Microsoft Windows 8.1
By all accounts, Apple is about to unveil its 2013 update to the iPad mini, often dubbed the iPad Mini 2, at a West Coast event on Oct. 22. This time around, though, the iPad mini has a lot more competition in the small tablet world.
With its CEO position up for grabs and trouble selling the Surface/Windows 8 combination earlier this year, a lot is riding on Microsoft's Windows 8.1 update, which was released by the company to download for free on Thursday. Here's what the Windows 8.1 update has to offer.
Even offering a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 - which can cost over $100 on its own - preinstalled on Acer's last 8-inch Iconia W3 couldn't drive sales for the fundamentally flawed small tablet. This time around, running the new Windows 8.1 and fixing some of the basic hardware issues that tanked its earlier tablet, the Iconia W4 is back to boost Acer's reputation.
Microsoft has now confirmed what was once a rumor: Microsoft Office 8.1 will be released on October 17.
At the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco Wednesday, Microsoft unveiled their preview of Windows 8.1, the much-anticipated update to their ambitious Window 8 operating system. After outcry from Windows users about certain lacking features, and promises of improvements, it appears that Microsoft has delivered. How well? We'll just have to see.
New small-screen tablets running Windows have a new thing going for them, besides portability, new x86 processors and an updated Windows 8.1 operating system on the way. Soon, tiny tablets will come with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 included right out of the box.
Windows 8.1, previously codenamed "Windows Blue" is the much anticipated upgrade to Window 8, the Microsoft Windows operating system for PCs, desktops, and tablets like the Surface Pro. The new operating system is expected to bring a lot of little improvements, and one big one: the "Start" button that people have been waiting for is back. But there's a twist - the button doesn't bring up the old familiar "Start" menu that Windows devotees may want.
