More details emerge about Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8.1 update

Aug 5, 2014 09:21 GMT  ·  By

Windows 8.1 August Update is expected to ship next week and, even though Microsoft is trying to keep everything secret, quite a lot of details arrive through unofficial channels.

This time, a report published by WinSuperSite reveals that Windows 8.1 August Update is going to appear in Windows Update as an optional update, meaning that all those running Windows 8.1 next week will have to manually select this pack in order to install it.

This might surprise some folks given the fact that Windows 8.1 August Update is one of the most anticipated products released by Microsoft this year, but this could happen due to the fact that the update doesn’t bring anything too exciting, so there’s no reason to make it mandatory.

Since the update will go live on next Tuesday, the same day when Microsoft is rolling out this month’s Patch Tuesday fixes, chances are that many might actually ignore this update, and focus only on the ones that are labeled as critical and mandatory for their systems.

The same source says that the Windows 8.1 August Update would also ship as a standalone update, so you could also download it separately from Microsoft’s servers and install it on your computer without the need for Windows Update.

Previous reports on this indicated that Windows 8.1 August Update could be published on MSDN on August 15, thus giving developers the option to download the update separately. Microsoft could also release a new Windows 8.1 ISO with the August Update included in the installer for MSDN subscribers.

As far as the naming is concerned, we’ve heard people asking whether the August Update is as sign that Microsoft could move to a faster cadence and release updates for its operating system more often.

This most likely is not the case and Microsoft only calls it this way to signal the launch of another large update for Windows 8.1. Much more attention however is given these days to Windows 9, the next full Windows release that’s expected to arrive in April 2015 and include all the features that were initially believed to be included in Windows 8.1 August Update.

As for the official announcement for this new OS update, Microsoft would most likely share some details this week, possibly on Tuesday, when it publishes the advance notification for this month’s Patch Tuesday rollout. And still, do not expect anything too exciting from this update, as all eyes are on Windows 9.