14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8.1 Update 1 is Microsoft’s next big bet on the OS market, with people familiar with the matter indicating that the public debut is expected to take place in early April.
However, Windows 8.1 Update 1 RTM reached the web a few days ago via some links provided by Microsoft itself, which means that many users have already managed to download and install the upcoming pack prepared by Microsoft for Windows 8.1 adopters.
This new video published on YouTube by Bavo Luysterborg highlights the main improvements made to Windows 8.1 Update 1, including the new Start screen tools, context menu-like options in the Modern UI and dedicated settings to pin Metro apps to the taskbar.
Windows 8.1 Update 1 is scheduled to see daylight in early April for MSDN subscribers and on April 8 for everyone ease, with all improvements to be delivered to users via Windows Update.
Of course, Microsoft is using this pack to better tweak the operating system in order to tackle the desktop market, as its modern platform has often been criticized for focusing so much on touch-capable devices. Windows 9, the next full build of Windows coming in early 2015, is expected to continue this change of focus to desktop computers by mixing the Modern UI and the desktop environments even more in order to allow users to launch Metro apps without going to the Start screen.
This means that Modern apps will be able to run on the desktop in their very own windows, thus becoming more or less widgets that can be downloaded from the store.
Windows 8.1 Update 1, on the other hand, will just pave the road for Windows 9 and will bring simple options to pin Metro apps to the taskbar and thus skip the Start screen completely. Word is that Microsoft might also tweak the boot to desktop option in such a way that it would allow some OEMs to turn it off by default on specific devices, especially on PCs where providing users with the Start screen at boost wouldn’t make much sense.
Boot-to-desktop was officially introduced in Windows 8.1 as a way to help users start their computers faster and thus skip the controversial Start screen that’s still considered a feature more appropriate for tablets and devices featuring touch displays. In future OS updates, however, it might be disabled from the get-go in order to better address users’ needs.