Windows 8.1 Update Leaks, Ahead Of March Release, Reveal Improved Keyboard And Mouse Experience

The first update to Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 8.1 operating system leaked on the Internet on Sunday, weeks ahead of its expected March release.

The leaked update reveals an improved keyboard and mouse experience, and a new title bar for the company’s Windows 8 apps, which allows users to close, minimize and split apps left and right using a mouse. The bar is located at the top of the Metro-style apps, The Verge reported.

The Start screen also has received some key improvements as users now can right-click on the Live Tiles to get a context menu to uninstall, resize, and pin and unpin an app from the task bar and the Start screen.

Unlike the current version of the OS, users do not have to go to the right-hand corners of the screen to access the search and shutdown buttons, as Microsoft has brought the options straight onto the Windows 8.1 Start screen with the update. While the inclusion of this feature will please many users, the update does not include time and date on the Start screen, the report said.

At the bottom of the PC settings section, the company has included the Control Panel option, while there is also a Store app in the taskbar with the usual window preview of the app.

According to some earlier reports, the Windows 8.1 Update 1 is expected to be launched on March 11, ahead of the company’s Build developers' conference in April.

According to the latest market share data from Net Applications, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 barely made progress in gaining market share in January 2014 with a combined 0.09 percentage points gain to 10.58 percent from 10.49 percent.

Meanwhile, Windows 8 fell 0.26 percentage points to 6.63 percent from 6.89 percent, while Windows 8.1 gained 0.35 percentage points to reach 3.95 percent of the market from 3.60 percent.