Windows 8.1 user experience fixes promised

During a press conference at 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft promised a number of changes to Windows 8.1 that it said will improve the user experience for non-touch users.

While its blog post on the announcement didn’t get into specifics, Anandtech reported in its live blog of the event that the power button would be coming to the front of the user interface.

Easy app launching via the taskbar would also become available to keyboard and mouse users. The taskbar will reportedly appear by scrolling to the bottom.

Microsoft emphasised that none of the changes would impact the user experience for touch users.

Another change coming with the spring update for Windows 8 is the ability to run on lower cost hardware, Microsoft said.

Anandtech quoted Joe Belfiore, who runs the Windows Phone product definition and design team, as saying that Windows 8.1 was tuned for devices with 1GB RAM and 16GB of storage.

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