Windows 8 touch ultrabooks see price cuts at Microsoft Store

 

Touch ultrabooks are seeing decent price cuts at the Microsoft Store, making these expensive models a bit more affordable.
Touch-screen laptops are generally priced significantly higher than non-touch models, as the screens have been expensive to procure.
The well-received Acer Aspire S7 has seen one of the steepest discounts, falling to $1,299 from $1,649.
The S7 features a 256GB solid-state drive, a 13.3-inch 1,920x1,080 resolution display, and a 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U processor.
Next up, Sony's Vaio T Series 13 has been reduced to $999 from $1,299. That 13.3-inch touch model packs a 256GB solid-state drive, 8GB of memory, and a 2GHz Core i7-3537U processor.
And the lower-end Vaio T Series (SVT13136CYS) model has been cut to $799 from $899.
Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook (15-b154nr) is now $599, reduced from $699.
HP's Spectre XT TouchSmart (15-4011nr) ultrabook has also seen a modest cut to $1,249 from $1,349. (See CNET's Spectre XT TouchSmart review.)
The Spectre XT boasts a 1,920x1,080 resolution 15.6-inch touch display, 8GB of memory, and a 1.9GHz Core i7-3517U chip.
The Microsoft Store has also been reducing prices on tablets with some now priced as low as $399.

Microsoft Reinvents Start Button In Windows 8 Update

Microsoft heard a lot of complaints when it ditched the Start button in its latest version of Windows. Now, it’s kind of bringing it back.

Windows 8 is designed for touch, but since most of us still point-and-click our way through the day, the lack of a Start menu meant a learning curve.

“The Start button is back. Not in the way people may have been expecting,” says Engadget senior reviews editor Dana Wollman.

Wollman says in the update, 8.1, Microsoft adds an always-on Windows logo to the bottom left.

“Anyone who is expecting the old start menu with those fly out menus to come back is going to be disappointed,” Wollman explains.

Clicking it brings up customizable tiles to fill with most-used appsand live updates.

You can boot to the old-school desktop — though there’s still no traditional start menu.

Microsoft is adding personalization options and a richer search when a free upgrade, for existing Windows 8 users, comes out later this year.