Where Is Windows 8.1?

[Scorbing]

Source: http://www.pcmag.com...,2412796,00.asp

Where Is Windows 8.1?

by John C. Dvorak

As predicted, Windows 8 is neither setting the world on fire nor getting much sympathy from the critics. Microsoft must now make a bold move: release a version 8.1 as soon as possible.

Back before Windows 95, the company released a lot of "point step" incremental upgrade versions of both Windows and DOS. There was a Windows 3 and a Windows 3.1, for example. In fact, there was even a 3.11 and 3.2. This was done to tweak the offering as Windows was still being fine-tuned to meet user demands and needs.

This sort of tinkering was even more common during the DOS era. It became difficult with XP and Vista because there was no numbering scheme. By the end of the Vista era, people ended up forgetting the point step upgrades and instead used endless weekly patches.

With the introduction of Windows 7 and a return to the numerical system, we could easily have had 7.1 or 7.2, but of course that never happened. Now it has been nearly 20 years since the incremental changes were commonplace and I have to think that the young'uns who populate the Microsoft executive suite are clueless about and probably scared of the concept. They do not realize that it was this technique that made Microsoft what it is today and that it could restore the company to its former glory.

After all, why use numbering if you aren't going to implement point step changes? From a psychological perspective, users see point step changes as proactive. It looks like the company is busy working on new ideas and actively recompiling. Patch Tuesday and service packs make it look like the company is trying to repair a leaky boat. There's a huge difference in connotation. If you want to know why Microsoft stock has not moved in over a decade, this is the reason.

So what should 8.1 actually be?

The way I see it, 8.1 should have a software toggle that eliminates the clunky touch-screen interface altogether. Boom! Gone! The 40 or 50 people who buy touch screens for their desktop machine can toggle it on if they want it. This would immediately eliminate the stupidity of full screen apps that cannot be scaled down or windowed.

I've already written about this problem, but to summarize, people do not go out and buy a 27-inch monitor (or two of them) to run any application full screen. Why would they? And why would anyone want to run any application full screen ever? The only time you do it is perhaps to watch a movie on the computer. This incorrect notion obviously came from people who do not actually use computers. And this in itself is weird. Bill Gates is still the chairman of the company, so did he approve this nonsense at a board meeting or is he totally checked out from the company, preferring to hobnob with the elites in Africa?

Windows 8.1 could also incorporate all the patches thus far into a new build. I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea of having hundreds of patches in any OS is unnerving. I'd rather get a new build every so often. It's okay to have patches for a while, but then get rid of them with a new compilation and a numerical step.

Google is a pro at this, using the very old-fashioned "double point" upgrade, like Android 3.2.1 or some such thing.

I know for a fact that Microsoft was at least thinking about a yearly upgrade as far back as 1995. It couldn't pull it off and ended up with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000. Finally it gave up on the idea. Then the company came up with the "XP" and "Vista" monikers with patches galore and weird rebuilds called service packs. None of this worked as well as the more manageable point step system. The first service pack for Windows 7 should actually be Windows 7.1 and distributed as such, recompiled.

With Windows 8, Microsoft has the opportunity to return to this sensible and established concept by releasing Windows 8.1. It should do so now.

[Guest xiphi]

Dvorak. I stopped there.

[hooko22]

I use most if not all my programs in full screen!

[MarkusDarkus]

I think I should have done. :/

[exotoxic]

3.11 came before 3.2?? :s

[TheLegendOfMart]

I use most if not all my programs in full screen!

I don't, I regularly have at least 3-4 windows on my screen at any one time.

[@Leo]

I use most if not all my programs in full screen!

Windows 8 Metro apps are perfect for your kind, then.

[hooko22]

Windows 8 Metro apps are perfect for your kind, then.

I don't, I regularly have at least 3-4 windows on my screen at any one time.

Well I just use alt -tab. I also have two screens so one program in each window.

[FloatingFatMan]

Author is an imbecile.

[@Leo]

Well I just use alt -tab. I also have two screens so one program in each window.

I understand. It is such a sensory overload to have more than one thing on one screen. Right now I have a video playing, two Chrome windows, two explorer windows, NewsLeecher, PhotoShop and Steam open. My head will soon explode. Better move to one app. Better yet, to use the amazing multitasking skillz of Windows 8, Imma "pin" an "app" to the side. Amazing. 25 years of operating system development has finally led us in the right path.

[Brandon]

I've been using Windows 8 for a week now and have had no problems. Once you learn the shortcut keys, it's great

[XerXis]

Author is an imbecile.

well it's dvorak, saying he's an imbecile is kind of an oxymoron

[FloatingFatMan]

well it's dvorak, saying he's an imbecile is kind of an oxymoron

Sometimes, these things bear repeating. :p

[firey]

I use most if not all my programs in full screen!

You are doing it wrong.

[mrp04]

I seem to be able to multi-task and use Windows 8 just like I used 7. All I need to do once I boot my computer is click the Desktop tile.

[pack34]

Its already in development. Windows Blue should be out in 2013. For a tech journalist he seems out of the loop.

[Dot Matrix]

Dvorak. I stopped there.

This.

[ArialBlue]

Author seems to be a Mac fan or something. I mean come on, complaining about maximized applications?

The only OS where I don't get how to maximize anything is Mac. In Windows it is a god send - the ability to FOCUS on something.

[Niekess]

Latest Windows builds are rumored to be 957x.

It's called Windows Blue and will be a fix + feature pack.

[strotee]

well it's dvorak, saying he's an imbecile is kind of an oxymoron

Did you mean redundant?

[SfIsHeR1701]

Xp, vista, and 7 have all had revisions, they are call windows updates and service packs. Back in the windows 3 days, the internet being in its infancy, most people had dial-up whichmade these kinds of updates imposssible so they released 3.1, 3.11, and the chinese got 3.2

[sanctified Veteran]

Author seems to be a Mac fan or something. I mean come on, complaining about maximized applications?

The only OS where I don't get how to maximize anything is Mac. In Windows it is a god send - the ability to FOCUS on something.

Let me introduce you to the OS X fullscreen option. Introduced a year and a half ago and heavily critized by Windows users claiming that desktop guis should not be like tablet guis.

[Joshie]

The 40 or 50 people who buy touch screens for their desktop

And lo, Dvorak's disconnect from reality is established.

3.11 came before 3.2?? :s

Two things: (1) Yes, once upon a time, point releases followed the same math we learned in elementary school, where 3.2 is a larger number than 3.11. The concept of going from 3.9 to 3.10 comes from a culture of too many damn point releases between major versions. (2) Windows 3.2 was the Chinese release, and China *only*, which makes me wonder why Dvorak even bothered mentioning it.

[.Neo]

I've already written about this problem, but to summarize, people do not go out and buy a 27-inch monitor (or two of them) to run any application full screen.

Thank you. I've been saying that starting day one.

[Growled Member]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.