Sunday, May 18, 2014

Windows 8 .1 Update 1: hands on with Microsoft's most current Windows update

Windows 8.1 Update 1: hands on with Microsoft's latest Windows update

Update: Very good news, Windows 8.1 adopters you now have until June ten to set up Update 1 before penalties are levied.

"Penalties" may be a bit harsh. What you happen to be truly in for soon after June 10 if you fail upgrade is a cessation of updates.

"Updates ( including security updates) starting patch Tuesday in June 2014 and beyond will require this update to be installed," a Microsoft spokesperson told TechRadar via email. "If the Windows 8.1 Update is not installed, these newer updates will be regarded 'not applicable.' Customers' infrastructure will continue to function on the other hand, it ought to be noted that they can not consume any further updates till they apply the Update."

Enterprise customers have an even longer deadline of August 12 to set up Update 1. The extension applies to companies managing their systems making use of Windows Server Update Solutions (WSUS), Windows Intune or System Center Configuration Manager.

Critique continues beneath...

Microsoft bet on touch with Windows eight, and while the business claims customer satisfaction with touch devices running the OS is greater than folks working with non-touch Windows 7 computer systems, there's a large and vocal sector of the Computer population still miffed at the radical modify of focus.

With Windows eight.1 Update 1, Microsoft is holding hat in hand, hoping to make amends with that alienated group. Windows eight.1 update 1 is now out and offered for download, such as through Automatic Update.

Who are these forgotten folk, you ask? Why, none other than mouse and keyboard aficionados, of course.

As 1 Microsoft rep told me at Make 2014, eight.1 Update 1 is basically a set of refinements for mouse and keyboard users, providing far more context and efficiency for the standard click and cursor crew.

I tested this assertion for myself, and found that although Update 1 isn't brimming with massive alterations, it really is a very good start at winning back these who favor a mouse and keyboard.

Tablet users will not notice substantially of a distinction, but there are improvements to be had for them, as well.

Taking Update 1 to job

The largest addition to Update 1 is the taskbar that can be accessed from any screen. It is not permanently painted along the reduced portion of your show instead it jumps to interest when you move your mouse within the bar's bottom edge-dwelling zone.

In the taskbar, customers can pin each desktop and Windows Shop apps, letting them move straight to an app from the desktop or inside any application. The taskbar carries more than, so if you switch from the Start off screen to the desktop to IE11 to the Windows Shop, your pinned apps follow along.

Taskbar
Pin up apps

The taskbar is not obtrusive and ought to save users, specifically those maneuvering with a mouse, tons of time.

Customers can correct click to pin or unpin applications to the taskbar, a really mousey function and anything that won't be foreign to Windows 7 customers. It seems like an innumerable amount of apps can live on the taskbar, or at least the ones you have running at any given time.

By default, the Windows Store is pinned to the taskbar, with the concept getting that its omnipresence will enable mouse customers access the Shop quicker to uncover the applications they want. It may take some time to bear in mind the Retailer is actually accessible this way, namely mainly because the taskbar is not a continual fixture on the screen.

And like anything else, the Retailer is unpinnable, so it doesn't have to straddle the bar if you don't want it to.

Mighty mouse

The proper -click mouse action doesn't stop at the taskbar.

With Update 1, when customers correct click a Start out screen app, the drop-down context menu seems, and a little verify mark will tick in the app Tile's upper appropriate -hand corner. The context menu lets users unpin an app from the Start screen, resize it, uninstall and additional.

The menu existed before, but only in a touch version. Now, mouse users can tag and choose with out getting to lift their hand to the screen.

Pinning
Suitable clicking opens a once touch-only app menu

Hitting Alt and correct clicking lets customers pick as numerous Tiles as they want for rearranging and resizing.

Although proper clicking felt a lot much more organic than touching the screen, I identified it all a little clumsy depending on what device I was utilizing. What worked fairly smoothly on an Acer did not on a Dell. I only tested track pads as no mice were obtainable, so depending on the high quality of the hardware, you may be in for a rough ride.

I realize this isn't so significantly the software's fault as it is a hardware challenge, but it indicates people making use of Update 1 on diverse machines may possibly have vastly various experiences.

Speaking of hardware, Microsoft has lowered the necessary mass storage requirement from 2GB of RAM and 32GB with Windows 8.1 to 1GB RAM and 16GB with Update 1. This implies more low- price devices - and greater variance with the Windows knowledge.

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