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Windows
8 Has Been A Major Fail for Microsoft, So Now It Will Fix Everything It Botched
And Make It Easier To Navigate And Customize.
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Microsoft
Corp is trying to fix what it got wrong with Window 8 and making the operating
system easier to navigate and enabling users to set up the software so it
starts in a more familiar format that it originally designed for personal
computers.
Later this
year, it will release a free update, called Windows 8.1, represents Microsoft's
concessions to long-time customers taken aback by the dramatic changes to an
operating system that had become a staple in households and offices around the
world during the past 20 years.
Microsoft
gave The Associated Press a glimpse at Windows 8.1 Wednesday. A more extensive
tour of Windows 8.1 and several new applications built into the upgrade will be
provided in San Francisco at a Microsoft conference for programmers scheduled
to begin June 26.
With
the release of Windows 8 seven months ago, Microsoft introduced a startup
screen displaying applications in a mosaic of interactive tiles instead of
static icons. The major design shift pissed off many users who wanted the option
to launch the operating system in a mode that resembled the old setup.
Windows
8.1 will now provide that option, although Microsoft isn't bringing back the
start menu. The old Start menu that could be found in the left-hand corner of a
computer screen by clicking a Windows logo on all other versions of the
operating system since 1995. The lack of a start button ranks among the biggest
gripes about Windows 8, but not the only one.
The
switch should ease the "cognitive dissonance" caused by Windows 8,
said Antoine Leblond, who helps oversee the operating system's program
management.
As with
Windows 8, the search bar can found by pulling out a menu from the right side
of a display screen. Rather than requiring a user to select a category, such as
"files" or "apps," Windows 8.1 will make it possible to
find just about anything available on the computer's hard drive or on the Web
by just typing in a few words. For instance, a search for "John Wayne" might display biographical information about the late movie star
pulled from the Web, a selection of photos and video and even songs she sang.
Anyone who want to hear a particular song stored on the computer or play a
specific game such as "Monopoly" will just need to type a title
into the search box to gain access within seconds.
The
redesigned search tool is meant to provide Windows 8.1 users with "pure
power and instant entertainment," said Jensen Harris, Microsoft's director
of user experience for the operating system.
Applications
also can be found by sorting them by letter or category.
Other
new features in Windows 8.1 include a built-in connection with Microsoft's
online storage system, SkyDrive, to back up photos, music and program files; a
lock-up screen that will display a slide show of a user's favorite pictures;
larger and smaller interactive tiles than Windows 8 has; and a photo editor.
Windows
8 has been widely panned as a disappointment, even though Microsoft says it has
licensed more than 60 million copies so far. International Data Corp. (a major
research firm), blamed the redesigned operating system for worsening a decline
in PC sales by confusing prospective buyers. Meanwhile, Windows 8 hasn't proven
it's compelling enough to put a major dent in the popularity of Apple Inc.'s
pioneering iPad or other tablets running on Google Inc.'s Android software.
Microsoft
had better sets things right with this new update of 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.
Tablets
sales is now being driven largely by less expensive devices with 7- and 8-inch
display screens, but Microsoft built Windows 8 to primarily to run on tablets
with 10-inch to 12-inch screens; an oversight that Leblond said the company is
addressing by ensuring Windows 8.1 works well on smaller devices.
If
Windows 8.1 doesn't stimulate more sales of PCs and tablets running on the
operating system, it could it could find itself falling from a leading
technology company, to a follower and also ran.
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| Windows 8.1 desktop will now feature the Start menu icon in the lower left corner |
