‘Mark your calendars’ – Windows 8.1 arrives 18 October

Windows 8.1 is coming 18 October and is being rolled out in stores, on new devices or as a free update for existing Windows 8 owners.

Improvements!

Windows 8.1 has loads of them. In the official blog post from Windows, it says that “Windows 8.1 continues the vision we began with Windows 8 and is an example of our commitment to continuous innovation and improvement for our customers.” How wonderful of it.

This includes a far slicker Internet Explorer 11 (Chrome is still better), new Bing apps like a restaurant finder and health tracker, a far better Windows Store that is less at odds with the needs of the end-user, and improved cloud connectivity.

Stuff to buy!

Windows also mentioned in its post that it’s a great time to buy Windows 8.1 devices. No time like the present really. It mentions the Iconia W3, Surface, Lenovo Yoga 11, XPS 18 and Toshiba KIRAbook, which are all very pricey devices, just so you’re aware. Especially the KIRAbook, which is US$1 999 (R20 000). It’s also not very good, despite the price. But buy it, Microsoft wants you to experience Windows 8.1 at its best.

Windows 8.1 will launch on the 1-year anniversary of Windows 8, says the blog posting. Which according to Microsoft was 26 October. So not exactly to the day, but close enough. It’s coming 18 October and if there is a Windows Store near you, you can grab it from there. Or online, or from the bottom of a cereal packet. Microsoft wants you to have this on your PC, or else.

We’ve been using Windows 8.1 Pro Preview and it’s a fantastic package. Microsoft has really delivered here and in our opinion, created one of the slickest OS’ yet. For a computer though. It’s still got nothing on Mac OSX.