8.1 reasons to love Windows 8.1

As you probably know by now, Windows 8.1 has arrived.

If you’re running Windows 8 on your PC,  you can update to Windows 8.1 for free. Just open the Windows Store and download the update like you would any other app. If you’re running Windows 7, you can still upgrade to Windows 8.1, but if you have an older version of Windows, you should take look at the selection of new tablets and PCs. There are some great new devices out there.

At any rate, there are a lot of reasons to love Windows 8.1. We've made a list of the top 8.1.

1. Bing Smart SearchIt's rare that something truly new comes to search. And this is new. Instead of one way to search for files on your PC, another to find websites, and a third to find apps or settings, Bing Smart Search lets you search once for whatever you're looking for, wherever it is. Results come up in a big, super-clean display. And you can actually do stuff from the results. If your mom's info comes up, you can start a Skype call with her with just a click or a tap. If your favorite song comes up, you can play it right from the search result—no need to open up your favorite music app first.

2. More multi-taskingDepending on your screen size, you can now see up to four apps on your screen at once. You can change their size relative to each other, and use one app to launch another one. It's hard to describe the effect of these enhancements. To understand it, you have to experience how easy it is to flow from one task to another. Chat while gaming, shop while watching, or work while listening. It's not about separate apps anymore. It all becomes a single, seamless experience.

3. A better app storeThere are now hundreds more apps in the Windows Store. And with Windows 8.1, the Store has been redesigned to make exploring and discovering new apps easier, with community favorites and personalized recommendations. Windows 8.1 also comes with a crop of new built-in apps like Reading List and Health & Fitness.

4. More choicesWindows 8.1 gives you more tile sizes for apps on your Start screen, and there are also more color options and animated backgrounds. And now you can also use the same background for both your desktop and Start.

5. Better touchscreen typingThis might not be the flashiest feature, but it’s one of my favorites. Not to mention one of the many little details that makes Windows 8.1 feel so solid and responsive. When you type on the touchscreen keyboard, it learns as you type, making suggestions based on what you've written before. If you use more than one language, you'll find that you can enter text more easily with the new keyboard layouts. And those Emoji that everyone loves so much? They're now in color. :-)

6. Automated online storage The tech world sometimes has peculiar ways of describing things. This feature has been called "deep SkyDrive integration." All that means is that you don't have to go through a separate process to save your docs to SkyDrive (AKA your free online storage). You can save stuff to SkyDrive automatically, as easily as you’ve always saved stuff to your PC. Then you can get to the latest versions anywhere—even when you’re on the road or another device. And since it’s all online and backed up for you, it’s always safe, even if something happens to your PC.

7. Browsing by touchInternet Explorer 11 is different from other browsers in that it's designed specifically for touch screens. You'll notice it has larger tabs, simpler controls, and responds fluidly to your gestures. Internet Explorer 11 also has faster load times and lets you browse full screen or put sites side-by-side. 

8. A lock screen you’ll loveYour lock screen is now like a digital picture frame, as you can set it to show a slide show of your favorite photos. The Windows 8.1 lock screen also behaves more like your phone’s lock screen. You can immediately answer Skype calls and take photos without having to unlock your PC.

8.1 The return of an old friendIt's true. The Start button is back. When you're on the desktop, you can use it to get back to Start anytime.

8.1 reasons to love Windows 8.1

As you probably know by now, Windows 8.1 has arrived.

If you’re running Windows 8 on your PC,  you can update to Windows 8.1 for free. Just open the Windows Store and download the update like you would any other app. If you’re running Windows 7, you can still upgrade to Windows 8.1, but if you have an older version of Windows, you should take look at the selection of new tablets and PCs. There are some great new devices out there.

At any rate, there are a lot of reasons to love Windows 8.1. We've made a list of the top 8.1.

1. Bing Smart SearchIt's rare that something truly new comes to search. And this is new. Instead of one way to search for files on your PC, another to find websites, and a third to find apps or settings, Bing Smart Search lets you search once for whatever you're looking for, wherever it is. Results come up in a big, super-clean display. And you can actually do stuff from the results. If your mom's info comes up, you can start a Skype call with her with just a click or a tap. If your favorite song comes up, you can play it right from the search result—no need to open up your favorite music app first.

2. More multi-taskingDepending on your screen size, you can now see up to four apps on your screen at once. You can change their size relative to each other, and use one app to launch another one. It's hard to describe the effect of these enhancements. To understand it, you have to experience how easy it is to flow from one task to another. Chat while gaming, shop while watching, or work while listening. It's not about separate apps anymore. It all becomes a single, seamless experience.

3. A better app storeThere are now hundreds more apps in the Windows Store. And with Windows 8.1, the Store has been redesigned to make exploring and discovering new apps easier, with community favorites and personalized recommendations. Windows 8.1 also comes with a crop of new built-in apps like Reading List and Health & Fitness.

4. More choicesWindows 8.1 gives you more tile sizes for apps on your Start screen, and there are also more color options and animated backgrounds. And now you can also use the same background for both your desktop and Start.

