Microsoft Shows Off Windows 8.1 in Video, Talks Outlook RT
It's a video preview of what Microsoft has already talked out in previous blogs, and doesn't even use a mouse.
Microsoft has released a video preview of Windows 8.1, showcasing a number of features the company has already covered in previous blogs. These include new tile sizes in the Modern UI interface, the ability to bring the desktop wallpaper to the Start screen, and adding photographs to the Lock screen. Naturally the demo is conducted on a Surface tablet.
As previously reported, all applications installed on the device will no longer clutter the Start screen by default. Instead, they'll show up in an "app drawer", AKA the All Apps screen, tucked away at the bottom of the screen. Simply swipe up from the bottom, and you're greeted with everything installed locally on the device. Want to pin an app to the Start screen? Simply press and hold, and then choose "pin to Start". It looks rather simple when using a finger, if not extremely familiar.
One of the more interesting features offered in Windows 8.1 is motion accents. The "wallpaper" isn't in constant motion like you'd find on an animated Android wallpaper. Instead, objects in the background move when the Start screen tiles are swiped left and right horizontally. It's a tiny detail, but enough of one to give any Windows 8.1 device a bit more flair than before.
The demo, presented by Jensen Harris from the Windows User Experience team, reveals that Windows 8.1 is powered by the cloud. "An important part of this is SkyDrive which gives you Gigs of space to put all of your files up in the cloud so that they're available on every PC," he explains. "Within every app on the PC, I can see SkyDrive -- which is the cloud -- and "This PC" which lets me put files that I just want to keep on this device in a single place."
The video also goes on to demonstrate the new simplicity in multi-tasking, and searching online and offline when using Windows 8.1.
In related news, Windows CFO and CMO Tami Reller announced during Computex that Outlook 2013 RT will finally make an appearance on Windows RT tablets as part of the "Blue" rollout. That means current and future owners of a Windows RT or Surface RT device will have access to the new app when the free update becomes available. Outlook joins Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote which are already available on the platform.
"We're always listening to our customers and one piece of feedback was that people want the power of Outlook on all their Windows PCs and tablets," Microsoft's Chris Schneider said. "In fact, a Morgan Stanley research study found that 61% of people shopping for tablets consider Microsoft Office to be the single most important software feature. We're pleased to have Outlook 2013 RT join the other best-in-class Office 2013 RT applications."

As far as asking them to devote resources to making Windows a Kinect OS, exactly where do you think the next step of Windows is going? A touch OS can be controlled the same with Kinect as long as you have the correct drivers and it will arrive soon enough
Oh ye of little faith
As you sad making an OS compatible with hardware that can be later attached is one thing than making an OS for hardware that exchanges something that prevailed for decades now (I'm thinking of the old VGA port on GPU's: even if HDMI is the standard today, Vendors know there are tons of old displays using the VGA port). Thank you and a good day!
What the heck are you talking about? I'm living mainly on the desktop (i refuse to call it a "mode") and only launch the Start screen when I need to launch an app that I don't have pinned to my task bar...JUST AS I WOULD IF I HAD A START BUTTON. Open your mind just a little. It's nice out here.
Just buy them Windows phones or Windows tablets and after one or two years they are ready to use win8 or win9 in their desktop... Most propably before that. For normal user a UI that has big buttons to start their aplications durectly form desktop is the easiest way of doing it. The "problem" is/are people who use multible open windows at the same time, and that is most likely somebody else that those 35-55 years old man or women you just want to start their Excell, or Word...
There are some thing that still need polishing. UI-scaling (dirrerent resolutions, including 4K), multiple open programs and some more, but most of them has nothing to do with average computer user. My 7-8 years old students constantly try to touch the screen when they use computer, so they allready are in that touchscreen era and feel it antigue to use mouse... I am in that dinosaurus gategory, but it is easy to see that touch based controlling devises are the future... I just hope that we will get good tablet type controlling devises that we don't have to actually touch the desktop sceen... A cheap tabletop controll device that mirorrors the computer screen to touch based controlling device would be ideal for most users.