Crucially, the Start menu isn’t back - clicking this button will open the full-screen Modern interface.

The Start Button Returns: Windows 8.1 brings back an always-present Start button on the desktop taskbar, dramatically improving discoverability for new Windows 8 users and providing a bigger mouse target for remote desktops and virtual machines.

Disable Top-Left and Top-Right Hot Corners: The app switcher and charms bar won’t appear when you move your mouse to the top-left or top-right corners of the screen if you enable this option.

Boot to Desktop: You can now log in directly to the desktop, skipping the tiled interface entirely.

Windows 8.1 offers the following big improvements for desktop users:

Coincidentally, Windows 8.1 contains many features that Steven Sinofsky and Microsoft refused to implement the first time. Either way, Steven Sinofsky, who presided over Windows 8’s development, left the company shortly after Windows 8 was released. Some have dubbed Windows 8.1 “an apology” from Microsoft, although you certainly won’t see Microsoft referring to it this way. If you’re an average Windows 7 user, you’re likely better off waiting until you buy a new PC with Windows 8.1 included rather than spend this amount of money to upgrade. Getting Windows 8.1 will cost you the same amount as a full copy of Windows 8 - $120 for the standard version. If you’re using Windows 7 or a previous version of Windows, the update won’t be free.

Windows 8 touch screen desktops