Judging from the latest wave of Windows 8. 1 Update 1 rumors, Microsoft’s PC operating system will get a significant refresh this spring, on March 11th precisely. The main impression is that Microsoft will try to better optimize the OS for traditional mouse & keyboard input, as opposed to touchscreen.
Here’s a breakdown of currently known novelties in the Windows 8.1 Update 1:
- Metro apps will get the old-style close button, if you use the mouse pointer for interaction with the OS.
- Users will be able to pin Metro-style apps to the classic Desktop Taskbar. Thumbnail app previews will be enabled on the Taskbar.
- Right-clicking on tiles in the Metro user interface will be bringing up the old-style Context menu instead of the App Bar stripe on the bottom of the screen. If you use touch, you’ll still get the stripe.
- The Search function and Shut Down button will become easier accessible, since they’ll be on the Start screen itself instead of on a pop-up menu and Charms bar, respectively.
- OS itself will have smaller RAM and hard drive space footprints. It’s very important on the low-end devices such as the Intel Atom Bay Trail-based tablets with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage of which Windows takes about 20GB.
Here’s what won’t change:
- The update won’t bring functionality to run the Metro apps in a classic window.
- There’s no sign of return of the Windows 7 / XP style Start Menu.
Delivery:
- The Update will be free of charge and delivered as a classic Windows update, like a system patch, instead of through a download from the Windows app store.
Sources: WinSuperSite | ZDNet | WZor | Win8China