A Day that will Live in Infamy
April 8, 2014: A day that will live in infamy!
In case you missed it, this was WU Day, where Microsoft delivered an update package to all of the Windows 8.1 users in the universe. It was also the day Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP.
We awoke early on that fateful day full of anticipation, booted up our computers and - - - nothing happened. We tried again. Still nothing. Finally the great gift from the Boys from Redmond arrived at 3:30 p.m. accompanied by several security updates, which had to be installed before we could open the biggest package.
Hard drives whirred. Computers rebooted. And, finally, we were able to see everything Microsoft had wrought in its effort to appease us.
Were there noticeable differences? That all depends on what you're looking at:- The system booted to the desktop instead of the tiled Metro interface
- A link to the Microsoft Store suddenly appeared in our taskbar
But one thing everyone wanted was missing. Where was the highly-touted revised start icon?
Apparently the Boys from Redmond decided the mere appearance of the icon - - - that made its first appearance in Windows 8,1 - - - was good enough for the masses. For those of you unfamiliar with this icon, it sits on the left side of the taskbar and allows you to switch between the desktop and the Metro interface (although there is a bit more functionality if you right click on it).
Truthfully, most of the improvements were with the way the Metro tiles work with mice and keyboards.
- You can now close a program - - - or tile - - - by clicking on a red "X" on the top left of it's window or minimize the window by clicking on the "-"
- Internet Explorer now has similar features as it's desktop counterpart
- You can pin a tile to the desktop
- There's a taskbar on the Metro interface similar to the one found on the desktop
- Right clicking on a tile allows you to modify it, similar to the way you'd work with icons on the desktop
- There's now a control panel link in the "Settings" screen
The final verdict? The Boys from Redmond still haven't delivered all of the changes we wanted to see, but they're getting there.
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