Microsoft releases Windows 8.1 Update 1 to manufacturing

Microsoft's Windows 8.1 Update 1 is done and heading towards general availability in April, according to various sources.

Microsoft has released Windows 8.1 Update 1 to manufacturing, according to my sources, as well as the known Windows leaker WZor.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 -- which Microsoft also has referred to internally as "Windows 8.1 Spring Update" and "Windows 8.1 Update" -- is designed to make Windows 8.1 more palatable and familiar to users who prefer to use mice as much, if not more, than touch
.

Read more at: Microsoft releases Windows 8.1 Update 1 to manufacturing | ZDNet
 
Thanks!


  • Metro apps have a title bar, with close/minimize buttons and the ability to “Split left/right” when you right-click it.
  • You can keep taskbar visible while using modern apps <- I'd like that :)
  • Control Panel item in metro PC Settings
  • 200% and 250% DPI scaling modes added to control panel (in 8.1 RTM, to get these values you have to go “custom”), 250% is the default on screens with more than 1800 vertical lines
  • Shutdown button on the start screen*, doesn’t show on less than 8″ tablets to prevent accidental shutdown
  • Search button on the start screen*
  • Instead of metro bars (top and bottom) a context menu appears when you right-click an app on the start screen*
  • Pinning metro apps to desktop taskbar*
  • Internet Explorer Enterprise Mode


New features in Windows 8.1 Update 1 is getting revealed every other day. We previously reported that Windows 8.1 Update 1 allows you to pin your Windows Store apps to the taskbar. Apart from that, the pinned Windows Store apps in taskbar also supports thumbnail previews. Today, McAkins revealed that pinning supported modern apps to task bar allows you to enjoy Jump lists and media controls features as well. For example, you can now access recently accessed documents in modern Adobe Reader app or recently saved URLs from Reading lists app with a right click on taskbar. See the screenshot above. Another cool feature is the support for media control in the taskbar for Windows Store apps that has media playing capabilities. Check out the screenshot below. You can play, pause, rewind, forward, etc,.

if they add disabling Corner action in multiple monitors, Ill be a very happy camper
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    0i812
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus VI Formula
    Memory
    Corsair 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 CMY32GX3M4A1866C9 1866MH
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x Crappy GeForce GT 640 2GB DDR3
    Sound Card
    I haz lollies ..
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x LG / 2 x Samsung 21 Inch
    Screen Resolution
    Crispy
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO (OS / Other)
    1 x Kingston 120G HyperX SSD (Swap)
    3 x Seagate SATA III 2TB Barracuda (Data Drives)
    1 x Seagate SATA III 1TB Barracuda (Media to XBox)
    1 x W/Digital SATA II 300G VelociRaptor (Image)
    PSU
    Silverstone 1500w
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 820 White Full Tower
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D14
    Keyboard
    Logitech G19
    Mouse
    Logitech G700 / Logitech T650 Touchpad Thingy
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 2+ (Australian version ... lol)
    Browser
    All of them
    Antivirus
    Nortons IS
    Other Info
    This one time at band camp ...
Now, if they would just let us download ESD bootable recovery media and email us our product key, we'd all be happy campers! :)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion
  • PC2
    Tablet - Windows 10 Home
  • Instead of metro bars (top and bottom) a context menu appears when you right-click an app on the start screen*
I'm very happy for all changes except for that one!
I'm the only one who thinks this is a major step back on the functionality of the Start Screen!?!? I mean, when I right-click on there, I can click the sub-menu I want in less than a second because I associate the icons and recognize them without reading what they say. Now with the "legacy" context menu items; there are no more big, organized icons in a row... :cry:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate/Windows 8.1 Update Pro with Media Center/Windows Technical Preview [All 64-bit]
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion g6-1d85nr Notebook PC
    CPU
    AMD A4-3305M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 1.9GHz
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard 169B
    Memory
    4GB Ramaxel DDR3 RAM 1.33 GHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6480G
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Toshiba HDD MQ01ABD050 ATA Device
    Internet Speed
    1 Mb/s Download & 400 Kb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11 [default]/ Pale Moon [64-bit]
    Antivirus
    MS System Center Endpoint Protection
  • Instead of metro bars (top and bottom) a context menu appears when you right-click an app on the start screen*
I'm very happy for all changes except for that one!
I'm the only one who thinks this is a major step back on the functionality of the Start Screen!?!? I mean, when I right-click on there, I can click the sub-menu I want in less than a second because I associate the icons and recognize them without reading what they say. Now with the "legacy" context menu items; there are no more big, organized icons in a row... :cry:

