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Windows 8.1 detailed in video preview

Lewis Leong

Lewis Leong

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windows 8.1 previewWe already gave you guys a preview of the huge changes in Windows 8.1 but now Microsoft has released an official video showing off the updated operating system. There aren’t really many surprises in the video but it looks like Microsoft has been listening to user feedback.

Start with new background

The controversial Start screen is still there but will now feature a traditional Start Button instead of a hotspot, which confused many users. There are many more ways to customize the Start screen in Windows 8.1. Users now have the option to create small, medium, large and extra large sized tiles, similar to Windows Phone 8. Extra large widgets like the redesigned Weather tile will show more information. Microsoft has made it easier to sort apps by allowing users to select and group multiple applications at once.

Users will also have more personalization options with wallpapers that animate when you scroll as well as a ton of new colors. You can now use the desktop background as the Start screen background as well.

marilyn search hero

Perhaps the most useful and impressive change shown in the video is the redesigned search experience. Previously, Windows 8 featured universal search but it divided information into sections instead of one combined list of results. In Windows 8.1, there’s a beautiful page created for web queries and the universal search will show up all items in the same column so you don’t have to jump between sections to find what you’re looking for.

Users will have to wait until June 26th to get their hands on the public preview. In the meantime, check out the video walkthrough below.

[Source: WindowsVideos (YouTube)]

Lewis Leong

Lewis Leong

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