine make a big difference, of which I have mentioned only a few.
But is it enough to fix the poor reputation of Windows 8, to persuade users sticking with Windows 7 to upgrade, or even to win sales that would otherwise go to iPad or Android tablets? Redmonk analyst James Governor is optimistic. "It's a long game," he told me. "You remember Vista, which needed a significant refactoring, and what came out of it was a decent platform. The Bing integration is significant. The split personality is a problem, but Metro is beautiful and a step forward, and will increasingly be the kind of model people use to access apps."
All this chimes with me as a reviewer and early adopter; yet Microsoft is coming from behind in the tablet market, has many users reluctant to relearn how they work with Windows, and its hardware partners are creating largely hybrid devices that are expensive and compromised - though also more powerful - compared to their tablet rivals.
Windows 8.1 is a refinement, but doesn't remove these obstacles.
I am writing this at Microsoft's developer conference, and the effort to win over developers to the new Modern platform is key. Just a few compelling apps will drive adoption; and it may even be that the new Bing app is one such in the way it combines local and web search in a single and appealing package.
Overall, it is too early to call Windows 8.1 a success, but also too soon to call the Windows 8 project a failure. Microsoft had done good work, and those who disliked the first release may want to take another look.
Preview: where to get it
You can get the preview at http://preview.windows.com, but be warned that there is no uninstall and it may not be possible to upgrade to the final version without a complete reinstall. In other words, it is not yet ready for general use.
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