Microsoft has recently announced the release of Windows Phone Blue, as an update to WP8 (Windows Phone 8). Last month, they gave a few online tech bloggers the chance have a hands-on session with the upcoming OS. The main features of this are the small sized Live Tiles that are similar to the ones in WP8, new built-in applications and UI features. With this update, Microsoft looks to be taking up a strategy that involves smaller but more frequent updates to their Windows OS, instead of drastic changes.
The new OS comes with improvements in popular features such as Snap View, allowing side-by-side viewing of up to four apps, that each shares an equal screen area. You are allowed to view more elements, such as application information panels and network connections, on the Windows 8 standard interface, rather than on the desktop. New apps like sound recorder, calculator, movie making application, and Alarms have been preloaded in this new version of the OS. They have also increased the depth of SkyDrive integration that now allows you to place your backups directly on the cloud, and also for auto-uploading your videos and photos.
The changes that have been made in Windows Blue seem to make the promising suggestion that Microsoft is slowly moving a move, away from their traditional desktop interface to the new tiled interface. This can only be good as with Windows 8, it was very problematic to frequently jump from the new innovative interface to the standard desktop. This often seemed to spoil the experience, of what looked like a new and bold direction in interface design, which Microsoft had taken.
While Windows Blue will take time to reach the market and be available at your local computer rentals service, the number of Windows 8 systems is gradually and steadily increasing in the marketplace.