I'm going to take a guess that this will be a function one can enable/disable. Or as you said they are going backwards.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    0i812
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus VI Formula
    Memory
    Corsair 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 CMY32GX3M4A1866C9 1866MH
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x Crappy GeForce GT 640 2GB DDR3
    Sound Card
    I haz lollies ..
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x LG / 2 x Samsung 21 Inch
    Screen Resolution
    Crispy
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO (OS / Other)
    1 x Kingston 120G HyperX SSD (Swap)
    3 x Seagate SATA III 2TB Barracuda (Data Drives)
    1 x Seagate SATA III 1TB Barracuda (Media to XBox)
    1 x W/Digital SATA II 300G VelociRaptor (Image)
    PSU
    Silverstone 1500w
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 820 White Full Tower
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D14
    Keyboard
    Logitech G19
    Mouse
    Logitech G700 / Logitech T650 Touchpad Thingy
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 2+ (Australian version ... lol)
    Browser
    All of them
    Antivirus
    Nortons IS
    Other Info
    This one time at band camp ...
What about this part
"Windows 8.1 Update 1 will have a smaller footprint (1 GB of RAM; 16 GB of storage), which will enable device makers to put Windows 8.1 with the update on smaller, cheaper tablets. Windows"
Wander if this is going to affect desktops too.
The rest of the changes look just "Avon lady" stuff.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
What about this part
"Windows 8.1 Update 1 will have a smaller footprint (1 GB of RAM; 16 GB of storage), which will enable device makers to put Windows 8.1 with the update on smaller, cheaper tablets."
Doesn't even make sense. Footprint is size of installed software. This (seems to be) minimum specs. Agree the other changes aren't terribly exiting - at least to me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
Windows 8.1 Update 1 will have a smaller footprint (1 GB of RAM; 16 GB of storage)
Doesn't even make sense. Footprint is size of installed software. This (seems to be) minimum specs.

I can certainly see how that can be done. In fact, I have already done that on my own desktop. With that said, here is my current footprint (including the Win 8.1 OS) with 23 installed programs and 21 portable programs in use:

Screenshot (37).png

Screenshot (38).png

My only real concern would be that intent to run on 1GB of RAM because my allocation is slightly above that right now:

Screenshot (39).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I'm going to take a guess that this will be a function one can enable/disable.
I do hope so... or at least a tweak on the registry or something to reverse that change... :rolleyes:

I can certainly see how that can be done. In fact, I have already done that on my own desktop. With that said, here is my current footprint (including the Win 8.1 OS) with 23 installed programs and 21 portable programs in use:

View attachment 39014
How did you do that!?!? Only 11.7 Gigs???
That seems impossible to me! xDDD
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate/Windows 8.1 Update Pro with Media Center/Windows Technical Preview [All 64-bit]
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion g6-1d85nr Notebook PC
    CPU
    AMD A4-3305M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 1.9GHz
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard 169B
    Memory
    4GB Ramaxel DDR3 RAM 1.33 GHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6480G
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Toshiba HDD MQ01ABD050 ATA Device
    Internet Speed
    1 Mb/s Download & 400 Kb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11 [default]/ Pale Moon [64-bit]
    Antivirus
    MS System Center Endpoint Protection
How did you do that!?!? Only 11.7 Gigs???

It is certainly not impossible; however, it takes much due diligence to get to that point.

