Windows 8.1 'Blue': everything you need to know

Microsoft's Windows 8.1 update is now available to download. Windows 8 users will see a notification in the Windows Store with a prompt to upgrade to the new operating system. Microsoft has added a number of improvements with this update, including built-in Bing search, smart SkyDrive syncing, and visual changes to the Start Screen and application snapping. For a full overview of all the features see our Windows 8.1 review.

A year ago, Microsoft "reimagined" the look and feel of Windows, and placed a risky bet on the future of computing. Touch is everything, it said, and nearly everything about Windows 8 was designed to be used in a world without laptops and desktop PCs. But most people still use laptops and desktops, so Microsoft hedged its bets and built a desktop mode as well. Millions of people installed Windows 8, but Microsoft’s two worlds, each with different applications, created a steep learning curve with Windows 8 that wasn’t familiar for traditional Windows users.

With Windows 8.1, a free update designed to address some of its users’ concerns and enable a faster pace of Windows releases, Microsoft tries to bridge the gap between old and new, between mouse and touchscreen. The new OS looks and feels mostly the same, but its many small tweaks make for a significant update — and hint at the future of Microsoft's vision for its own computing platform. Microsoft is completely invested in Windows 8, and it’s been busy over the last twelve months, but making Windows 8.1 into something easier and more familiar is no small task. Microsoft’s chance to usher in the touch-friendly, tablet-filled future it imagines — take two.

Microsoft is also planning to change the way it sells copies of Windows 8.1. With Windows 8 you had to buy an upgrade edition online or at retail stores, and the company never offered full versions. Windows 8.1 will be offered at retail or via the download option in what the company calls "full version software." The change is in response to feedback around scenarios where people want to build PCs or run Windows 8.1 in virtual environments. If you buy a copy of Windows 8.1 then it's a full version, rather than simply an upgrade edition.

Microsoft announced the finalization of its Windows 8.1 update today, and after several hours the final build has made its way onto the internet. Several file sharing sites have copies of the Windows 8.1 update nearly two months before Microsoft plans to release it to the public. The leaked build incorporates the final changes made to Windows 8.1 from its preview earlier this year.

Microsoft has added a Reading View to Internet Explorer 11 to make news articles easier to read, an improved blue theme to its Mail client along with a number of feature additions, and a Help + Tips application that guides users through the OS. The built-in applications also include Windows Phone-like menus, with a row of three dots that bring up the application bar and additional settings / options.

Microsoft is currently testing near-final versions of Windows 8.1, but the company won't release the final update publicly until October. According to sources familiar with Microsoft's plans, the software maker will finalize, or Release to Manufacturing (RTM), Windows 8.1, but the update will not be pushed out to existing machines until October. Partners and PC makers will receive the final bits later this month, and the gap until an October release will allow them to finalize their own testing and drivers for the roll out.

We're told that the Windows 8.1 update will be made available in October alongside new hardware from partners, including 7- and 8-inch devices. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley originally reported details on the Windows 8.1 timing on Monday, and our own sources have confirmed that the gap from RTM to release will also allow Microsoft to continue supplying fixes and patches ready for the General Availability in October.

Microsoft is making use of its Skype acquisition for Windows 8.1, opting to bundle it into a final version of the OS. Existing preview versions of Windows 8.1 do not include the traditional built-in Messaging app. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed to The Verge that the final version of Windows 8.1 will kill off the Messaging app in favor of Skype integration.

Skype is more tightly integrated in Windows 8.1, with improvements to answer voice and video calls from the lock screen. The decision to drop the existing Messaging app is all part of the Messenger service retirement. Microsoft started to force Messenger desktop users over to Skype in April, but the Windows 8 Messaging app was left untouched. The built-in version of Skype for Windows 8.1 will likely work in the same way it does today, as a separate application with close ties to additional apps. Windows 8.1 is expected to debut later this year alongside new 7- and 8-inch form factors.

