Some add-ins didn't really excite me. The ability to resize the split-screen, which lets you do more than one thing at once, lacked pizazz. On the Acer and even Microsoft's own Surface Pro, you can only split the screen in two, and only at fixed intervals. With the update, the screens can be half-and-half or roughly cover one-third or two-thirds of the screen, instead of one taking up a sliver as in Windows 8.
Another feature is a predictive text function. Windows 8.1 offers up three predictions for words you are typing on an onscreen keyboard when in certain apps like Mail. To me, the feature seemed to be more annoying than useful, even though you can select the options with sideways swipes on the space bar.
Yet another feature turned the camera into a motion detector. In one demo, Microsoft's new "Food and Drink" app lets users swipe through a recipe with mid-air hand gestures. In practice, this often failed, sometimes turning pages in the wrong direction or not reacting at all. Still, it's a way to struggle through a recipe if your hands are coated with sauce.
At Wednesday's presentation, Microsoft executives previewed future Windows functions that could come in handy, including voice recognition in apps and contextual understanding of spoken questions.
For example, corporate vice president Gurdeep Singh Pall demonstrated a prototype travel planning app that not only showed 3-D overhead views of cities but gave computer-voice tours of various monuments. Speaking the question "Who is the architect?" brought up a webpage showing the answer, simply because the building that the architect designed was in view in the maps app."Apps are going to have eyes, they're going to have ears, they're going to have a mouth," said Pall.
As of this month, Microsoft says its new Windows platform will have 100,000 apps, and the company made it clear it hopes developers make even more, incorporating some of the new tools it has made available to them.
Ballmer said in his keynote he hopes that Windows 8.1 also offers a "great path forward" for users of the millions of programs that work on older versions of Windows. By showing off a variety of enticing features of the new interface, however, it's clear that path leads through the "Modern" world.
But the Pixel isn't very practical at least not yet - for most people. It works well when you have a steady Internet connection, but can't do much once you lose that connection. And because it uses Google's own operating system, it doesn't run enough software yet to replace your other machines.
I brought the Pixel along for a nearly three-week trip to Thailand and Cambodia, where I knew I wouldn't have the type of round-the-clock access I'm used to in the U.S. I was surprised by how much I could do, but quickly got frustrated when I couldn't do more.
Such frustration doesn't come cheap. Prices for the Pixel start at $1,299, just $200 less than a MacBook with a comparable screen and the ability to do much more offline. A higher-end Pixel with cellular access costs $150 more than the basic model and is scheduled to start shipping Monday.
For those unfamiliar with Google's entry into the laptop market - I guess that's many of you - the Pixel and other Chromebooks run a Google operating system called Chrome OS. Based on the Chrome Web browser available for Windows and Mac computers, Chrome OS underscores Google's vision of letting the Internet do all the heavy lifting instead of your computer.
As a result, you can power up and start working on the Chromebook right away. Boot time is minimal because there's not a lot of software to load. Those functions are pulled from the Internet as needed. That also means updates come regularly and don't need any installation on your part.
There's not a lot of storage on the machine either. The idea is to keep as much as you can online, through a storage service such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
Think of the Chromebook as a gateway to the Internet. You can download apps from Google and others to run on the Chromebook, but many of those apps do little more than access a website on your Chrome browser when you're online.
Previous Chromebooks haven't been too powerful. They have tended to be low-cost machines ideal for casual users who mostly need computers for Internet tasks such as email and Facebook.
Google is changing the dynamics with the Pixel. It's targeting power users who are willing to pay more money for the best features.
For $1,299, you get a well-built machine sporting a touch-sensitive display that measures nearly 13 inches (33 centimeters) diagonally. The screen's resolution is among the best out there. At 239 pixels per inch, it tops the 227 pixels per inch on the 13-inch MacBook Pro, though your eyes might not be able to discern that small difference.
The basic Pixel model comes with 32 gigabytes of storage and has a slot for external storage, such as a camera's SD card. Each machine also comes with a three-year subscription for 1 terabyte of online storage through Google Drive. It's normally $50 a month.
Google also offers a $1,449 model that has double the internal storage, at 64 GB, and 100 megabytes a month of LTE cellular data access through Verizon Wireless for two years. That's suitable for occasional use, but if you'll be away from Wi-Fi a lot, you'll need a data plan. Prices start at $10 a day.
About the Chromebook Pixel
The device represents Google's entry into the high-end laptop market. It runs Google's Chrome OS operating system, which largely assumes you'll have round-the-clock Internet access. You can still work with the device offline, but functionality is limited.
The basic model costs $1,299 and comes with 32 gigabytes of storage. For $1,449, you get 64 gigabytes and LTE connectivity through Verizon Wireless. Both models come with a terabyte of online storage through Google Drive for three years, a $1,800 value at $50 per month. Not everyone will need as much storage, and Google Drive offers free and cheaper plans.
The pricier Pixel model also offers 100 megabytes a month of LTE cellular data access through Verizon Wireless for two years.
If you need more, you can buy a day pass with unlimited data for $10. Or you can buy 1 gigabyte of data for $20, 3 GB for $35 or 5 GB for $50. Those are good for a month. If you're a Verizon customer with a plan for sharing data allotments over multiple devices, you can add the Pixel for just $10 a month.
The Pixel is sold through Google's online Play store and Best Buy's website.