Microsoft will update Windows 8 in time for the holidays this year, and it focuses on three areas – touch vision, new form factors, and crucially, user feedback.
In an interview given to the Verge, Microsoft’s Windows CFO Tami Reller confirmed that with Blue, the company has, ‘an opportunity with Blue to address some of the feedback that (it is) seeing from customers and from the market.’
The two changes we would expect are a return of the Windows Start button on the classic desktop view, and an option to boot to that desktop, bypassing the new ‘modern user interface.’ This would address the biggest complaints from Windows 8 users, although we think a returning Start Button may be a way to switch to the Modern UI, and not the same button you see in Windows 7.
The other changes in Windows 8 Blue are more focused on tablets, specifically optimizing the operating system for smaller screens.
In leaks of the Windows Blue update we have seen other new features. There will be a modern UI file manager, which will let RT users manage files more easily, and multitasking is improved. The search charm will give you better results, while there’s also an easier to access apps list with a ‘most used apps’ section.
The final details of this Windows 8 update will be confirmed by the end of May, according to Reller, so we won’t have to wait until Microsoft’s Build developer conference in June.
UPDATE: Microsoft has confirmed that developers at the company’s Build conference will receive a public preview edition of Windows Blue.
[Souce: The Verge]
