Windows "Blue" Is Now Windows 8.1 And It's Free

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Windows "Blue" is now simply Windows 8.1 and it will be a free upgrade to all Windows 8 owners. The company also plans a preview of Windows 8.1 at the end of June.

The update to the struggling Windows 8 operating system, known by the code name "Blue," will be called Windows 8.1, a naming convention that Microsoft has used for its software updates for years. To date, the Windows division has updated the various versions of the Windows 8 operating system 739 times, Reller said. Windows 8.1, however, will offer significantly more changes than those frequent fixes.
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Its free for people who own Windows 8, it is being distributed through the Windows 8 Store, so only if you own Windows 8 you can see or download it. It does not mean its free for everyone, that would be like Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot and calling it a good idea. This is more of an intensive for people to buy Windows 8 (once more information about the update is made public).
 
They should be cool like Apple.... show them up and start releasing their OS' by counting down instead of up... YEA! Windows 0 baby!
 
RangerXML said:
Its free for people who own Windows 8, it is being distributed through the Windows 8 Store, so only if you own Windows 8 you can see or download it. It does not mean its free for everyone, that would be like Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot and calling it a good idea. This is more of an intensive for people to buy Windows 8 (once more information about the update is made public).
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The terminology may have changed but this is nothing really different than a Service Pack. So if you think of it that way, then yes - only if you own it do you get it, but if you don't own it, if you buy the base product you'll get the update too. Nothing strange there. And yes, maybe people who haven't bought Windows 8 yet because of the issues will look at this as incentive to do so.

Where did all the speculation about such an update not being free come from?
 
Captain_Antoneil said:
Free is still too high a price for Windows 8. If Microsoft pays me $100 I might think about about installing it. No guarantee, but I would think about it.
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Nothing really wrong wityh Windows 8 except it booting by default to tiles instead of desktop and no regular start menu.

Once that is fixed, it is better than 7 IMO.

I've been runinng it for a few months now.

True, a few things have been moved, but it is not worse than 7.
 
Give me the start menu and a clear indication of where and what the side menus are on metro and I'll consider installing it.
 
If this wasn't free I'd imagine quite a few people would be upset... Just think back to when Apple released Snow Leopard at $15 (IIRC) and everyone was up in arms that Apple was charging for a "service pack".
 
It doesn't take much to learn Windows 8... I've been running it for a while now and don't mind it at all. To me it actually seems to flow more fluently than 7. With 8.1 I am with just about everyone though in requesting the Start menu back even though there is and has been alternatives for that since before Windows 8.
 
Wait so this update doesn't add the stock start menu back? :confused:
I was hoping...
 
They better add the ability to skip "Metro UI" and go straight to the desktop. Otherwise Windows 8.1 will be just as much a failure as Windows 8 is..
 
all service packs are free ... and this is one tho admittedly if they add some features it will truly break the normal template.
 
glad they are making it free. I've used Win 8 from the beginning and if they were going to charge for it them I may have reinstalled Win 7. I think this update will make things right, the critism of Win 8 has been so overwhelming that they will make the proper adjustments.
 
MasonD said:
Wait so this update doesn't add the stock start menu back? :confused:
I was hoping...
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By all indications and rumors, unfortunately no.

It looks like we'll get a boot-to-desktop option that has to be enabled first. The Start Screen will be the default way to open and select programs it seems.

On the other hand, we get a direct view of the Desktop after booting into Windows now.
 
DejaWiz said:
Both of these need to be addressed and confirmed as features in W8.1 or I will throw it on the same fire as I did W8.
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What good is that going to do you if you really did burn your copy of Windows 8? Oh wait, so you're going to pay double or you didn't dispose of your copy of Windows 8 like you claim?
 
RangerXML said:
What good is that going to do you if you really did burn your copy of Windows 8? Oh wait, so you're going to pay double or you didn't dispose of your copy of Windows 8 like you claim?
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I'm an MSDN member, I can download it and burn it whenever the fuck I want.
 
