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Windows 8.1 is due for release very soon, and I recently noticed the tag. I wanted to bring two questions up for consideration:

  1. Should the tag also exist, and be made a synonym of ?

  2. Like with , where there is no SP1-specific tag, should likewise be made a synonym of the tag?

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  • @Breakthrough Yes, but I'm saying it's official and computer are going to be shipped with Blue this month. Aug 4, 2013 at 16:50
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    While the windows-8.1 tag exists, specifically regarding adding it as a synonym of windows-8 is a valid issue to bring up, and not technically solved as of yet. I edited your question to focus more on this issue, but feel free to roll it back or further modify it. (Also, since it remains an open-issue after my re-wording, you might want to un-accept my answer until we gather some additional feedback from the community.) Aug 4, 2013 at 17:11
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    Yes Windows Blue is Windows 8.1 and no other update will be called Windows Blue. Until we know more about the future versions of these updates I say Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 should remain seperate
    – Ramhound
    Aug 8, 2013 at 2:59

1 Answer 1

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As of right now, the tag has 16 questions currently, and the tag summary reads:

Windows 8.1, code name "Blue", is an update to Windows 8, scheduled for release in late 2013.

Regarding the two questions posed above:

  1. There is no such tag called at this time, and agreeing with what @nhinkle stated below, I don't think it's necessary unless people start using the tag (Windows 8.1 is the more official name).

  2. If we look at the existing tags for some recent Windows operating systems, and contrast this with the kernel numbers for all service packs for that OS (excluding Windows 8, more on that next), are (5.1.XXXX), (6.0.XXXX), (6.1.XXXX), and finally, (6.2.XXXX). After seeing @Ramhound's comments below, I decided to see why they didn't call it a service pack (e.g. Windows 8 SP1), and sure enough, it seems as though the public preview of Win8.1 has a kernel version of 6.3.XXXX (inconsistent with service packs). For this reason, I would argue the tags should remain separate, unless the version numbers are further changed before the official release of WIndows 8.1.

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  • @AnnonomusPerson nobody's calling it Windows Blue anymore, so I don't think a synonym is necessary. If people start trying to tag things Windows Blue then we can do that, but at this point I don't think it's necessary.
    – nhinkle
    Aug 4, 2013 at 16:55
  • @nhinkle agreed, I think we should just avoid even having a windows-blue tag unless absolutely needed. I edited the original question to focus on the issue of having windows-8.1 a synonym of windows-8, only because there is no service-pack specific tag for windows-7 SP1 either. Aug 4, 2013 at 17:13
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    @Breakthrough - I think we should avoid making them synonyms because Windows 8.1 is NOT Windows 8.While it will very hard to avoid the upgrade to Windows 8.1 once released because of Windows Store support and software support Windows 8.1 is not really a service pack.There is also the upgrade process and a specific tag to indicate upgrade problems will be helpful.In a year I might change my mind about the tags being made a synonym.It might be smart to simply wait and find out what comes after Windows 8.1, if we are talking a Windows Red type update in 2014 a new term might be required
    – Ramhound
    Aug 5, 2013 at 16:39
  • I agree with @Ramhound, don't make them synonyms. Windows 8.1 adds more features than most/all service packs, except maybe Windows XP SP2. With new features will come many new questions that are not applicable to plain old Windows 8. It'll get even more confusing if FOO_FEATURE is one way in Windows 8, another way in Windows 8.1, and yet another way in Windows 8.2. Aug 7, 2013 at 18:15
  • @Ramhound agreed upon finding out that they changed the kernel version from 6.2.XXXX (Win8) to 6.3.XXXX (Win8.1). Windows Vista stayed as 6.0.XXXX through SP0/1/2, and Windows 7 SP0/1 had kernel version 6.1.XXXX. So I'd agree, windows-8.1 and windows-8 should indeed stay as separate tags (question updated to reflect this reasoning). Aug 8, 2013 at 0:25

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