Microsoft on Wednesday released a preview version of an update to Windows 8, aiming to address some of the gripes people have with the company’s flagship operating system online and on USENET newsgroups.
On paper, the list of changes that Microsoft made to Windows 8.1 don’t seem all that major. No, the app tiles aren’t gone. Yes, the Start button is back, but not exactly as you remember it.
Other new features of Windows 8.1 include more options to use multiple apps. People will be able to determine how much of the screen each app takes while showing up to four different programs, rather than just two. The update will also offer more integrated search results, showing users previews of websites, apps and documents that are on the device, all at once.
Windows 8, released Oct. 26, was meant to be Microsoft’s answer to changing customer behaviors and the rise of tablet computers. The operating system emphasizes touch controls over the mouse and the keyboard, which had been the main way people have interacted with their personal computers since the 1980s in the earlier years of USENET.
