Microsoft to shroud Metro begin screen with Windows 8.1 Update

Microsoft to shroud Metro begin screen with Windows 8.1 Update 

There are reports circling, incorporating this January 30 one from The Verge, that Microsoft may be ready to shroud its Metro Start Screen with Windows 8.1 Update 1, by turning on as a matter of course the boot-to-desktop setting.

On the other hand, I'm listening to this may not wind up being the situation when Windows 8.1 Update 1 starts to be made accessible to clients preloaded on new Pcs and pushed through Windows Update. (That rollout is as far as anyone knows beginning in mid-March.) 

Windows watcher may review that in the wake of denying by and large to incorporate a boot-to-desktop setting with Windows 8.0, Microsoft surrendered with Windows 8.1 and included boot-to-desktop alternative to its working framework.

The nearing Windows 8.1 Update 1 is centered above all else on making Windows 8.1 more satisfactory to conventional mouse/desktop clients. This is an exceptional thing, as this is the center of Microsoft's sizeable introduced base. Furthermore, as I would like to think, it was a doubtful thought from the start to attempt to drive clients running Windows 8.x on non-touch equipment to cooperate with the working framework in a touch-first manner.

In the event that Microsoft did make skipping the Metro Start screen a default alternative, the organization might give designers even to a lesser degree motivation to compose Windows Store/metro Style applications. Yes, the capability to stick Metro Style applications to the desktop undertaking bar is evidently some piece of Windows 8.1 Update 1, as has been accounted for formerly. Be that as it may if clients don't have motivating force to search out Metro Style applications from the get-go, why trouble?

The list of capabilities for Windows 8.1 Update 1 is accepted to be bolted in as of right now, consistent with one of my contacts. While there's no explanation for why Microsoft couldn't select to make boot-to-desktop a general default - or even simply the default on non-touch devices/machines - my contacts don't accept this is right now the arrangement.

Microsoft authorities aren't remarking on anything to do with Windows 8.1 Update 1. They still haven't even confirmed it exists, in spite of the fact that there have been spilled fabricates and private showings of the advancing upgrade.

The Metro hater's guide to Windows 8.1

The Metro hater's guide to Windows 8.1

In unveiling Windows 8.1 earlier this year, Microsoft executives said, “We’re listening to feedback.” That’s a polite way of saying they were trying to avoid being splattered by a barrage of rotten tomatoes.

Some of the most vocal complaints—sorry, feedback—came from longtime Windows users who wanted the good parts of Windows 8 without sacrificing the familiar Windows 7 desktop. Responding to that complaint was the impetus behind Microsoft’s decision to restore the Start button in Windows 8.1 to its traditional place at the left side of the taskbar.

The good news: Windows 8.1 has all the user-interface pieces you need to bring the desktop to the foreground and make the Start screen recede far, far into the background.

The bad news: Windows 8.1 doesn’t have a magic “make Metro go away” button. Desktop diehards will need to spend a couple minutes (really, that’s all the time it takes) to tweak Windows 8.1 into submission.

Here’s what you need to do to make Windows 8.1 as desktop-friendly as possible. Note that all of the features I describe here are new or significantly changed in Windows 8.1 compared to Windows 8.

Step 1: Uninstall unwanted apps.

Your focus is on desktop apps. You have no desire to use any of the 20-plus built-in Metro apps and no plans to download any from the Windows Store. To reduce the chance that you will inadvertently launch one of the built-in apps, uninstall as many as you can. Windows 8.1 allows you to uninstall all of those apps in one operation; that’s a big improvement over Windows 8, which made you uninstall each app separately. (Note that you have the option to uninstall from a single machine or from all your synced devices.)

Step 2: Adjust the look of the Start screen.

Windows 8.1 includes an option that allows the Start screen to share the same background as the desktop. Personally, I find that setting somewhat distracting, so I leave it off. Instead, I recommend removing the pattern and adjusting the background color to something neutral. This dialog box isn’t in PC Settings, where you might expect it. Instead, you have to go to the Start screen, click the Settings charm, and then click Personalize. Note the background with no pattern is in the bottom row, second from the right.

Step 3: Tweak the Start screen settings to suit your preferences.

Right-click any empty space on the taskbar and click Properties. That opens up the familiar-looking Taskbar And Navigation Properties dialog box, with a Navigation tab that’s new to Windows 8.1. Options here allow you to bypass the Start screen at sign-in, show the All Apps screen when you click or tap Start, and disable the two hot corners at the top of the screen.

Step 4: Arrange the Apps screen.