Here's another view for your edification:

Screenshot (42).png

Unfortunately, it would take too much time to document every step I've taken. Moreover, I'd like to avoid any negative comments regarding each of my detailed step as well; however, the bottom line is that it can be done. Now, as part of my "clean PC initiative", I have also managed to resolve every recurring Event ID error as well. The latest MS bug uncovered was just shared with (and confirmed by) Brink yesterday. Keep in mind there is no need to go to such lengths for the average user; however, I just considered it to be a challenge to see "how low can you go."

my2cents
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
UPDATE: I just changed that last view to show usage in Gigabytes so its easier to do the math:

Screenshot (43).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I'm wondering if this is all in an attempt to get "Metro" apps to behave more and more like desktop programs. The next logical step I suppose would be allowing Metro apps to run in ordinary, resizable, movable windows, like what people are already doing with ModernMix.

Even on my desktop machine, there are times when I don't mind at all having a beautiful modern app take up my whole screen. It's usually fine ... but a full-screen calculator? Hmm.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built/assembled myself
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350 Black Edition
    Motherboard
    ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1866
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Windforce
    Sound Card
    On-board audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Western Digital Caviar Black 2.0 TB SATA-3
    PSU
    Corsair HX850W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF XM
    Cooling
    Stock
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK520 wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech MK520 wireless
    Internet Speed
    22 Mbps
    Browser
    IE/Chrome/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes
More on my tweaking hobby. Here's a test of the launch time for OpenOffice on my PC. It generally takes about 1-2 seconds and please note that I do not have any quick-launch options set to be enabled at startup:

[video=youtube;vM1WfJL6b4I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM1WfJL6b4I&amp;feature=youtu.be[/video]

Hmm... I wonder how long it would take to launch MS Word?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
How did you do that!?!? Only 11.7 Gigs???

It is certainly not impossible; however, it takes much due diligence to get to that point.

Here's another view for your edification:

View attachment 39020

Unfortunately, it would take too much time to document every step I've taken. Moreover, I'd like to avoid any negative comments regarding each of my detailed step as well; however, the bottom line is that it can be done. Now, as part of my "clean PC initiative", I have also managed to resolve every recurring Event ID error as well. The latest MS bug uncovered was just shared with (and confirmed by) Brink yesterday. Keep in mind there is no need to go to such lengths for the average user; however, I just considered it to be a challenge to see "how low can you go."

my2cents

I do appreciate your reply... seeing that last picture, I realized more or less how you did to manage to get that small footprint on your OS! Especially when I saw the 200MB 'pagefile.sys' and the System Volume Information files!!! Mine is around 3.5GB (pagefile) and 6.3GB (System Volume) of space to give you an idea... so I can assume you did the exact same thing for other services such as 'hiberfil.sys', right (you know) reducing all system/resources files as minimum as possible?!?!?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate/Windows 8.1 Update Pro with Media Center/Windows Technical Preview [All 64-bit]
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion g6-1d85nr Notebook PC
    CPU
    AMD A4-3305M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 1.9GHz
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard 169B
    Memory
    4GB Ramaxel DDR3 RAM 1.33 GHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6480G
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Toshiba HDD MQ01ABD050 ATA Device
    Internet Speed
    1 Mb/s Download & 400 Kb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11 [default]/ Pale Moon [64-bit]
    Antivirus
    MS System Center Endpoint Protection

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Word 2013 - About 1sec on my computer. SSD

I get Photoshop CS6 at 5sec even with all the filters I have loaded. That makes me an extremely happy man. Not sure if it has to do with the fact that its on an SSD and has its own private 120GB SSD Scratchdisk
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    0i812
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus VI Formula
    Memory
    Corsair 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 CMY32GX3M4A1866C9 1866MH
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x Crappy GeForce GT 640 2GB DDR3
    Sound Card
    I haz lollies ..
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x LG / 2 x Samsung 21 Inch
    Screen Resolution
    Crispy
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO (OS / Other)
    1 x Kingston 120G HyperX SSD (Swap)
    3 x Seagate SATA III 2TB Barracuda (Data Drives)
    1 x Seagate SATA III 1TB Barracuda (Media to XBox)
    1 x W/Digital SATA II 300G VelociRaptor (Image)
    PSU
    Silverstone 1500w
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 820 White Full Tower
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D14
    Keyboard
    Logitech G19
    Mouse
    Logitech G700 / Logitech T650 Touchpad Thingy
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 2+ (Australian version ... lol)
    Browser
    All of them
    Antivirus
    Nortons IS
    Other Info
    This one time at band camp ...
I do appreciate your reply... seeing that last picture, I realized more or less how you did to manage to get that small footprint on your OS! Especially when I saw the 200MB 'pagefile.sys' and the System Volume Information files!!! Mine is around 3.5GB (pagefile) and 6.3GB (System Volume) of space to give you an idea... so I can assume you did the exact same thing for other services such as 'hiberfil.sys', right (you know) reducing all system/resources files as minimum as possible?!?!?

