Difference between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

Ramakrishna    October 19, 2013    comparison   

Windows has released its stable version and first major update to the operating system windows 8.1(v6.3.9600) on 17th of October 2013. It has been over 11 months since the windows 8 has released for general availability. In the windows 8 it had various changes in the UI to improve the user experience in touch based devices such as tablets. Many Users and reviewers criticised the initial release of windows 8 with the absence of start button on the desktop. Now with the latest update revamps with the start button on desktop and functionality within the "Metro" shell.Additional customization options (such as expanded color choices, new tile sizes, new backgrounds, the ability to use the desktop wallpaper as its background, and the ability to default to the "All Apps" view) were also added to the Start screen.

Here is the quick look for the changes applied to windows 8.1:

• Start button


• Resize Live Tiles


• Boot directly to desktop


• Automatic cloud syncing


• Improved multitasking


• Internet Explorer 11


• Enhanced support for smaller tablets


• and more

Start button: 

Windows 8.1 has got the metro UI start button on the desktop interface. The options for right click mouse button can had the controls to the advanced menu which includes Device Manager, Control Panel, Network connections and shutdown.

Resize live tiles:

It is possible to select multiple apps at the same time and resize, uninstall or rearrange. Ability to filter your apps by name, date installed, most used, or by category them.

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Boot directly to desktop:

To enable this setting hit right click when on the desktop followed by Properties. Click on the Navigation tab and then check the box next to the “Go to the desktop instead of Start when I sign in”

Automatic cloud syncing:

The users will be given the free space of 7 GB to store the documents. After that you have to pay for extra amount of data.

Improved multitasking:

Windows 8.1 has got 4 multitasking windows whereas in the previous version of windows 8 it is only 2 with 75% as one major area and 25% with another task

 Internet Explorer 11:

The ability to sync with the various devices through microsoft account is possible, allows browsing tabs side-by-side and more.

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Enhanced support for smaller tablets:

The latest OS has the support to the smaller tablets despite windows 8 made announcements for 10 inch + screens.

A number of additional stock apps were added, including Calculator, Sound Recorder, Reading List, Scan, and Help + Tips, which provides an interactive tutorial on how to use Windows. The system requirements for 8.1 remain identical to those of 8, except that x64 variants of Windows 8.1 require CPUs that support four specific x86 instructions.