Microsoft has now admitted its upcoming "Blue" operating system is really Windows 8.1, and the first large-scale update for its flagship OS will be free.
"The software expected in coming months will effectively be a second launch of Windows 8, the operating system that debuted last October to great fanfare but fairly tepid sales. But the Windows 8.1 name underscores that Microsoft considers the revised software a relatively minor update and not a do-over, which would point to fundamental problems with the original product," writes The Wall Street Journal.
A test version of the software will be available for the public to download in late June, while the finished product will come sometime this year, according to Tami Reller, chief marketing officer and chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows division, during a conference call with J.P. Morgan investors on Tuesday.
"Windows 8.1 will be delivered as a free update to Windows 8 and to Windows RT and it will be easy to get right from the Windows start screen through the app store," said Reller.
Microsoft is downplaying talk of a revamp to Windows 8, maintaining that the 8.1 update is just that -- a small, iterative step in the gradual progress of a product that is always being improved, not a fix to a product that fell short of expectations.
"Windows 8 is a good product, and it's getting better every day. Unlike a can of soda, a computer operating system offers different experiences to different customers to meet different needs, while still moving the entire industry toward an exciting future of touch, mobility, and seamless, cross-device experiences," wrote Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications at Microsoft in a blog post last week.
"When you have 1.3 billion using your product, you need to have vision and point of view. But that doesn't mean that you aren't listening consistently and constantly," echoed Reller yesterday.
Microsoft's point is clear: we were going to fix Windows 8 anyway. But at least consumers won't need to foot the bill for the next attempt.
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