Windows Blue Is Now Officially Called Windows 8.1 & Free

The head of the Windows division at Microsoft officially confirmed that Windows Blue will be a free update to Windows 8 that will be available for download from the Windows Store. This should be music to the ears of many who feared that this may be a paid upgrade.

And not just that, Windows Blue is now officially known as Windows 8.1.

Tami Reller also confirmed that the update will also arrive for the company’s Windows RT platform.

There was more than a fair chance that this upgrade would indeed be free, but there were some voices that suggested Microsoft may charge additional money for existing Windows 8 customers. Nevertheless, it is nice to see this rumor quashed into oblivion.

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Ubuntu To Become The Official OS Of China

Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu have announced that they will be officially affiliated with the Chinese government to bring a new Ubuntu based OS to the Chinese population.

In a recent blog post on the Canonical blog, they went on to explain that Ubuntu Kylin (the official name of the new OS) will go way beyond just a version of Ubuntu with Chinese language packs installed. The blog post went on to say:
“Ubuntu Kylin goes beyond language localisation and includes features and applications that cater for the Chinese market. In the 13.04 release, Chinese input methods and Chinese calendars are supported, there is a new weather indicator, and users can quickly search across the most popular Chinese music services from the Dash.”


This isn’t just a one off release, it’s going to be a completely separate version of Ubuntu that is designed specifically for the Chinese market. Much like Kubuntu, or Xubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin will have on going development separate from the core Ubuntu build. The blog post goes on to say…
“Future releases will include integration with Baidu maps and leading shopping service Taobao, payment processing for Chinese banks, and real-time train and flight information.
The Ubuntu Kylin team is cooperating with WPS, the most popular office suite in China, and is creating photo editing and system management tools which could be incorporated into other flavours of Ubuntu worldwide.”

This is a very big move for Canonical and Ubuntu as a whole. We all know how huge China are, and for the Chinese government to push an official Ubuntu build onto the population can be nothing less than an amazing bonus for the Linux world.

Source

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