Microsoft is giving people a peek into Windows 8.1, a free
update that promises to address some of the gripes people have with the
latest version of the company's flagship operating system.
Although
the preview version of Windows 8.1 is meant for Microsoft's partners
and other technology developers, anyone will be able to download it for
free, exactly eight months since desktops, laptops and tablets with
Windows 8 went on sale. The version of the Windows 8.1 update meant for
the general public will come out later in the year, though a specific
date hasn't been announced.
Many of the new
features have been shown off already. A three-day Build conference,
which in San Francisco, will give Microsoft developers a chance to learn
more about the new system and try it out. It also will give the company
a chance to explain some of the reasoning behind the update and sell
developers on Microsoft's ambitions to regain relevance lost to Apple's
iPad and various devices running Google's Android software.
There's
also speculation that Microsoft could show off a new, smaller version
of its Surface tablet computers. One of the new features in Windows 8.1
is the ability to work well on smaller-screen devices.
Windows
8, which was released October 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.
But some people have been put off by the radical makeover.
Although
Microsoft has said it has sold more than 100 million Windows 8 licenses
so far, some analysts have blamed the lackluster response to the
operating system for a steep drop in PC sales in the first three months
of the year, the worst drop since tracking by outside research firms
began in 1994.
Among the complaints: the lack
of a Start button on the lower left corner of the screen. In previous
versions of Windows, that button gave people quick access to programs,
settings and other tasks. Microsoft replaced that with a tablet-style,
full-screen start page, but that covered up whatever programs people
were working on, and it had only favorite programs. Extra steps were
needed to access less-used programs. Settings, a search box and other
functions were hidden away in a menu that had to be pulled out the
right. How to do that changed depending on whether a mouse or touch was
used.
And while Microsoft has encouraged
people to use the new tablet-style layout, many programs - including
Microsoft's latest Office software package - are designed for the older,
desktop mode. People were forced into the tablet layout when they start
up the machine and had to manually switch the desktop mode each time.
Windows
8.1 will allow people to start in the desktop mode automatically. In
that mode, it is restoring a button that resembles the old Start button.
Although the Start button will now take people back to the new
tablet-style start screen, rather than the old Start menu, the
re-introduction of the familiar button may make it easier for longtime
Windows users to get accustomed to the changes.
Other
new features of Windows 8.1 include more options to use multiple apps.
People will get more options 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,at
once.
Although Microsoft is addressing much
of the criticisms with Windows, it is positioning the update as more
than just a fix-up job. its perspective, the tuneup underscores
Microsoft's evolution into a more nimble company capable of moving
quickly to respond to customer feedback while also rolling out more
innovations for a myriad of Windows devices - smartphones, tablets or
PCs.
It's crucial that Microsoft sets things
right with Windows 8.1 because the outlook for the PC market keeps
getting gloomier. IDC now expects PC shipments to fall by nearly 8
percent this year, worse than its previous forecast of a 1 percent dip.
IDC also anticipates tablets will outsell laptop computers for the first
time this year.
The growing popularity of
tablets is now being driven largely by less expensive devices with
display screens measuring 7 inches to 8 inches diagonally. Microsoft
built Windows 8 primarily to run on tablets with 10-inch to 12-inch
screens, an oversight that Microsoft is also trying to fix with Windows
8.1.
Microsoft has said the company was
working with other manufacturers to make smaller tablets, but it has yet
to confirm reports that it is making its own. A smaller Surface with an
8-inch screen would be significantly smaller than its current,
10.6-inch models and would put the Surface in closer competition with
Apple's iPad Mini, Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD.
Such
a device would coincide with Intel Corp.'s recent release of a new chip
line called Haswell. The company says Haswell chips offer a 50 percent
improvement in battery life over the previous generation when playing
back high-definition video.
In an indication
that Microsoft Corp. is clearing out inventory of a Surface tablet
running the lightweight Windows RT operating system, the company is
effectively cutting the price of that by including a keyboard cover for
free. The cover sells for $120 or $130 on its own.
Microsoft
also said this month that it would give buyers of the RT version of
Surface the Outlook email and calendar program at no extrage - joining
other Office freebies Excel, Word and Power Point - and sweetening the
offer for the device that is priced starting at $499. That will come as
part of the Windows 8.1 update.