PC Makers Will Get Their Hands on Windows 8.1 in August - Mashable

Microsoft will send the finished version of Windows 8.1 to PC manufacturers before fall, the company announced Monday. Tami Reller, Microsoft's chief marketing officer for Windows, announced at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference that Windows 8.1 RTM (release to manufacturing) is at the end of August.

Windows 8.1 is the first major update to Windows 8, and Microsoft had previously announced it would be available as a free download to Windows 8 customers in time for the 2013 holiday season.

Reller also said new customers are upgrading to Windows 8 at a "consistent pace," according to a blog post about the news. However, Microsoft isn't providing any new numbers, instead reiterating that it has sold about 100 million Windows 8 licenses. That number does not necessarily represent actual usage.

The RTM stage is an important one for major software updates. Once manufacturers have Windows 8.1 RTM, they can begin finalizing their products that are tailored specifically for the new version of Windows and its many new features.

In addition to revealing the date for Windows 8.1 RTM, Reller also said Microsoft would launch something called User Experience Design Competency. As described, the program is intended to outline the best ways to train software designers to create the best apps for Windows 8 and get recognized for their work.

Microsoft is also launching another program called TouchWins, a commercial channel created to provide incentives to retailers to sell touch-enabled PCs that best showcase the Windows 8 Pro experience.

1. 

   Windows 8, New & Improved

   Windows 8.1, which will be available to customers in the fall, includes many new features as well as refinements to the user interface. One of the updates lets you use the same background for the desktop and the modern UI.

2. 

   New Live Tiles

   There are two new sizes of live tile in Windows 8.1: tiny and extra-large.

3. 

   Snap on Steroids

   Snap -- where you have two different-size windows on the screen -- gets a big upgrade in Windows 8.1. You can split the screen however you want now, and even use Snap with multiple apps at the same time.

4. 

   Global Search

   Search is enhanced in Windows 8.1, which will create a "search hero" results page full of organized information from both the web and your local machine.

5. 

   Deeper SkyDrive Integration

   You can easily pick which files from SkyDrive get mirrored to your PC. It's also the default place to save documents.

Image by Mashable, Pete Pachal