Microsoft has set the date - and the name - for the next iteration of Windows 8. Previously known as Windows Blue (see here), the update will be officially known as Windows 8.1 and previews will be available from June 26. The upgrade will be offered free to existing Windows 8 users. Microsoft maintains 100m Windows 8 licenses have been sold but just how many of those are sitting unused in the channel is a point of much speculation.
There are no formal details but following all the talk of a U-turn (see here) Microsoft watchers will be hoping for changes to the Start screen – and something resembling a return to the now much loved Start button. Whether it will be enough to change opinion about the desirability of Windows 8 on the desktop remains to be seen. The reputation of Windows 8 has suffered and it will take a lot to recover from that.