Start screen of Windows 8.1
Almost a month before the official launch of Microsoft’s latest update of its Windows 8.1 operating system, copies of the software have leaked online across a variety of file-sharing websites.
Windows 8.1 Update 1 has been designed to fix some of the major flaws that were found in the company’s latest OS and The Verge reports that significant changes have been made to the user interface.
The biggest and perhaps the most welcome change to users will be the addition of a search button and shutdown option available directly on the start screen with regular sidebars visible for easier access.
Better integration of mouse and keyboard
One of the biggest criticisms aimed at Microsoft was Windows 8’s greater suitability to a touchscreen tablet format as opposed to the more traditional keyboard and mouse.
This has been addressed with increasing options for opening, locating and editing the start menu.
This further ease of access and improvements can be seen with its Windows Live tiles that are used to feature apps and programs.
Now by simply right-clicking on one of these tiles, users are given the option to customise it in terms of size and position, as well as other options which weren’t as easily accessible before.
The final noticeable change has been the inclusion of the control panel into its settings menu again.
This particular build was supposedly a version from 14 January but barring some minor tweaks, the update is expected to remain largely the same.
