As a user of Windows 8.1, I'm pretty happy with my OS. There have been some cosmetic changes (like having the Start Screen appear on top of your desktop) and functional changes (like the ability to boot to desktop) that make the experience better for us lowly mouse-and-keyboard users. We also got out Start button back. Yay.
But it seems to finally be sinking in for Microsoft that the mice among us are just not getting used to the Metro UI.
The [url=http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/30/5362156/windows-8-1-update-1-boot-to-desktop-by-default]latest rumored change[/url] to Windows 8 is where boot-to-desktop is enabled by default. The option is currently hidden beneath some layers of menus, and I wouldn't have known about it at all if I hadn't have read it on the internets.
Other changes include putting Search and Power buttons on the Start Screen itself. You currently have to either right-click in the bottom-left corner of the screen to find the power options, which seems way too complicated for such an obvious feature. Search is similarly hidden in either the Charms bar, accessed by moving the mouse to the rightmost corners and dragging towards the middle, or on the Start Screen where it can be accessed by simply typing.
Metro applications can also be pinned to the taskbar, rather than just the Start Screen which desktop users will apparently never have to see again, and they can run as windows on the Desktop.
This is more or less a reversal of what Microsoft wanted to do with Windows 8. In that OS, the Start Screen was the main UI for everyone and the Desktop was just another app. In Windows 9, it appears that the Desktop will play a more prominent role.
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I've been looking to buy a new PC for Windows programs, there's a lot that can't be accessed over Linux.