{"id":1950,"date":"2013-06-27T19:39:26","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T19:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=565"},"modified":"2013-06-27T19:39:26","modified_gmt":"2013-06-27T19:39:26","slug":"hands-on-with-windows-8-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/hands-on-with-windows-8-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands On with Windows 8.1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/Dsu3lSR.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"146\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Microsoft has released the much anticipated preview for Windows 8.1, satisfying consumer\u2019s requests for updates to the new operating system.\u00a0 While Windows 8 was an exciting and bold move for Microsoft, many people found its new UI confusing and missed their traditional desktop.\u00a0 Steve Ballmer, Microsoft\u2019s go-to spokesman, defended the change saying that \u201cthe Windows device of today doesn&#8217;t look like the PC of five years ago.\u201d\u00a0 He followed up by suggesting users purchase 2-in-1 devices for Windows 8.1 because customers who have Windows 8 on touch devices are happier with their system.\u00a0 Even though they had good reasons for their design, Microsoft still listened to their customers and made some changes to please them.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Customization<\/strong> \u2013 The start screen has been altered to allow you to rearrange and group items together in a visual pleasing and useful way.\u00a0 This makes for a more functional start area.\u00a0 They have also added personalized backgrounds of the start screen, giving you some more freedom of what your device looks like.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Start Button<\/strong> \u2013 The Start Button has been added back into Windows after much demand.\u00a0 Although it doesn\u2019t function exactly how it used to, it can be tweaked to show most apps and power options increasing Windows 8\u2019s usability.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Multi-tasking<\/strong> \u2013 Apps can now run side by side by snapping items into place.\u00a0 This is what using Windows is all about; the ability to work on multiple things at once.\u00a0 Glad they got this working well.\u00a0 They have also added more support for multiple monitors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Built in Bing<\/strong> \u2013 Bing is built into the search bar allowing for quick searches from your start page.\u00a0 The search bar will immediate pull results from your files, apps, and the web.\u00a0 Bing search has been improved, and is now able to pull video results and launch players when searching artists, as well as seeing pictures and text results.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Camera<\/strong> \u2013 8.1 features 360 degree panoramic photo taking simply by \u201cfilling in the missing pieces\u201d while taking pictures.\u00a0 The app called Photosynth pieces all the photos together like a puzzle and makes one big picture.\u00a0 Photos can also be edited on the fly, including color intensity and lighting through virtual radial dials.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Internet Explorer 11<\/strong> \u2013 This upgraded browser adds some much needed upgrades such as unlimited tabs and a reading list feature that helps you store articles for later reading.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Xbox Radio<\/strong> \u2013 For those of us who don\u2019t have Xbox Live accounts, Microsoft\u2019s music service hasn\u2019t been very useful, however 8.1 has added Xbox Radio, a free service for non-subscribers.\u00a0 The service functions much like Pandora and I Heart Radio, where you search for a song or artist, and it plays related items.\u00a0 A web-based version for non-Microsoft devices will be coming out soon as well.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cooking App<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t you hate getting your tablet dirty when you are reading a recipe?\u00a0 8.1 has a solution!\u00a0 A new app called \u201cBing Food and Drink\u201d allows you to find recipes, and swipe through the pages simply by waving your hand in front of the webcam.\u00a0 I hope to see this technology opened up to all developers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Virtual Keyboard<\/strong> \u2013 Microsoft has redesigned their virtual keyboard, improving on the initial design and adding shortcuts.\u00a0 Sliding your finger side to side on the space bar will select suggested words when typing, and pressing space bar will select it.\u00a0 This makes for easy typing without ever taking your hands off the keyboard.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boot to Desktop<\/strong> \u2013 Here is the big one.\u00a0 For those who miss their old run of the mill desktop view, there is hope.\u00a0 The boot to desktop option allows you to skip the start screen altogether and go straight to the old school view.<\/li>\n<li><strong>3D Printing Support<\/strong> \u2013 Windows 8.1 now supports 3D printing.\u00a0 Engineers rejoice!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I can\u2019t say whether 8.1 is enough to win over skeptics of the new OS, but I think Microsoft is definitely making some fantastic progress.\u00a0 If you doubted the OS before, it might be time to take another look at it, but follow Steve Ballmer\u2019s advice and make sure you are using a touch device.\u00a0 I have to agree with him when he said \u201cThe future of Windows is very, very bright.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft has released the much anticipated preview for Windows 8.1, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[508],"tags":[1025,1026,413,685,1010],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}