Windows anyone?

Start menu allegedly returning to Windows 8.1 in August

After releasing the first Windows 8.1 update earlier this month, Microsoft is now working on the second update that is expected to arrive in August with some much requested features.

One of the key features is actually an old feature of Windows that will be making a comeback: the Start menu. After bringing the Start button back in the first update, Microsoft will now bring back the entire Start menu in the second. The menu will be familiar to anyone who has used Windows 7 and will also feature some live tiles on the side.

Along with the Start menu, another feature being added is the ability to run Windows 8 modern style applications within windows on the desktop side. This will let you run your modern apps without having to go over to the other side and not have them take your entire screen. This will definitely help those who run a mix of modern style and traditional Windows apps simultaneously on their system.

These features were said to be part of Windows 9 that will be arriving next year but it seems Microsoft is pushing for an early release.

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Just in case you missed it

The official video of the Samsung Galaxy S5

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Fall of a Titan

It’s been in the works for a while but the acquisition of Nokia by Microsoft was by no means a surprise to anyone and was. And Microsoft isn’t wasting any time with publicly showing the change.

Images from Harri Kiljander (Director of F-Secure Lokki) show what appears to be Nokia House in Finland with a crane truck up front, preparing to take down Nokia’s logo and another photo showing the S and F from Microsoft’s logo, reportedly being prepared for mounting. The “On The Move” sign under the Nokia logo adds an air of irony to the otherwise saddening image.

In the aftermath of the deal Microsoft will acquire around 32 thousand employees (around 4 thousand of which in Finland and around 18 thousand directly connected to manufacturing), a 10-year non-exclusive license of Nokia’s patent portfolio and a robust devices business while Nokia walks away with the ripe sum of €5.44 billion.

Hopefully Microsoft, as biggest manufacturer of Windows Phones starting today, will not let down the millions of Nokia owners and fans and will continue to innovate as Nokia did.

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Window Pane

Windows Phone is yet to become the game changer Microsoft wants it to be. It didn't quite experience the kind of explosive growth that could've put Nokia back in pole position, but it has been steadily climbing up the ranks. Maybe an upgrade of the scale of its 8.1 version is all it needed to go into overdrive and really challenge the big two in the smartphone game.

While some analysts are predicting huge gains in the next few years, others are sending the OS straight to the OS cemetery, right next to Symbian and Bada. Sure, nobody knows what the future holds but Microsoft is certainly trying to leave nothing to chance. It has been busy building up its arsenal and now it's ready to do some real damage.

Redmond must be quite confident everybody is going to be impressed that the update progress screen is filled with bold statements like "loaded with new features and improvements we think you are going to love", "reinvented with you in mind", "and it will be worth the wait".

And it's not just empty promises either - the 8.1 update is here to change the face of Windows Phone forever. You've got a notification center with toggles and improved multitasking to boost productivity, more customizable Live Tiles with cool wallpaper to sexy up the looks and automatic Store updates to make app-handling even easier. There's also Cortana for those looking for something extra.

Here comes the complete list of novelties we've managed to find so far.

What's new:

• Action Center to display all of your notifications, plus customizable quick toggles
• Cortana virtual assistant at your command
• Universal Search
• Start background on all of your tiles
• Customizable number of tiles per row - four or six
• Internet Explorer 11 with better UI, faster page load, in-private browsing, tab sync across devices and Reader mode
• New Dialer app with Speed Dial, shortcuts to contact, and call time
• Built-in Facebook with deeper integration, real-time notifications
• Redesigned status bar
• Quiet Hours mode for control over your notifications at night or events marked as busy
• Move/install apps on SD card
• Automatic app updates in Store
• VPN support
• Wi-Fi Sense
• Better sound control with separate scrubbers for Notifications/Ringer and Apps/Media
• Better multi-tasking with suspend mode
• Camera burst mode, customizable viewfinder
• Swype-like keyboard
• Battery Sense app
• Storage Sense app
• New Music and Video apps
• Podcasts app
• Better backups with app data sync
• App data syncing across devices
• Customizable lockscreen and glance screen notifications
• You can change the default SMS app and the default SMS notifications
• Support for QHD displays, dual-SIM and fingerprint scanners, on-screen buttons

What's still missing:

• System-wide file manager
• Options for more quick toggles
• Richer app catalog
• Cortana is some way behind Android and iOS rivals

That list of disadvantages is getting shorter with every next iteration, so Microsoft is certainly doing something right. At this point WP8.1 not only matches its rivals in almost all key aspects of the user experience, but puts its own twist on some popular features, while offering a few exclusives along the way. This last part is particularly important as it will help Microsoft's OS try and steal some users from competing platforms, and not just serve as an entry point into smartphones.

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Long hiatus

Dear devoted followers of "The Tech Whisperer", I would like to hereby extend my most sincere apologies for the long drawn out lack of updates that was plaguing this site, I promise it was not due to a lack of technological innovation, but rather due to malovelent individuals that will always oppose any and all forms of progress, they managed to hack our servers and install some malware. The problem has however been dealt with in the form of a new I.T. Guru by the name of Hishi, with that said, let's get back to giving you guys the best and the rest that has been happening in the technology world

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