A new screenshot shows Start menu in Windows 10

Microsoft has been refining Windows 8.x with updates coming in different sizes and features. But it seems that these updates introduced most of the traditional features incorporated in the newly introduced Modern UI. Though the chrome less UI has it's own advantages for tablets, the desktop is still the home for millions of Windows users. Let's leave this debate and enter into the next version of Windows which seems to be shaping up nicely !

This is Windows 10 !! I'm not kidding and you may have a look at the screen shot and say that it is Windows 8.1 Pro but that's how Microsoft has disguised the next version of Windows. As you can see this just a screenshot from the internal preview version of Windows 9 which is currently circulating in the desktops and tablets inside the Redmond giant. Well the most wanted feature in Windows 8.x makes it's way to Windows 9, yup I'm talking about the Start menu. It has a new look and is similar to what Microsoft showed in the Build conference earlier this year. You can pin tiles and move them around and arrange them the way you want. And also according to my sources, users will be given the option to choose between the Start Screen and Start menu which is a welcome change as some users like me have got used to the Start screen and may not always want the Start menu. It's definitely a efficient way to open apps and see the live updates as they happen, right in your desktop.

Still there is a lot happening behind the screens that this screenshot pretty much hides, IE pinned in the taskbar may be the next version of the browser built in Windows, IE 12 and of course most of the traditional apps are still in Windows 9 such as Windows Media Player,Word Pad and Calculator. There is also a good chance that the apps might open in the desktop in devices where start menu is used.There is a lot to change in the coming months as Microsoft will roll out many visual changes to Windows 10. When it hits the market as a public preview, it would be a completely different OS than it is shown in the above screenshot. Because Microsoft does not touch the UI part till it gets all the background works done. It happened with Windows 8 as it looked very similar to Windows 7 till the public preview which brought in some radical changes such as the removal of aero . This Screenshot was leaked intentionally to let people know that start menu is a key feature coming in Windows 10. Still Cortana has not made her way into Windows 10 !

My sources also say that a Windows 10 build 9788 is going to leak very soon which is the same build from which this screenshot is coming ! But for now we have nothing to do but to wait and wait ! What do you think about Windows 10 ? Do you like the new start menu ?

Fixing Windows Store in Windows 8.1 !

When did you face problems with Windows Store last time ? Well it's something rare but highly frustrating as it restricts your access to the world of Windows Apps. My Store choked with a problem which was not a prevalent one which made finding the solution much more harder. Practically, my Store would open and it will cross the loading screen and the Home section would load fine but the featured section won't load and whenever I click on an app, Store would stop responding and would close itself. Sounds weird and irritating enough isn't it. I tried all the methods to resolve the issue but alas none worked except one of course ! :) 

The following methods failed to get my Store working :

1)  Microsoft Store Diagnostic Program: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=268423; 

2) Run CMD as administrator to re-register the Store " App: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $Env:SystemRoot\WinStore\AppxManifest.XML"  This command worked fine but still I was not able to repair the Store.

3) In run command, type " wsreset.exe ". This is supposed to reset Store. When I ran this, the Store would open showing the loading screen with the dots making a circle for a long time. Even after an hour it was doing the same and so I decided to move on to the next step.

4) Changing from Microsoft account to a Local account also failed.

5) " sfc /scannow " which should be used in Command Prompt (admin) is supposed to repair all the system files.

After all this I was frustrated enough, I was thinking of refresh my PC ! That would mean that I will have to spend the next few hours setting up my apps from the scratch. But I stumbled upon the following solution in this web page : 

Microsoft File Manager is out for Windows Phone 8.1

Logo of Files App

Windows Phone 8 lacked a file manager and so did Windows Phone 8.1 till today. Yeah, I'm talking about the official file manager for WP from Microsoft. The Redmond giant said that File manager was slated for release on late May in Build 2014 and they have delivered it in the right time. 

Navigate through your files with ease in Windows Phone 8.1 with Files !

The new file manager is called Files and available as a separate download from Windows Phone Store but there is a restriction, only Windows Phone 8.1 users are allowed to download which means that WP 7.5 users won't be get hold of Microsoft's latest app offering and as the time passes, most of the people will switch from WP 8 to 8.1 as it is really worthy upgrade. Technically, the app is pretty good and has most of the features as you would expect from a File Manager. It's really small, just 1 MB. Thumbs up Microsoft !

