free email software like outlook for windows 8

James Niccolai covers data centers and general technology news for IDG News Service. It posted a video of the new features in a blog post.

It also showed a new page for viewing and organizing apps, and a new search tool that looks through files on the PC as well as searching the Web, and presents the results side by side in a new interface. Microsoft got a small cheer when it showed that feature. That makes switching between the Start screen and the more classic desktop mode less of a jarring experience, because the background image stays the same. Among them, Windows 8.1 will let users use their desktop wallpaper as the image that appears behind the application tiles in the Start screen of the new Metro interface.

It disclosed some of the changes in Windows 8.1 in a blog post last week, and at Computex demonstrated them for the first time. The bundled app with Windows is meant to cater to consumers and those who check their emails on a daily basis. Microsoft has said it will deliver a preview version of Windows 8.1 at its Build conference later this month. The main difference between Outlook and the Mail app is the target audience. Like the RT version, the Windows 8.1 update for x86 PCs is also due later this year. Some users were jolted by the big changes in Windows 8, including its Metro interface, and Windows 8.1 is a move by Microsoft to address those criticisms. It remains to be seen how much the change will boost sales of Windows tablets. In both cases, the offer applies only to tablets with 7- to 10.1-inch screens, Nick Parker, the head of Microsoft's OEM business, told reporters after the keynote.

The list of bundled apps for the x86 version does not include Outlook, however, so PC makers who want to include that will still need to license it separately. Microsoft will also add the Home & Student edition of Office to the x86 version of Windows 8.1, too, Reller said. In addition to the Home & Student 2013 version of Office, which has Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, Windows RT 8.1 will also include Outlook, Reller said.

Free email software like outlook for windows 8