Windows 8.1 Will Be Free; Microsoft Holds Onto Struggling ARM Variant

From DailyTech: Until now, we knew (officially) that an unnamed successor to Windows 8 would enter Release Preview testing next month at Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) BUILD Conference. Now that unnamed release has received an official title.

At JP Morgan & Chase Comp.'s (JPM) Media and Telecom conference today Windows chief financial officer Tami Reller confirmed rumors that the upcoming OS, codenamed Windows Blue, would be christened "Windows 8.1".

More importantly, the update -- which reportedly will allow users to boot to desktop, return some semblance of the Start button (albeit one that dumps users into Metro), and include better mouse support in Metro -- will be offered for free to Windows 8 customers. The update will be distributed via the Windows Store.

OEMs are hopeful the update will revive floundering PC sales. Q1 2013 marked the worse percentage drop in PC unit sales in history.

Tami Reller yet again addressed Microsoft's sentiments on another key topic -- Windows RT. Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (KSC:005930), The Lenovo Group, Ltd. (HKG:0992), Dell Inc. (DELL), and Acer Inc. (TPE:2357) -- have attacked the OS have all attacked complaining about its lack of legacy compatibility and Microsoft's poor marketing of the platform. Many of these OEMs have refused to release Windows RT products, sinking sales to an anemic 200,000 tablets in Q1 2013. But Microsoft, like its hardware partners Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) and NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), is standing clearly behind the platform.

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