Microsoft exec confirms Windows Blue will be a free upgrade called Windows 8.1

We can all stop calling Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows Blue now that Tami Reller, the CMO and CFO of Microsoft’s Windows Division, confirmed that its official name will be Windows 8.1.

Confirming what fellow company exec Julie Larson-Green said earlier this month, Reller revealed during JP Morgan’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference that you’ll be able to download the public preview version of Windows 8.1 by the end of June – June 26, to be exact – which happens to be right at the beginning of the 2013 Build Developer Conference. Reller is keeping mum when it comes to the system’s actual release date – only hinting that it will be launched some time during or before the holiday season.

Reller did, however, share that Windows 8.1 will be released as a free upgrade, as was speculated, and will be available as a download on your Windows 8 home screen once it’s been launched. Windows 8.1 will be rolled out to both full Windows 8 copies and RT versions of the system. She also made an allusion to the possibility of seeing smaller Windows 8 slates by praising the 8.1 for being a great OS even for “the smallest tablets.”

Even though Reller has shed light on a number of 8.1 reports, a number of unconfirmed ones remain including the reintroduction of the Start button. We have a feeling we’ll be hearing more about Windows 8.1 as we get closer to Build, so stay tuned.

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