Wondering what Windows 8.1 looks like...?

Pretty much like my Windows 8.0 actually - the Ultimate Windows Tweaker still works, and the 8gadgetpack still works, but I'm absolutely desolated to discover that my old favorite, the Windows 7 Logon Background Changer won't mount my favorite logon screen picture.... Damn!

But I guess I can't expect Mighty Microsoft to give me everything I wish for, and they are trying, Folks - they really are. They've even put back a semi-start button shortcut, which, when clicked on, takes you directly to the Start Screen's magnificent collection of cute and even more resizable tiles. My spies were right.
There's no handy-dandy menu like we had in Win-7 or you can get back again with that Windows 8 freebie, Start Menu Reviver - which installs in Win-8.1 but just doesn't do much compared to what it did in Win-8. But it doesn't break anything, and that's nice. And if you right-click on that flag-thingy that tries to look like a Start Button, you do get a nice selection of choices, including the old standby 'Run' and you've gotta love that!  

So, it's still semi-customizable, but not as much as I'd like it to be, and the big question remains: Can this one slay the Dragon and recapture the top of the mountain for freedom, democracy, and above all Mighty Microsoft? Don't ask me, Kiddies - I just write this stuff..... reading it is your problem!

Would I buy this one if it wasn't already a freebie to us Win-8 customers? Ask me again later, after I've discovered more about it. For now, I'm not so sure.
It took a long time to download and install, I got two different verification codes offered to me within one minute by email while trying to activate it, and yes, I do understand it's just a trial version - what we used to call a 'beta' - and is therefore likely to have a few bugs. But I keep comparing everything lately to Windows 7 when its first beta hit the streets, and it was absolutely bulletproof from day one. That's something we began to expect and look forward to, and
we aren't going to be happy with anything less, especially after all the diddling around  getting to this point, and all the hype we've been seeing about it.

Some wit who writes for one of those so-called insider-knows-it-all websites has said that this is Microsoft's apology for screwing up on the original Windows 8.
There should have been no need for any apology for screwing up, and Windows 8 should have been what came out when Windows 7 was released, if only they hadn't wasted about two years making Windows Vista virtually unusable for average users, and thus letting Apple get the jump on them with touch-enabled devices, and having to play 'catch-up' ever since. And it's still true: you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Unfortunately.