Acer's Iconia W3, an 8-inch tablet given free to all Build attendees, is a gift horse whose teeth are hard to ignore. It's surprisingly heavy, a little unwieldy, and the 8-inch screen is extremely poor. Still, that 1280 x 800 screen and Atom processor let us check out how the Windows 8.1 Preview runs on smaller tablets, and the results are actually pretty good. It's the same interface you'd expect, only small enough to fit in a purse and with some important tweaks on top.

The Surface Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, Toshiba Kirabook, Dell XPS 12, and many other high-end Windows 8 machines suffer from the same nasty flaw: even as their high-resolution touchscreens are crisp and beautiful, the user interface is often too small. Text can be hard to read and touchscreen buttons extremely difficult to touch. That could all change soon, though. Windows 8.1 will add support for high-density displays, finally scaling the user interface to these increasingly high-quality devices.

Microsoft launched Windows 8 on October 26th, with a volley of new hardware designed for the touch-based interface. Just 12 months after an early Windows 8 Release Preview, Microsoft is now keen to talk about some upcoming changes in an update named Windows 8.1. Originally codenamed Blue, Windows 8.1 sets the pace for changes to Microsoft's software that will continue in the future for both the ARM (RT) and x86 versions of the OS.

We've seen hints thanks to some leaks, but there are a whole host of additions and improvements that make some fundamental changes to Windows 8. The Start button makes its rumored return, as Microsoft has responded to clear feedback. Is it enough? Are things moving quickly over in Redmond? Let's find out.

It's official. Microsoft is bringing back the Start button. While company executives have hinted at its return, and details leaked recently, Microsoft is now ready to talk Windows 8.1. The software giant will add the infamous button and a number of options to Windows 8.1 to appease desktop users in the upcoming update.

"One of the things we realised right after we shipped Windows 8, was that the start tip was the only place in our entire ecosystem in which we had something that takes you back to the Start Screen that didn't look like a Windows logo," explains Jensen Harris, director of the Windows User Experience Team at Microsoft. On the Charms bar there's a Windows logo, tablets have a Windows logo, and keyboards and mice even have the Windows logo, but Microsoft ended up adding an odd looking start tip in the lower left-hand corner of Windows 8 instead.

Leaked screenshots have revealed the look of the Start button that's rumored to be returning to Windows in its 8.1 update. Paul Thurrott has posted images showing the brand new Start button fashioned as an unadorned Windows 8 icon. According to ZDNet, clicking on the button will likely return users to the Start Screen, rather than opening a menu like in earlier versions of Windows. However, the Start Screen can reportedly now use your desktop wallpaper as its background, helping to blend the potentially jarring change between the desktop and Modern UI style interface.

Recently leaked copies of Windows 8.1, which includes Internet Explorer 11, have suggested that Microsoft will support WebGL shortly, a specification that lets webpages render 3D graphics. The software giant is dropping a big hint towards that support today with a teaser on Vine. After a set of entertaining Vine ads for IE recently, the latest asks "what's next? WebGL?"

The hints mean that Microsoft has likely engineered WebGL to fit its security needs. Previously, the software maker has outlined security concerns with the standard, noting in 2011 that its current form was non-endorsable "from a security perspective." The Verge understands that Internet Explorer 11 does indeed include WebGL support, and that it will be delivered as part of the Windows 8.1 update later this year.

Speaking at JP Morgan's Media & Telecom Conference today, Windows CFO Tami Reller revealed that Windows 8.1 will be the official name for Windows Blue. The confirmation is not surprising given its presence in recently leaked builds, and it follows Microsoft's previous promise that developers will be able to install a Public Preview version of Windows 8.1 in late June.

Microsoft will offer Windows 8.1 as a free update to existing Windows 8 users through the Windows Store. The software giant is expected to detail the full improvements to Windows 8.1 at its Build developer conference in June. Early builds of Windows 8.1 have shown that Microsoft is aiming to improve its Start Screen interface and bring changes to accomodate additional screen sizes. OEMs are expected to release a number of 7- and 8-inch Windows-powered devices in the coming months ahead of Windows 8.1, with a big push this holiday season.

