Easier access to your favourite apps and key controls

  • Power and Search buttons on the Start screen. These buttons appear in the top-right corner of the Start screen next to your account picture. You can shut down your PC or search for things quickly and easily from Start. (Some types of PCs don't have the Power button on Start. You can shut down your PC using the Power button in the Settings charm instead.) For more information, see Shutting down (turning off) your PC, making it sleep or hibernating it and How to search.
  • All open and pinned apps appear in the taskbar. If you like using the desktop, you'll see both desktop applications and apps from the Windows Store in your taskbar when they're running. You can also pin any application to the taskbar so you can quickly open or switch between applications from the desktop. For more information, see How to use the taskbar.
  • Access the taskbar from anywhere. When you're using a mouse, you can see the taskbar from any screen, including Start or a Windows Store app. Move your mouse pointer below the bottom edge of the screen to show the taskbar then click an application to open or switch to it.
  • Go to the desktop when you sign in, instead of Start. If you spend more time in the desktop view, you can sign in (boot) directly to the desktop instead of the Start screen. And if you want to sign in to Start instead, you can change this setting at any time. For more information, see Desktop.

More familiar mouse and keyboard options

  • The Minimise button, Close button and taskbar are more available with your mouse. Your mouse works more consistently anywhere in Windows. Move your mouse to the top of the screen to see the Close and Minimise buttons in any application. Move your mouse down to the bottom of the screen to see the taskbar from anywhere in Windows. For more information, see How do I close an application? and How to use the taskbar.
  • Right-click an application tile to see more options. If you're using a mouse and you right-click a tile on Start, you'll see a context menu next to the tile that shows what you can do with the tile.

Simpler to find new apps

  • Discover apps in new ways. The Windows Store is pinned to Start and to your taskbar by default, so you can easily discover new apps. When you use the Search charm, Bing Smart Search includes apps in the suggestions and the search results.
  • Remember which applications you recently installed. After you've installed new applications, Start includes a message in the bottom-left corner of the screen, pointing you to the Apps view so you can see what you've recently installed.

More PCs and devices to choose from

  • If you want to buy a new PC, Windows 8.1 Update runs on a wider variety of devices, so you'll have more to choose from, including budget-friendly laptops and tablets. For more information, see Windows PCs.

Benefits for businesses

  • For businesses customers, Windows 8.1 Update includes additional features that improve the compatibility of Internet Explorer, extend policy settings for mobile device management and make installation of first-party applications easier for faster deployments across businesses.

What's New Summary:

  • Enables a more familiar mouse and keyboard functionality for modern apps and controls.
  • Improves the web application compatibility of the Internet Explorer 8 emulation mode in Internet Explorer 11 F12 Developer Tools.
  • Increases performance and reliability when you use multi-display configurations for portrait-first device experiences.