Microsoft were all set to showcase Windows 8.1, the first major update for their polarising Windows 8 OS, in just one month’s time, but the software has managed to leak ahead of schedule online.
Filesharers have been poking around Microsoft’s latest offering and uncovered some interesting, if fairly minor, changes. Mostly navigational, the new features have clearly been designed with mouse-and-keyboard users in mind.
Live tiles now have right-click context menus for resizing and moving, whilst apps can be closed, minimised and snapped with a mouse.
Perhaps most noticeably of all, search and shutdown buttons have been added to the start screen. A feature reminiscent of older Windows versions, the shutdown button provides a drop-down list for shutdown, sleep or restart. The search button placed to its left is a quick way to get to the standard sidebar interface.
A control panel link has been added to the PC settings section and users can now add store apps to the taskbar should they so choose.
For a closer look at the update in action, The Verge have compiled a handy gallery illustrating what’s on offer.
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