Finally, it's all falling together to make Windows Phone a real big threat for Android and iOS,lately both of them have not been getting some radical updates as Windows Phone. WP used this time to cope with them and it's now sometimes way better than both of them. Want an example, go type Cortana in YouTube , I bet you will love it.Well let's not go deeper ! There is one more reason and one more most wanted feature in Windows Phone. Happy days for WP users it seems . Now I won't be surprised to see a touch first File Manager app in Windows 8.1 U2 or Windows 9.

Download the app for WP 8.1 - Files
Here is the description of the app :

Files is a free app for managing files on your Windows Phone.
By using this app you can:
• Access files stored on your phone and SD card
• Browse, search and launch files
• Easily share one file or multiple files
• Create folders to organise your files
• Copy, move, rename and delete files

WhatsApp is back to Windows Phone Store !

WhatsApp was pulled from Windows Phone Store intentionally by it's publisher,WhatsApp Inc on May 18 which caused a lot of cries from WP users as WhatsApp is one of the most used chatting app. They said that there were a lot of problems in the WP version and they needed to fix all those problems and give users a great experience.

"Unfortunately due to technical issues, we have chosen to un-publish WhatsApp Messenger on the Windows Phone platform. We are working closely with Microsoft to resolve the issues and hope to return to the store shortly. We apologize to our users for the temporary inconvenience."

Unfortunately, it took more time than they thought, 12 full days is what they did with the app under their roof. Microsoft also had joined hands to help to them. Now it's back to the Windows Phone Store and any user running WP 7.5 to WP 8.1 can download and install this app. The new version fixes most of the problems and bugs that was in the previous version. It adds some new features too.. Here is the full change log as published in the Store.

2.11.490:

* Chat backgrounds

* Broadcast lists

* Privacy settings (settings > account > privacy)

* Media auto-download settings (settings > chat settings > media autodownload)

* Custom notification tones (Windows Phone 8 Update 3 required)

* Various enhancements and bug fixes

Determine the Windows Experience Index in Windows 8.1

As most of you know that Windows 8.1 removed the ability to use Windows Experience Index(WEI) in System properties. WEI was introduced in 2006 with Windows Vista to assess the performance of your computer. It rates your computer's important components such as Processor,Graphics,RAM,Primary Hard disk and Desktop graphics in a grade scale. Microsoft had intentions to make it an important part of Windows. They wanted applications to come with a label with a minimum/recommended WEI rating which would practically let users to know if the application would run fine in their computer. It's still a part of Windows 7 and even Windows 8 but not in Windows 8.1 as Microsoft removed it for some undisclosed reason.

But not all the components of WEI was removed in Windows 8.1, they left the WEI engine intact but just removed the GUI in properties. This was a very helpful tool for some people so they wanted this feature back and that's why WinAero's developer built this tool which gives WEI the same old familiar GUI. Winaero WEI brings back all the features and has some additional goodies too. It lets you to take a screenshot or save it as a HTML page or even upload it in the internet to share. You can download this tool from here . It supports Windows 8.1 32-bit and 64-bit with or without Update 1. 

A new low-cost Windows, Windows 8.1 with Bing

With Windows 8.1 update 1, Microsoft made it's operating system free for all devices under 9 inches and the system requirements were reduced to 1GB RAM and 16GB of storage. Even a new installation mode was introduced which would let you install Windows in low-end devices with less storage. The uptake of Windows tablets are not going in the best way as Microsoft intended as the tablets which had larger screens still had to pay a good amount of money for Windows Licensing. 

And this is the reason why Windows 8.1 with Bing is here, it's considered to be the cheapest version of Windows. However, Microsoft is clever enough not to sell the OS to consumers but only to OEM's who produce low-end devices. Microsoft stated that it is important to work with it's partners to deliver Windows devices in a wide range of market.

The Redmond giant said in the announcement "As we move forward, many of these lower cost devices will come with a new edition of Windows called Windows 8.1 with Bing. Windows 8.1 with Bing provides all the same great experiences that Windows 8.1 offers with the Windows 8.1 Update, and comes with Bing as the default search engine within Internet Explorer. And of course customers will be able to change that setting through the Internet Explorer menu, providing them with control over search engine settings."

Well it does not do much bad to OEM's as it is still possible to change the preferences of Windows to the consumers choice. Bing will be default search engine in internet explorer only that means if you use some other browsers like Chrome,Firefox and Opera, you won't find any difference in between Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 with Bing. It's good that Microsoft did not lock the Bing with Windows 8.1 with Bing.