Microsoft has released Windows 8.1 Preview. The update gives users more control over their Start screen and desktop. There are new tile sizes and animated backgrounds for the Start screen. The desktop now has a Start button and right-clicking the button displays a menu with new options to shut down and restart.
There is also a new Navigation tab on the Taskbar properties dialog that has options to disable hot corners at the top, boot to the desktop, display the desktop background as the Start screen background, display the All Apps screen instead of the Start screen, and display desktop apps first. These options can create a full-screen menu similar to the one in Windows 7.
The Search charm has also been improved so that it searches everything instead of only apps, settings or files. It also searches Bing and provides a full-screen experience with information from Wikipedia and apps related to the query.
Windows 8.1 has better support for high-resolution displays and multitasking has been improved so more than two apps can be open at a time. Whenever an app launches another app, the screen splits in half so the user doesn’t lose context.
Also, most of the Control Panel settings have been moved over into PC Settings. Other features include SkyDrive integration, a redesigned Windows Store with recommended apps, Internet Explorer 11 and native 3D printer drivers. There are also new apps including Calculator, Reading List, Scan, Sound Recorder and Movie Moments. The Photo app has also been updated with photo editing and enhancement options.
Using Windows 8 and don’t mind reinstalling desktop applications when upgrading to the final version of Windows 8.1? Download the update here, restart and then install Windows 8.1 from the Windows Store app. Note that PCs with an English language pack must have their primary language set to English (US) for the update to install.
