Microsoft slowly admitting 8.1 problem

At a Sunday press event prior to Mobile World Congress, Microsoft vice president Joe Belfiore led with bright news about Windows 8: Microsoft has sold 200 million licenses (more than all of OS X’s user base, he noted); users have downloaded 4 million apps from the Windows Store; and 40 percent of Windows 8 machines are touch-enabled.

But for the 60 percent of Windows 8 machines still not touch-enabled, Belfiore conceded, users’ “satisfaction level is lower.” So when the Microsoft executive confirmed rumors of a Windows 8.1 update this spring, he also detailed three major improvements that would come with it. First and foremost will be features to give mouse-and-keyboard diehards a break.

Specific user interface changes will include what Belfiore called “discoverable Search, Power, and Settings,” meaning these three features would be visible on the Start screen. There will also be a new mouse UI for right-clicking to start and close apps, and you’ll be able to launch and switch apps from the taskbar.

Belfiore also made a pointed reference to the rumors that Microsoft might dial back some of Windows 8’s more finger-friendly aspects. “We love touch,” he proclaimed, and “we have no intent to degrade the touch experience.” But he clearly wanted to placate legacy mouse-and-keyboard users: “Our measure is, Did we make things better for people without touchscreens?”