Windows 8.1 New Features and Changes: Should I Upgrade?

Straight back to last year, after a lot of controversies, Microsoft launched Windows 8 with its prime Metro UI. Since the launch of Windows 8, users have find this operating system more complicated than other operating systems in the category like Linux, FreeBSD etc. Moreover, most of users has reported this operating system a bit buggy and thus they downgraded to Windows 7, considering it a better stable release. Add to this, Windows 8 was unable to impress PC sellers.

So to kill all this woes, Microsoft has recently released the patching update to Windows 8, named “Windows 8.1 Preview” aka “Windows Blue”. Company has also confirmed that they are going to release Release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 8.1. Meanwhile, in this article, we’re going to discuss that is Windows 8.1 really fixed the disasters created by Windows 8 or not.

Improvements Over Windows 8

As far as improvement in features are concerned, Windows 8.1 takes the way with some of new features. As Windows 8.1 is stability improvement update, so not of much new features are included. Here are some of the highlights of improvement:

1. After the release of Windows 8, we give it to an average 45 year guy. The thing noticeable is that he was unable to sort out how to shut down this operating system! Thanks to Alt+F4, that helped in this case significantly. Finally! Microsoft has realized this issue and they now added the shut down option to Windows Key + X menu:

2. The Start Button debut is now over with the release of Windows 8.1. Majority of users missed the good Start Button and the Windows development team has restored it, refer to above screenshot.

3. Calculator in Windows 8.1 has received the Modern UI update and you can observe the Metro UI based Calculator:

4. The Search functionality in Windows 8.1 is improved tremendously and along with search results from PC, you can find them from Web using Bing as well. We just searched ‘Visual Studio’, and we received both type of results:

5. Internet Explorer 11 is the part of Windows 8.1. Its performance is improved widely. You can read all about update on IE 11 here.

6. Windows 8.1 allows to resizing and snapping of Windows Apps simultaneously. You can use up to 4 apps at the same screen, thus improving multitasking.

7. Last but not the least, with Windows 8.1, you’re simply able to boot directly to Desktop. This was the most wanted feature for Windows 8 and finally it came alive by making simple settings in following window:

As I mentioned earlier that Windows 8.1 is an update to previous stable release, so there isn’t any big new feature introduced except the alarm app. Here it is, take a look:

Moving on, now I would like to take your consideration to the shortcoming that Windows 8.1 still needs:

Things Windows 8.1 Lacks

1. Windows 8.1 users still not received the original Start Menu with Start Button. However, by providing Windows + X menu, Microsoft has tried to add pathetic Start Menu in the OS.

2. The “Aero” interface is still missing from Windows. There is no point in removing that.

3. Being introduction for boot to Desktop, Microsoft has tried to differentiate Modern UI with classic desktop UI, but still we can’t get rid of the Modern UI completely.

4. There is no official option yet provided to completely disable Charms Bar (Windows Key+C) menu until you break the integrity of system.

5. Modern UI apps are no doubt rich in their interface, but there exists not even a single option to close them. At least a close button should be provided.

6. If you’re viewing the Metro /Modern screen, you receive no indication you got an email or reminders from software like Outlook 2010.  Seems this so called Metro interface really isn’t an interface at all and just a roadblock to productivity.

Should You Upgrade Now?

If you’re still using Windows 7 and is really concerned about upgrade to Windows 8.1, at this moment I suggest you to wait a little bit. Considering the fact that beta or preview editions are always buggy, you should wait until Windows 8.1 RTM is rolled out on the floor. As Microsoft has already announced that RTM version will be out by the end of next month, so there is no point in upgrading now.

That’s it for now guys! We would  like to hear your voices via comments… 

Configure DPI Settings in Windows 8.1 Using Registry

Windows 8.1 is providing us the Dots Per Inch (DPI) Scaling to be configured for consistent experience on display. This DPI Scaling handles the way your computer give the size to fonts, icons etc. per display. For an instance, if you’re running your device at resolution at or above 1366×768 pixels, then DPI Scaling in your case should be a hundred of percent. Here is the window, form where you can configure DPI Settings in Windows 8.1:

In Windows 8, there exists only two options to configure DPI Settings between 100 & 150 percents. Fortunately, Windows 8.1 has got the per display DPI Settings feature support, so you can select from 8 different ways to let DPI Scaling handle your device. This article will provide the advanced way to fix DPI Scaling using registry modification.

