It is reported that Microsoft will release the preview version of windows 8.1 at the blind 2013 Developer Conference on 26 this month. The senior marketing manager of Microsoft introduced the upgrade policy of windows 8.1 that users concerned about.
When the preview version of windows 8.1 is released, users of Windows 8 / RT will receive an upgrade reminder from windows update. This update will be provided through the Windows Store with a detailed description of the update, and users are free to choose whether or not to install the upgrade.
Once the final version of windows 8.1 RTM is released, users of windows 8.1 preview will receive similar windows update and windows store update notification reminders. Data and account information will be preserved during upgrade, but all apps need to be reinstalled.
After installing win8.1 preview, whether you want to return to Windows 8 or upgrade to win8.1 RTM, you still need to reinstall the application.
Which apps need to be reinstalled depends on whether the tester is using windows on arm or x86. For windows RT devices, windows store / Metro style applications need to be reinstalled; for x86 architecture windows 8 systems, users need to reinstall windows store / Metro style and desktop applications.
Users who skip win8.1 preview and upgrade the system from Windows 8 / RT to windows 8.1 RTM do not need to reinstall the application. All settings, data and applications can be migrated. Microsoft said that users can choose the program they need to install to upgrade to windows 8.1.
According to Michael Niehaus, the upgrade mechanism for Windows 8 to 8.1 is better than that for Windows 8 beta to RTM. A Microsoft spokesman said that the upgrade process of Windows 8 to 8.1 is similar to that of Windows 7 to 8 in terms of default settings, data and application processing.
Michael Niehaus also revealed that compared with win8, windows 8.1 will reduce the space occupation. Microsoft has worked to remove old components, temporary folders, and improve NTFS compression to make more space available for users' machines. 4GB of free space is required before installing windows 8.1 preview. After installing windows 8.1, the recovery partition of win8 will not be replaced.
From the video of windows 8.1 released by Microsoft in the past, we can see that the improvement of Windows 8 by Microsoft is not small. It not only restores the start menu, but also strengthens the function of the start screen. Windows 8.1 is worth looking forward to. We hope Microsoft can release the official version earlier.