Microsoft's Windows 8.1 could be a significant improvement over the current state of Windows 8, if statements made by Acer executives are any indication.
Acer President Jim Wong told the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft is making plenty of changes to W8 with the upcoming update, and that Microsoft is taking input from OEMs to heart.
Further, Acer CEO and Chairman JT Wang told the WSJ that Microsoft is actually listening to critics of its latest OS.
"In the past we consider [Microsoft] live in heaven," he said. "But now they go down to Earth and they start to learn how people living on Earth think."
What an analogy
Wong said Microsoft has realized that while touch interfaces are great, "you need to take care of the rest of the world that doesn't need touch" as well.
If Microsoft is finally hearing the people of Earth, it may be that the Start button and a boot-to-desktop option will return to Windows with the 8.1 update.
A rumor in April that sprung from a line of code suggested that Windows 8.1 will allow Windows 8 users to boot their devices straight to the traditional desktop instead of forcing them to begin at the Start screen.
Reports of the return of the Start button have been circulating as well, most recently when Microsoft Corporate Vice President Julie Larson-Green said earlier this week that Microsoft hasn't ruled out bringing the button back.
More concrete details on Windows 8.1, the Microsoft OS update that was originally thought to be called Windows Blue, are expected to be divulged at Microsoft's Build conference in June.
Via The Verge
