Quote Originally Posted by Microsoft
The Windows 8.1 Update delivers a collection of refinements designed to give people a more familiar and convenient experience across touch, keyboard and mouse inputs. It also brings improvements for business customers, really accelerates opportunity for developers, and enables device makers to offer lower cost devices.
Full article here.

At the Microsoft Build 2014 developer conference held in San Francisco, a formal release date was announced for Windows 8.1 Update 1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Update 1. The update will be available via Windows Update on Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday which falls on April 8th.

But what does this update bring?
  • For non-touch enabled users: Users hating the new Modern UI interface will certainly like that the OS got the mouse and keyboard options back, along with the ability to pin the Store apps to the taskbar.
  • Performance: Microsoft improved the overall performance and lowered the system requirements, so low-budget devices can also benefit from the OS.
  • Seamless browsing on all devices: IE11 now adapts your sites to make them look like they were made just for your device.

Of course this is just a small list. Check the link above for more details. Windows 8 users cannot benefit from this update without first upgrading to Windows 8.1, which is free in the Windows Store.

As a sneak peek, Microsoft also showed a "new" feature coming at a later date on all Windows 8.1 and probably Windows Server 2012 R2 devices (below).

Click image for larger version

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