5. Better touchscreen typingThis might not be the flashiest feature, but it’s one of my favorites. Not to mention one of the many little details that makes Windows 8.1 feel so solid and responsive. When you type on the touchscreen keyboard, it learns as you type, making suggestions based on what you've written before. If you use more than one language, you'll find that you can enter text more easily with the new keyboard layouts. And those Emoji that everyone loves so much? They're now in color. :-)

6. Automated online storage The tech world sometimes has peculiar ways of describing things. This feature has been called "deep SkyDrive integration." All that means is that you don't have to go through a separate process to save your docs to SkyDrive (AKA your free online storage). You can save stuff to SkyDrive automatically, as easily as you’ve always saved stuff to your PC. Then you can get to the latest versions anywhere—even when you’re on the road or another device. And since it’s all online and backed up for you, it’s always safe, even if something happens to your PC.

7. Browsing by touchInternet Explorer 11 is different from other browsers in that it's designed specifically for touch screens. You'll notice it has larger tabs, simpler controls, and responds fluidly to your gestures. Internet Explorer 11 also has faster load times and lets you browse full screen or put sites side-by-side. 

8. A lock screen you’ll loveYour lock screen is now like a digital picture frame, as you can set it to show a slide show of your favorite photos. The Windows 8.1 lock screen also behaves more like your phone’s lock screen. You can immediately answer Skype calls and take photos without having to unlock your PC.

8.1 The return of an old friendIt's true. The Start button is back. When you're on the desktop, you can use it to get back to Start anytime.

Microsoft Intros 200GB SkyDrive Plan Ahead of Windows 8.1, Surface 2

The OS and tablet company unveils a new SkyDrive storage option in a bid to get Windows users to park more of their data on the cloud.

Microsoft launched a new SkyDrive plan weeks ahead of the impending releases of Windows 8.1 and Surface 2 tablets.

The cloud storage service now provides 200GB of additional capacity for $100 per year. The move comes as the software giant prepares to bring out the sweeping Windows 8.1 update and new Surface 2 tablets, both of with feature deep SkyDrive integration.

"SkyDrive is the default location for saving your files," in Windows 8.1, Omar Shahine, group program manager of SkyDrive.com, noted in a Sept. 23 blog post. "We didn’t want you to worry about filling up your hard drive, so we invented smart files to allow you to access your entire SkyDrive from your device, without actually having to store everything locally."

For some perspective, Shahine offered that "200GB is enough space to take a photo, every hour, from the moment someone is born, to the day they graduate from college.

Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 buyers get 200GB of storage for two years, free of cost, along with a free year of access to Skype WiFi and free Skype calling to landlines in more than 60 countries, also for a year. Both tablets are available for preorder.

This summer, the company unveiled new enhancements that will enable Windows 8.1 and SkyDrive to work together more seamlessly and provide users with a more responsive experience that minimizes the delay that is sometimes associated with fetching files on cloud storage services. On July 22, Mona Akmal group program manager of SkyDrive apps, announced in an Inside SkyDrive blog post, that Microsoft is adding placeholder file technology to the OS.

"Placeholder files look and feel like normal folders and files" and can be edited, saved and deleted just like local files. "This means that the placeholder file is significantly smaller in size [than] the file in SkyDrive, but when you need to use it, we'll download the full file for you," she stated.

So far, the technology seems to help users stretch the on-board storage of their Windows 8.1 devices, said Akmal. "Early data in the weeks since Windows 8.1 Preview was released suggests that this architecture is delivering on the goals we set out with, and SkyDrive files are taking up less than 5 percent of the local disk space that they would have taken in the old system."

The new 200GB capacity follows SkyDrive Pro upgrades for Office 365 users. Default SkyDrive Pro account holders are now entitled to 25GB of document and file storage, compared with 7GB. The update brings added benefits for businesses that have adopted the cloud-enabled productivity software suite.

"With Office 365, you get 25GB of SkyDrive Pro storage + 25GB of  email storage + 5GB for each site mailbox you create + your total available tenant storage, which for every Office 365 business customer starts at 10GB + (500MB x # of user(s))," Mark Kashman and Tejas Mehta, Microsoft SharePoint marketing senior product managers, wrote in an Aug. 27 company blog post.

Microsoft Intros 200GB SkyDrive Plan Ahead of Windows 8.1, Surface 2

The OS and tablet company unveils a new SkyDrive storage option in a bid to get Windows users to park more of their data on the cloud.

Microsoft launched a new SkyDrive plan weeks ahead of the impending releases of Windows 8.1 and Surface 2 tablets.

The cloud storage service now provides 200GB of additional capacity for $100 per year. The move comes as the software giant prepares to bring out the sweeping Windows 8.1 update and new Surface 2 tablets, both of with feature deep SkyDrive integration.

"SkyDrive is the default location for saving your files," in Windows 8.1, Omar Shahine, group program manager of SkyDrive.com, noted in a Sept. 23 blog post. "We didn’t want you to worry about filling up your hard drive, so we invented smart files to allow you to access your entire SkyDrive from your device, without actually having to store everything locally."