Why do You Need to Change Windows DPI ?

DPI Scaling becomes an important consideration while you’re running the operating system in order to project it on a television. While projecting it on the television screen, the relative size of the tiles from Start Screen may be non-uniform, which looks cumbersome. So if you have configured DPI Scaling to its best, you can easily project the tiles from a 10” monitor to 42” television without losing relative proportion of tiles.

So without wasting your time anymore, lets see the how to part:

Modify DPI Scaling Using Registry Editor

1. Press Windows Key + R and put regedit in Run dialog box, click OK to open Registry Editor.

2. Navigate here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

3. In the right pane of this location, look for the DWORD name LogPixels (refer to above screenshot). Double click on it to modify, so that you’ll got this:

4. Put the following Value data as per your requirement and click OK.

96   –   Smaller 100%

120   -  Medium 125%

144  -   Larger 150%

192   –   Extra Large 200%

240  -  Custom 250% 

288  -  Custom 300%   -  

384  -  Custom 400% 

480  –   Custom 500%

That’s it. Reboot to see changes. So you have configured the DPI Scaling using registry which overrides the manual way. Hope you enjoyed the tip!

India to Witness Increased Average Internet Speed in Next 12 Months: Report

According to a recent report by a cloud computing firm Akamai Technologies, the average internet speed in India is likely to increase by over 40% to 1.8 Mbps in the next 12 months on the back of investments in high-speed fibre network and affordable data plans. The global average connection speed in the first quarter of 2013 was 3.1 Mbps while India witnessed an average connection speed of 1.3 Mbps during the same period.

Average Connection Speeds
In the first quarter of 2013, three Asia Pacific countries/regions i.e. South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong saw average connection speeds above the “high broadband” threshold of 10 Mbps. India saw an average connection speed of 1.3 Mbps, up 20% from a quarter prior. Looking at year-over-year changes, India saw a fairly strong growth rising to 21%. India ranks 114 on the global ranking charts and has lowest average connection speed among all the countries in Asia Pacific.

Average Peak Connection Speed
Hong Kong remained far and away the top region in Asia Pacific with the highest average peak connection speed at 63.6 Mbps. India posted an average peak connection speed of 10.6 Mbps in the first quarter of 2013, up 27% quarter-over-quarter and an yearly growth of 34%.

Broadband Adoption
 0.3% of connections in India saw speeds above 10 Mbps, up 102% quarter-over-quarter while 2.4% connections saw speeds above 4 Mbps.

Google Adsense Pin Not Received – How to verify my Address?

First of all Congrats to you, as you are here because you are a Google Adsense account Holder. Google Adsense is the backbone of any blog. Many bloggers depend upon Google Adsense for their primary source of income. But before sending the first cheque they verify your address. They send you a 4-digit verification Pin (Personal Identification Number) as soon as you reach 10$. 

How much time it takes to reach Adsense Pin.

Usually it doesn’t takes much time but in India it takes almost double time as mentioned. I heard that one guy from India received his pin after 41 days. In the worst cases people can’t receive their adsense pin even after requesting thrice. Google Adsense gives you 3 tries , that means if you haven’t received your pin in first attempt, you can request 2 more times.

Google Adsense Pin Not Received yet, What to do ?

Some times users doesn’t receive their Verification pin even after three attempts. But not to worry, Google gives you an alternate option to remove Account hold from your Adsense Account.

Method 1 : Recheck your Mailing address again, if its wrong then inform Google so that they Can send the pin again.

• Method 2 : After three attempts, another option appears in Google Adsense account to verify Adsense pin by Uploading Digital Image of your Government issued ID card or any other Document like Driving licence, Bank statement (which contains your address).