I wouldn't want to be the first one on the block to install this, but give it a week or two to see what issues may arise first.
This appears in USA Today:
"NEW YORK — Not quite a year later, Microsoft's Windows 8.1 arrives
with considerably less drama than Windows 8, and that is to be
expected—the changes are far less radical than they were for consumers
who made the leap from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
But the latest
software promises to be a worthwhile update for anyone who bought a PC
and/or tablet with the Windows 8 operating system. And it represents a
critical test for Microsoft as it attempts to satiate critics, address
Windows 8 shortcomings, and ultimately improve the company's standing in
both the tablet and more traditional PC businesses.
The
8.1-update starts to arrive in the Windows Store at 7 a.m. ET Thursday,
and will be rolled out globally over the next 24 hours, Microsoft says.
Windows 8.1 will be available on new devices and in standalone retail
packaging on Friday.
So what doth the upgrade bring? The newest
version is more customizable than its predecessor, with more background
colors, and more variable sizes for the live tiles that have come to
define the Windows 8 experience, on computers and for that matter
smartphones.
Perhaps the biggest change you'll notice is the
return of a familiar Start button, located in "Desktop" mode in its
customary location at the bottom left corner of the taskbar. It's not
like you're completely going back to the future — clicking on the new
Start button returns you to the default tile-based Windows 8 Start
environment, known as the Modern UI with those colorful rectangular and
square tiles, some with live data for such things as weather, stocks,
e-mail and so on.
Microsoft in 8.1 also lets you boot up your PC
in the more traditional-looking Desktop environment if you prefer, or
stick with the default tile interface.
Microsoft's
better-integrated Sky Drive cloud-based locker takes on a more prominent
role in 8.1, and so does Bing search. If while searching, say, for a
performer such as Alicia Keys, you'll be able to stream some of her top
tracks in their entirety for free, provided via XBox Music. You'll also
see pictures of the artist, her birth date and a link to her Wikipedia
bio.
Multitasking gets better too in 8.1. Depending on the size of
your computer screen, you can display up to four apps side by side,
with the ability to alter the sizes of the windows that those apps
appear in.
The Windows Store where you'll find the new upgrade
also gets a design makeover. Microsoft says there are now 110,000 apps
in there, up from about 10,000 about a year ago. New and updated apps
are also continually being delivered to the place, a list that includes
Evernote, Facebook, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and NOOK.
It remains to be
seen, of course, how consumers and critics take to the changes,
aesthetically and feature-wise. But if you already bought into the
Windows 8 ecosystem, the 8.1-update is in the end a pretty big deal."