For some perspective, Shahine offered that "200GB is enough space to take a photo, every hour, from the moment someone is born, to the day they graduate from college.

Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 buyers get 200GB of storage for two years, free of cost, along with a free year of access to Skype WiFi and free Skype calling to landlines in more than 60 countries, also for a year. Both tablets are available for preorder.

This summer, the company unveiled new enhancements that will enable Windows 8.1 and SkyDrive to work together more seamlessly and provide users with a more responsive experience that minimizes the delay that is sometimes associated with fetching files on cloud storage services. On July 22, Mona Akmal group program manager of SkyDrive apps, announced in an Inside SkyDrive blog post, that Microsoft is adding placeholder file technology to the OS.

"Placeholder files look and feel like normal folders and files" and can be edited, saved and deleted just like local files. "This means that the placeholder file is significantly smaller in size [than] the file in SkyDrive, but when you need to use it, we'll download the full file for you," she stated.

So far, the technology seems to help users stretch the on-board storage of their Windows 8.1 devices, said Akmal. "Early data in the weeks since Windows 8.1 Preview was released suggests that this architecture is delivering on the goals we set out with, and SkyDrive files are taking up less than 5 percent of the local disk space that they would have taken in the old system."

The new 200GB capacity follows SkyDrive Pro upgrades for Office 365 users. Default SkyDrive Pro account holders are now entitled to 25GB of document and file storage, compared with 7GB. The update brings added benefits for businesses that have adopted the cloud-enabled productivity software suite.

"With Office 365, you get 25GB of SkyDrive Pro storage + 25GB of  email storage + 5GB for each site mailbox you create + your total available tenant storage, which for every Office 365 business customer starts at 10GB + (500MB x # of user(s))," Mark Kashman and Tejas Mehta, Microsoft SharePoint marketing senior product managers, wrote in an Aug. 27 company blog post.

SkyDrive Pro storage increases making it even better for storing and sharing class work

For me, Office 365 Education just keeps getting better and better. SkyDrive Pro, part of Office 365 Education Plan A2¹, is cloud storage for education, and is the place where students and teachers can store, sync, and share their files across multiple devices with ease and security. To date SkyDrive Pro has offered institutions 7GB of cloud storage per user but yesterday Mark Kashman and Tejas Mehta, senior product managers in the SharePoint team, announced that the SkyDrive pro storage increases making it even better for storing and sharing class work.

¹Plan A2 is free for students, faculty and staff and includes Exchange Online Plan 1, Lync Online Plan 2, SharePoint Online Plan 1 and the Office Web Apps. You can sign up for free online!

Each user now gets 25 GB of SkyDrive Pro storage space

Let’s look at the headlines:

• Each user now gets 25 GB of SkyDrive Pro storage space (up from 7 GB).
• You can now increase users' SkyDrive Pro storage beyond the default 25 GB-up to 50 GB and 100 GB.
• With the new Shared with Me view, you can easily find documents others have shared with you.

I think this is a great improvement for schools, colleges and universities who are using Office 365 Education as it means their students and teachers can keep more files in the cloud, accessible from everywhere, and the fact that an administrator can increase that quota up to 100GB for individuals means that even the most demanding users should still have enough storage to keep them happy for a long time.

Don’t forget that there are applications for SkyDrive Pro on a variety of platforms includingWindows 8 and iOS that make it easier to access your files on the go.

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SkyDrive Pro storage increases making it even better for storing and sharing class work

For me, Office 365 Education just keeps getting better and better. SkyDrive Pro, part of Office 365 Education Plan A2¹, is cloud storage for education, and is the place where students and teachers can store, sync, and share their files across multiple devices with ease and security. To date SkyDrive Pro has offered institutions 7GB of cloud storage per user but yesterday Mark Kashman and Tejas Mehta, senior product managers in the SharePoint team, announced that the SkyDrive pro storage increases making it even better for storing and sharing class work.

¹Plan A2 is free for students, faculty and staff and includes Exchange Online Plan 1, Lync Online Plan 2, SharePoint Online Plan 1 and the Office Web Apps. You can sign up for free online!

Each user now gets 25 GB of SkyDrive Pro storage space

Let’s look at the headlines:

• Each user now gets 25 GB of SkyDrive Pro storage space (up from 7 GB).
• You can now increase users' SkyDrive Pro storage beyond the default 25 GB-up to 50 GB and 100 GB.
• With the new Shared with Me view, you can easily find documents others have shared with you.

I think this is a great improvement for schools, colleges and universities who are using Office 365 Education as it means their students and teachers can keep more files in the cloud, accessible from everywhere, and the fact that an administrator can increase that quota up to 100GB for individuals means that even the most demanding users should still have enough storage to keep them happy for a long time.

Don’t forget that there are applications for SkyDrive Pro on a variety of platforms includingWindows 8 and iOS that make it easier to access your files on the go.

Join on Facebook