#Windows 8.1 live desktop background windows 8.1#

In the forward direction we have a little more flexibility in Metro with live tiles, more 'discoverability' for inscrutable settings and actions, and a Metro Photos app that largely eliminates the need for a free photo editing package.

#Windows 8.1 live desktop background windows 8.1#

Think of Windows 8.1 as a few steps forward and a few steps back. We'll review the new Microsoft-originated Metro apps as they become available. 18 is anybody's guess, but it's likely that several of the Microsoft-written Metro apps will sprout much-needed features. What will happen between now and General Availability on Oct. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Microsoft devs are working overtime to zap a few outstanding bugs (I've hit a few) and to spiff up the still-laggardly Metro apps. This review covers Windows 8.1 as we see it right now - with the official bits available, as of yesterday, on TechNet and MSDN. And the only reasonable way to use the old-fashioned desktop still requires a third-party Start menu utility. The best improvements for developers sweep away some infantile restrictions. The best improvements for desktop users dismantle Windows 8's pushy ways - a fact that speaks volumes. Windows 8.1 also installs the worst privacy-busting feature Windows has ever seen, and it nukes several key Windows 7 features in its headlong pursuit of SkyDrive profits. Touch-loving tablet users are still saddled with a touch-hostile Windows desktop, while point-and-clickers who live and breathe the Windows desktop still can't make Metro go away. Windows 8.1 follows Windows 8 in typical Microsoft 'version 2.0' fashion, changing a bit of eye candy and dangling several worthwhile improvements - but hardly solving the underlying problem.