While Microsoft executives have been hinting at the arrival of a Windows 8 update, codenamed Blue, two Acer execs have been voicing their approval of planned changes for the OS. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Acer president Jim Wong explained that Microsoft is making alterations "at a high percentage" rate thanks to OEM input. Arguing that the world is not going 100 percent touch in the next five years, he says "touch makes a lot of possibilities for PCs," but that "you need to take care of the rest of the world that doesn’t need touch" too.

Windows chief Julie Larson-Green dropped big hints about changes for non-touch use of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system recently. Speaking at the Wired Business Conference earlier this week she reiterated previous comments from Windows CFO Tami Reller that Windows 8.1 will include changes based on user feedback. Discussing the potential return of the Start button, Larson-Green said that "there has been meaningful discussion" within Microsoft. Windows 8.1 is expected to include a Start button and boot-to-desktop option.

Speaking at the Wired Business Conference on Tuesday, Windows chief Julie Larson-Green confirmed Microsoft will ship a developer release of Windows 8.1, codenamed "Blue," at the end of June. The release will be available during the company's Build Developer conference, Larson-Green confirmed.

Microsoft is expected to ship a public preview of Windows 8.1 during Build, with a final edition due before the end of the year. Windows CFO Tami Reller recently revealed that the software giant is planning changes for WIndows 8.1 in reaction to some customer feedback. Discussing the requests for a Start button in Windows 8, Reller said, "We've really also tried to understand what people are really asking for when they're asking for that."

After acknowledging its Windows Blue codename publicly in March, Microsoft is getting closer to revealing all about the upcoming Windows 8 update. In an interview with The Verge this week, Microsoft's Windows CFO Tami Reller provided some details on where the company is heading with its Blue project.

Although Windows 8.1 has been spotted in a number of leaked builds recently, Reller says Blue is simply an "internal name" and that the company isn't yet discussing exact naming, pricing, and packaging details. All of those details will be revealed by the end of the month she says, well ahead of Microsoft's Build developer conference in June. "Blue is an update," says Reller. "That's a good way to describe it, that's a good way to think about it." It's an update to Windows 8 that Microsoft is focusing on three key areas with: the touch vision, addressing feedback, and new form factors.

Microsoft has been testing a variety of Windows 8.1 builds internally, and some of those software milestones have made their way onto the internet. The latest, build 9385, hasn't been leaked to file sharing sites, but screenshots are starting to emerge that reveal some additions to Windows 8.1. A new lock screen app setting appears to let Windows 8.1 users choose an app to show alarms. Existing apps do not currently support the feature, but it's believed that third-party app developers will be able to create alarms, as well as notifications, for their applications.

Windows 8.1 build 9385 also includes improved developer tools for IE11, with a new interface for accessing debugging and other options. A previously discovered "Kiosk Mode" appears to have been renamed too, referenced as "Assigned access" in the latest builds — a quick way to lock down a user profile to a specific Windows 8-style app. A boot to desktop option and start button are still not present, but Microsoft is understood to be adding both to the final versions of Windows 8.1. A public preview build is still expected to be made available at Microsoft's Build developer conference in late June.

While Microsoft is preparing to unveil a public preview of Windows 8.1, it looks like Windows RT and Windows Server 2012 users won't be left out of the new upgrade cycle. A recently leaked build of Windows 8.1 has revealed references to a Windows RT 8.1 Preview and Windows Server 2012 R2 in the code of some files in the operating system. Microsoft is understood to be preparing a "Blue" update for its Windows range of products, so this naming is consistent.

The mention of a Windows RT 8.1 Preview suggests that the company may also be preparing to launch a Public Preview version of its Windows RT upgrade for Surface RT and other tablets at the upcoming Build developer conference. Microsoft is preparing to detail all of Windows 8.1's changes at the conference, alongside new features and plans for the company's 7- and 8-inch hardware due later this year. Microsoft CFO Peter Klein recently revealed that Microsoft is working on "small touch devices" that are powered by Windows and due from OEMs in the "coming months." Windows RT hasn't been adopted by many OEMs, but with rumored OEM pricing changes it might be the perfect match for smaller hardware this year.