Today, the world of gadgets and gizmos is ruled by two mantras – convergence and convenience. And a ‘touch’ brings them together. When touch – based user interfaces saw the light of day, they were widely heralded as the mother of all future inventions and the future of computing in the modern age.
Microsoft has now unveiled Windows 8.1 that uses the latest and best in touch-based user interfaces (UI) while also being compatible with keyboards and mice. With this update, Microsoft has taken the feature of personalization to a new level.
Here is a quick look at some of the most significant features that Windows 8.1 offers:
Faster Booting
Those who have had the chance to get their hands on a Windows 8.1 personal computer would agree that it has completely changed how users look at boot-up time. From starting your PC to logging in, the time span has reduced remarkably as compared to older operating systems. This allows the snazzy Windows 8.1 Live Tiles to greet you much faster than you would expect.
Attractive Lock Screen
An improved lock screen leads to an amazing start to your daily computing. Adding a hint of animation and moving picture frames on the lock screen brighten up your day.
For beginners, an informative demo and help tips will be the first interaction you will have with your Windows 8.1 PC.
Dynamic Start Screen
One of the things that will strike you immediately is that the Start button is back. Yes, another element from the native Windows OS, but in a powerful new avatar.
Clicking it will reveal a Start Screen that takes up length and breadth of your desktop screen (unlike the traditional Start menu). Big and small tiles bring the screen to life with all your favorite apps greeting you – all of which are customizable.
Dynamic Start Screen
The ‘Weather’ tile has been made large enough to flash weather updates from three of your most preferred cities.
As you check out other tiles on the Start Screen, you will chance upon another layer of improvisation. You can customize your Start Screen background too by choosing colors/themes and wallpapers and previewing them side-by-side.
A swipe up to the visually appealing Start Screen will bring you to a world of apps in Windows 8.1. Guess what–apps are not just for your smartphone or tablet. Windows 8.1 has brought the power and ease of use of apps to your personal computer too.
The Apps gallery
Once you have swiped up the Start menu, all your apps can be viewed in the same space on the Apps screen. You can organize these according to date of installation, names, category, or by ‘most used.’ The OS also allows users to create categories on their own by selecting and grouping preferred apps.
This interface will look very recognizable to Windows-phone users.
Snap View
The Snap View feature works differently for a small tablet and a big screen desktop.
On a tablet, the Snap View divides the screen into halves for a side by side view. One side displays the app gallery, the other half opens up an app you would like to work with (amount of screen space taken by both the sides can be customized).
On the desktop, Snap View can support four different apps, pushing the multi-tasking feature further.
So here is how it helps. For instance, in the redesigned Mail app that Microsoft has introduced in Windows 8.1, you can choose to view two e-mail messages side by side. If your e-mail contains images as attachments, you can view the e-mail on one side and view and edit images on the screen in Snap View.
Live Tiles make for a fun experience
Improved Search
Search is another feature in Windows 8.1 that has been improved and is really engaging. When you look up a word in the search bar, it not only pulls up relevant files and information from the PC, but also from OneDrive and the Internet – Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, et al.
Powered by Bing, a search result will also show up links to other queries. For an image search, the result will give you options to choose from a color scheme (Black and white, etc).
To get the maximum out of search result, all you have to do is opt for searching from ‘everywhere’. And results from everywhere will be displayed on the same screen.
OneDrive
One major update to the Windows OS is that it is also powered by Cloud. So your files rest safely on Microsoft’s Cloud – OneDrive and you can choose the option of working with the PC or OneDrive.
Another feature working in tandem with it is live syncing that has been directly integrated in Windows 8.1. This permits users to work with their own files even when they log into another Windows system.
There is a lot more to Windows 8.1–from applications on the PC and to the apps in Windows store, personalization of the Start Screen to personalization of the desktop, every element that is being offered in the Windows 8.1 has been redesigned. This includes the Internet Explorer which promises to be all improved for the touch friendly UI.
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