Windows 8.1 also added support for then emerging technologies like high-resolution displays, 3D printing, Wi-Fi Direct, and Miracast streaming, as well as the ReFS file system.

In particular, the report detailed that Microsoft was planning to shift to a more "continuous" development model, which would see major revisions to its main software platforms released on a consistent yearly cycle to keep up with market demands.

The build, which was believed to be of "Windows Blue", revealed a number of enhancements across Windows 8's interface, including additional size options for tiles, expanded color options on the Start screen, the expansion of PC Settings to include more options that were previously exclusive to the desktop Control Panel, the ability for apps to snap to half of the screen, the ability to take screenshots from the Share charm, additional stock apps, increased SkyDrive integration (such as automatic device backups) and Internet Explorer 11.

[12][13] Shortly afterward on March 26, 2013, corporate vice president of corporate communications Frank X. Shaw officially acknowledged the "Blue" project, stating that continuous development would be "the new normal" at Microsoft, and that "our product groups are also taking a unified planning approach so people get what they want—all of their devices, apps and services working together wherever they are and for whatever they are doing.

"[14] In early May, press reports announcing the upcoming version in Financial Times and The Economist negatively compared Windows 8 to New Coke.

[26][27] Unlike past releases of Windows and its service packs, volume license customers and subscribers to MSDN Plus and TechNet Plus were unable to obtain the RTM version upon its release; a spokesperson stated that the change in policy was to allow Microsoft to work with OEMs "to ensure a quality experience at general availability.

[32] Shortly after its release, Windows RT 8.1 was temporarily recalled by Microsoft following reports that some users had encountered a rare bug which corrupted the operating system's Boot Configuration Data during installation, resulting in an error on startup.

The company released recovery media and instructions which could be used to repair the device, and restored access to Windows RT 8.1 the next day.

Microsoft released a patch to fix the bug on certain games in November 2013, and acknowledged that it was caused by "changes to mouse-input processing for low-latency interaction scenarios".

[46] However, meeting this deadline proved challenging: The ability to deploy Windows 8.1 Update through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) was disabled shortly after its release following the discovery of a bug which affects the ability to use WSUS as a whole in certain server configurations.

It is subsidized by Microsoft's Bing search engine, which is set as the default within Internet Explorer and cannot be changed by OEMs.

[63][64] The Start screen received several enhancements on Windows 8.1, including an extended "All Apps" view with sort modes (accessed by clicking a new down arrow button or swiping upward), small and extra-large sizes for tiles, and colored tiles for desktop program shortcuts.

The lock screen offers the ability to use a photo slideshow as its backdrop, and a shortcut to the Camera app by swiping up.

The on-screen keyboard has an improved autocomplete mechanism which displays multiple word suggestions, and allows users to select from them by sliding on the spacebar.

The autocomplete dictionary is also automatically updated using data from Bing, allowing it to recognize and suggest words relating to current trends and events.

However, it does not support data loss protection, Group Policy, Lync integration, or creating emails with information rights management.

Files are automatically downloaded in the background when they are accessed from the user's OneDrive folder, unless they are marked to be available offline.

By default, only file metadata and thumbnails are stored locally, and reparse points are used to give the appearance of a normal directory structure to provide backwards compatibility.

Full-screen "hero" displays aggregate news articles, Wikipedia entries, multimedia, and other content related to a search query; for instance, searching for a music performer would return photos of the performer, a biography, and their available songs and albums on Xbox Music.

[64][65] The messaging app from Windows 8 has been replaced by Skype, which also allows users to accept calls directly from the lock screen.

[65] Windows 8.1 also includes Internet Explorer 11, which adds support for SPDY and WebGL, and expanded developer tools.

[83] On compatible hardware, Windows 8.1 also features a transparent "device encryption" system based on BitLocker.

A new kiosk mode known as "Assigned Access" was also added, allowing a device to be configured to use a single app in a restricted environment.

Additionally, Windows Defender includes an intrusion detection system which can scan network activity for signs of malware.

[88] Windows 8.1 adds support for 3D printing,[89][90] pairing with printers using NFC tags, Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast media streaming,[91] tethering,[75] and NVMe.

Windows 8.1's search functionality was met with mixed reviews; while noting the Bing integration and updated design, the system was panned for arbitrarily leaving out secondary storage devices from the "Everything" mode.

In his review of Windows 8.1, Joel Hruska noted that Microsoft had deliberately made it harder for users to create a "Local" account that is not tied to a Microsoft account for syncing, as it "[makes] clear that the company really, really, wants you to share everything you do with it, and that's not something an increasing number of people and businesses are comfortable doing.

Leonhard considered this to be ironic, given that Microsoft had criticized Google's use of similar tactics with its "Scroogled" advertising campaign.