The 5 Coolest New Features In Microsoft Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 Start Menu Microsoft

 

Windows 8.1, the first update to the wildly different new version of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, just arrived in beta. It's easy to download--easier than the new version of OS X, anyway--but is it worth it? Check out these features and decide for yourself.

The Return of the Start Button

The Start button has been a major part of Windows since all the way back in Windows 95, but Windows 8 removed it. The Start menu, these days, is a totally different-looking touch-friendly array of shiny live-updating squares, but you access it by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard rather than a button in the applications bar. For whatever reason, this alarmed people, so Microsoft stuck in a button where the Start button used to be.
It pops up a semi-transparent version of the modern Start menu, over whatever else you were doing. Cool I guess! You can also right-click to bring up other options like "shut down."

Hands-Free Mode

This is one of my favorite parts of Windows 8.1. Microsoft has a ton of apps already installed, from news readers to music and video players to games, and has updated a lot of those with cool new features. The Food & Drink app collects recipes and tips from famous chefs, but if you're reading it while cooking, you don't want to muck up your screen by touching it with your dough-covered hands or whatever. So Microsoft used some of its expertise from the Kinect and made a hands-free mode.
Just wave your hands to swipe through pages and recipes. The computer's webcam will do the job of the Kinect. Pretty cool!

Windows 8.1 Search:  Microsoft

Search Is Actually Universal

The "Charms" menu, which you access by swiping in from the right side of the screen, has always had a search option, but it wasn't all that useful before. Now it's a true universal search function, allowing you to search Bing, but also your files, folders, and applications, all in one box.

New and Updated Apps

Yes, Windows 8 (and 8.1) has apps, just like a tablet or smartphone. These are different from regular applications like Word or iTunes; apps are designed to be used with touch, when your computer is doubling as a tablet. And Microsoft is surprisingly good at designing them. There are a few new ones for this update: a calculator (with scientific and unit converter built-in); Health & Fitness (which monitors your diet and exercise, sort of like a simpler Fitbit); Reading List, which like Instapaper or Pocket lets you save long items to be read later; and updates for existing apps ranging from some small cosmetic changes to the Maps app to a total visual overhaul for the Music app.

Inside the MakerBot Store:  Dave Mosher

3-D Printer Support

Microsoft says Windows 8.1 is the first operating system to support desktop 3-D printers like Makerbot or Solidoodle intrinsically. 3-D printers will have a driver and an API, just like a regular 2-D printer (or, really, any accessory) so you should be able to hit File -> Print from your 3-D modelling software the same way you would to print from Microsoft Word. Not a huge difference--it's not like it's hard to print with 3-D printing software--but should make things a bit easier in the long run as new software and hardware can all rely on a single driver.