Windows® 8.1 IN DEPTH

1. Meet Windows 8.1

An Overview of Windows 8.1

In the first paragraph of a book about Windows, it’s traditional to describe how this newest version is a straightforward evolutionary advance over the previous version, with some nifty new features that we can’t wait to tell you about; but otherwise, Windows N is basically Windows (N-1), plus 1.

And that’s the case for the minor (and welcome) revisions Microsoft made between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

But if you’re moving up from Windows 7 or an even older version, we have a decidedly more complex picture to paint. There are completely new ways of doing things. There is a surprising learning curve. Many things that you thought you knew how to do easily have become difficult or impossible—or so ...