I would have paid for it. At most it would've been $20.
 
Service Packs were always included on previous releases. They are apparently just going a more Apple marketing strategy this time around.
 
g-money said:
Where did all the speculation about such an update not being free come from?
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Because Windows 3.0 to 3.1, not free. Windows 98 to Windows 98 SE, not free.

Free came with the Service Pack naming convention. Moving away from the Service Pack convention could have been tied to also charging again.

And for all we know, that could have been the plan until they thought it through.
 
Why in the hell would you want a start menu back? Menus, sub menus, links to take you to different screens with more icons, possibly more menus. All of it is a giant waste of time. Getting rid of the start menu, aside from the under the hood changes (which makes Windows 8 better than 7 on many levels), is the best thing Microsoft ever did. Many things could use tweaking (like making things more apparent and giving better indicators on what you can do from any given screen) and a boot to desktop option is one must have item, but the start menu needs to stay gone.
 
Lakku said:
Why in the hell would you want a start menu back? Menus, sub menus, links to take you to different screens with more icons, possibly more menus. All of it is a giant waste of time. Getting rid of the start menu, aside from the under the hood changes (which makes Windows 8 better than 7 on many levels), is the best thing Microsoft ever did. Many things could use tweaking (like making things more apparent and giving better indicators on what you can do from any given screen) and a boot to desktop option is one must have item, but the start menu needs to stay gone.
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Best thing for you, perhaps. Not the best decision Microsoft made for their bread and butter segment: corporate enterprises. In order to get people trained on the GUI changes, it would cost businesses millions if not billions of dollars globally. And that's not counting the loss of productivity becuase of the GUI changes or even business specific software incompatibilities. The best decision Microsoft could have done it allowed the option of the current Metro UI and desktop layout or the ability to revert back to a Win7 style boot to desktop and start button.
 
meh, I'll welcome the update. Wasn't a fan of Windows 8 when it came out and I'm still not big fan, but I've got it installed on my office system for the last couple weeks and starting to get used to it. Of course, I spend most of the time on the desktop and not the start screen, but overall I'm getting more used to it every day.

Being in the tech field... I don't see Microsoft changing directions anytime soon so I might as well get accustomed to it and learn to support it. I've been running it in a VM for a couple months and I'll still say that it sucks in a virtual environment (the charm bars and navigation is a PITA in a windowed screen).

The one system I really need to install it on is my HP 2740p which has a touch screen.
 
Lakku said:
Why in the hell would you want a start menu back? Menus, sub menus, links to take you to different screens with more icons, possibly more menus. All of it is a giant waste of time. Getting rid of the start menu, aside from the under the hood changes (which makes Windows 8 better than 7 on many levels), is the best thing Microsoft ever did. Many things could use tweaking (like making things more apparent and giving better indicators on what you can do from any given screen) and a boot to desktop option is one must have item, but the start menu needs to stay gone.
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Does anyone even go deep into the start menu anymore after Vista implemented the search bar? I've got my frequently pinned items right up front in the start menu, or I just use the search bar. Short of voice recognition and a search just popping up giving me my results without having me click or type, I don't know how it could get any more efficient than it already is in Windows 7. Windows 8 was a huge step back in that department.

I was actually a Vista supporter because of the start menu, and aero was just way more efficient going through multiple windows on the desktop quickly. So I'm not one of those unwilling to change.
 
Pinning things to the start menu would be less efficient then just putting them on the desktop or taskbar. Also, the search bar doesn't need to be in a start menu and could/should be activated just by typing, even while in desktop mode (provided a window isn't active or on an icon etc.). Currently, that only works at the start screen in Windows 8, where you start typing to search. I can completely agree on a boot to desktop, but the traditional start button, that leads to menus, then sub menus etc. isn't needed, not even for corporate users/enterprises. Other than familiarity, what's the benefit?
 
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