Yep! I only reduce resources that are not needed for my purposes and I'm going to leave it at that to avoid any negative comments regarding same; however, I will add one final note that my desktop boots from power on to desktop in 7 to 10 seconds without the fast starup option enabled (which is automatically disabled when you delete the hiberfil.sys file). One more comment and then I'm done. I have no need for a large pagefile. In fact, the only reason I have one is to do two things:

Stop the crash dump initialization error from appearing in the Event viewer on boot
Allow small crash dumps to be captured (if I ever needed to analyze them)

Good luck to all with their own personal choices regarding their own installation footprint.

my2cents
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I'm wondering if this is all in an attempt to get "Metro" apps to behave more and more like desktop programs. The next logical step I suppose would be allowing Metro apps to run in ordinary, resizable, movable windows, like what people are already doing with ModernMix.
I don't think they will do that thing, because it is stupid (really not offence)! xD
But if you could do that, why will bother to create a "metro" app, when it is going to act like a desktop program!?!? The only way I see they are doing that is using the same SDK for both desktop and "metro" programs. Until then, Metro should run on full screen (or be snapped in to any side of the monitor) and desktop programs should have all the flexibility it has today. :)

Even on my desktop machine, there are times when I don't mind at all having a beautiful modern app take up my whole screen. It's usually fine ... but a full-screen calculator? Hmm.

But I do agree with you on this, full screen calculator on a 19 inch monitor must be really frustrating! :D

I do appreciate your reply... seeing that last picture, I realized more or less how you did to manage to get that small footprint on your OS! Especially when I saw the 200MB 'pagefile.sys' and the System Volume Information files!!! Mine is around 3.5GB (pagefile) and 6.3GB (System Volume) of space to give you an idea... so I can assume you did the exact same thing for other services such as 'hiberfil.sys', right (you know) reducing all system/resources files as minimum as possible?!?!?

Yep! I only reduce resources that are not needed for my purposes and I'm going to leave it at that to avoid any negative comments regarding same; however, I will add one final note that my desktop boots from power on to desktop in 7 to 10 seconds without the fast starup option enabled (which is automatically disabled when you delete the hiberfil.sys file). One more comment and then I'm done. I have no need for a large pagefile. In fact, the only reason I have one is to do two things:

Stop the crash dump initialization error from appearing in the Event viewer on boot
Allow small crash dumps to be captured (if I ever needed to analyze them)

Good luck to all with their own personal choices regarding their own installation footprint.

my2cents

I don't know why they will be negative comments because of that, everyone should customize their computers towards their likes and needs... :huh:
But anyway, it is amazing what you have done as you created the faster yet stable PC as possible! I do understood how you made that possible and maybe I'm going to do the same thing on the future!!! :D
So thanks anyway for taking your time to explain that to me! :) :thumb:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate/Windows 8.1 Update Pro with Media Center/Windows Technical Preview [All 64-bit]
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion g6-1d85nr Notebook PC
    CPU
    AMD A4-3305M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 1.9GHz
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard 169B
    Memory
    4GB Ramaxel DDR3 RAM 1.33 GHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6480G
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Toshiba HDD MQ01ABD050 ATA Device
    Internet Speed
    1 Mb/s Download & 400 Kb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11 [default]/ Pale Moon [64-bit]
    Antivirus
    MS System Center Endpoint Protection
I believe the "footprint" was for bare windows with associated PF and such. Programs added later can vary in size and number an nobody can predict that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Back
Top