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from the yes-microsoft-still-has-relevance dept.
A couple of interesting tidbits came out of Build 2014 yesterday. The conference is being streamed for those who cannot attend in person.
Microsoft Planning on $0 Windows for Some Devices
Apparently competition, combined with a desire for Microsoft to invade new market spaces, is applying downward pressure on the price of some forms of Windows licenses. Microsoft announced that Windows would be available at no cost for "Internet of Things" devices as well as for phones and tablets with screens less than 9 inches. Not included: Whether this applies to Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 RT, but the inclusion of "phones and tablets" leads me to believe that it will be the RT version.
Start Menu To Return To Windows 8.1
After nearly a year and a half since it was removed in Windows 8, the start menu is finally returning. The previews shown at BUILD show that live tiles (similar to those on Windows Phone) will be displayed side-by-side with the more traditional hierarchy of groups. No word on when this will finally be released to users.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by spxero on Thursday April 03 2014, @05:22PM
I tried Windows 8 and 8.1 in some VMs before installing, thinking that the hot corners were just annoying and unusable because it was a VM. I was wrong. Without a touch screen it was the most unusable start menu interface I've used. I found it was easier to click, start typing, and then click again to start the program.
Classic shell has been the best thing to put this machine back to useable. The fact that they are testing going back to a start menu shows the absurdity of the decision to do the tiles in the first place.