You’ll probably want to avoid the Start screen completely, but you can’t avoid an occasional visit to the Apps view. It replaces the All Programs menu with a full-screen list, organized into groups. You have several sorting and grouping options in Windows 8.1 that aren’t available in Windows 8. To get to Apps view, go to Start by clicking the Start button or tapping the Windows key; then either swipe up from the bottom of the screen or move the mouse until a small down arrow appears in the lower left corner, which you can click to see your full list of apps.

Step 5: Pin your favorite desktop programs to the taskbar.

This is actually one thing Windows 8.1 does better than Windows 7. From the Apps view you can select as many desktop programs as you want and then click Pin to Taskbar from the command bar at the bottom of the screen.

Step 6: Set your default apps.

This is a step a lot of people overlook. By default, Windows 8 sets several common file types to open with Metro-style apps. Windows 8.1 follows in that tradition. You can use the awkward and confusing Default Programs option in the desktop Control Panel. But it’s much, much easier to use the new Defaults option, which you’ll find in PC Settings under Search & Apps.

Don’t forget to change your default browser here. If you use Chrome or Firefox, the desktop version of your preferred browser becomes the default. If you use Internet Explorer, be sure to visit the Internet Options dialog box using the desktop interface. On the Programs tab, under Opening Internet Explorer, choose Always In Internet Explorer On The Desktop, and also check the box beneath that setting (Open Internet Explorer tiles on the desktop).

There, you’re done.

That was probably more complicated than it needs to be, but the end result should be a system that is far more tolerant of your desktop habits, with far less Metro style.

Windows 8.1: What enterprise users need to know

Microsoft made available for download by the public as of October 17 the Windows 8.1 bits, as well as a few post-RTM updates to those bits. But what about enterprise customers?

Microsoft execs said last month that enterprise customers would be able to access the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) to get the Windows 8.1 Enterprise and 8.1 Pro bits, once they were made generally available. They noted at that time that Windows 8.1 (core) would not be available on VLSC.

Those promised Enterprise and Pro bits are available as of today, October 18, in the VLSC, Microsoft officials said. However, I am hearing from some volume license customers that they cannot see any listing for Windows 8.1 in the VLSC and they're being issued trouble tickets.

As Microsoft officials noted in an October 18 Springboard Series blog post, Windows 8.1 Enterprise cannot be updated via the Windows Store; it must be updated via the media from the VLSC.

Customers can opt to do an in-place update of their existing Windows 8 Enterprise installations by using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2013 or System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, or by burning the media to a DVD or copy to a USB key.

As a reminder: Anyone upgrading from Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1 GA should know that all applications — Windows Store and desktop/Win32 — need to be reinstalled as part of the update process.

Microsoft's Springboard blog post includes information on how those interested in moving from earlier versions of Windows and/or non-Enterprise SKUs of Windows 8 can move to Windows 8.1. The post also includes information about how IT pros can update their key-management service servers and keys for activation.

I've had a few users ask whether Microsoft plans to make Media (.ISO) updates available to the general public for Windows 8.1. The answer is no.

A spokesperson noted that the only way to update a retail-activated Windows 8 computer to Windows 8.1 will be to go through the Windows Store and download the updated bits. However, .ISO-based updates will be supported for volume-license installations (as well as for TechNet, MSDN and DreamSpark subscribers).

Why isn't Microsoft making the .ISO files broadly available for Windows 8.1? Another spokesperson told me it's because "8.1 was intended as an update for users with Windows 8 already installed." I know Windows Store downloads have been problematic for a number of users and spotty Internet has made downloading from the Store a challenge for some (especially outside the U.S.). But that's all Microsoft officials are saying right now about .ISOs.

Users asking about how to update their Windows To Go versions of Windows 8: Microsoft officials say you'll have to reimage your existing drives as part of the deployment process.

11 top Windows 8 apps

11 top Windows 8 apps for work and play

Windows 8.1 has rolled out, and the operating system is better than ever. Apps make any platform shine and while there aren't as many Windows 8 apps as there are on other platforms there are some pretty good ones.

11 top apps for Windows 8.x
This collection of 11 Windows 8 apps covers the spectrum, from leisure to productivity apps. There are apps to keep you informed and others to keep you up-to-date with your friends on social networks.

All of these apps have been tested on touch tablets to ensure each can be used handily by touch as well as on laptops and desktops.

There is a bonus slide that shows the author's favorite way to use snap view as that has been greatly improved in Windows 8.1.

These are not the only good apps on Windows 8 but are the top apps the author uses heavily. If your favorite app(s) is (are not) listed please share them in the comments below.

Note that all apps can be found in the Windows 8 app store, simply search for the app name in the Store app.