Microsoft Making a Determined Effort to Welcome Desktop Users to Windows 8.1

I recently wrote about how Microsoft released a Desktop-oriented guide for Windows 8.1. I thought the release of a guide like this one, that addresses the Desktop side of Windows 8.1 first, was interesting – and many of you did, too. It was an unusual move by a company that was once so adamant that the Metro-side of Windows 8 was the future, and customers should just get used to it.

The original doc was released in PDF form, but a few days later was also made available in PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign formats so business customers could customize them. The raw files are available from this link:

Today, Kirsten Ballweg has posted to the Windows Experience Blog, giving 5 tweaks for Windows 8.1 to make Microsoft's latest operating system feel more familiar, or rather, make it work more like Windows 7. Kirsten's tips include booting to the desktop, pinning apps to the taskbar, synching the desktop and Start screen backgrounds, altering the Windows sign-in options, and modifying Internet Explorer 11 so that is always runs in Desktop mode. You probably know all about these tweaks already, but if you don't, you can read through the tips here:

This blog post adds to the currently evolving Microsoft operating system storyline and makes one start to wonder where Microsoft is going with it. Could Windows 9 actually be a drastic U-turn away from Sinofsky's baby? Could we see more enhancements in Windows 8.1 Update 1 that are geared toward making businesses believe in Windows 8.x? Or, could Microsoft simply be attempting to throw out enough public education so that Windows 8.x sales look markedly better during the next earnings report?

Whatever the case, I'm glad to see Microsoft finally making an effort to show the business side of Windows 8.x.

Keep it up, Redmond. You might win some desktops.