The just-released Windows 8.1 Update is a worthy attempt to bridge the significant divide between Windows 8's touch-oriented Start screen and Windows Store apps (formerly known as Metro apps) and the more traditional mouse-and-keyboard-oriented desktop and applications.

But while the update does well in bringing those two interfaces closer together, I found that it doesn't go quite all the way in making the operating system feel like a unified whole. And it also lacks an important feature that many desktop users (including me) have been asking for since the launch of Windows 8 -- the Start menu. For that, Microsoft says, people will have to wait an unspecified amount of time for another update.