Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer says the latest update to Windows is a “refined blend” of its older operating system for PCs and its new touch-enabled interface for more modern, mobile devices.
After some hands-on time with it, the update seems to me like a patch over an ever-widening chasm.
The issue is that there are more than a billion personal computers that use some version of Windows as it existed until last October, when Microsoft unveiled Windows 8. All those PCs are responsive to mice and keyboards, not the touch screens and other input methods like voice and gestures that represent the future of computing. Making it easier to cross that bridge is one of the goals of Windows 8.1, a preview version of which Microsoft released on Wednesday.
After spending several hours with devices running Windows 8.1, it remains unclear to me whether a touch-based environment is what traditional Windows users want to accomplish the productive tasks for which they’ve come to rely on Windows.
But Microsoft has added to Windows 8.1 a grab bag of fun features that make the free update worthwhile.
One way Microsoft reaches into the past is by reviving the “Start” button in the operating system’s traditional ‘Desktop’ mode. It appears as a little Windows icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.