Windows 8.1 now includes these "helpful tips" that seem to appear at random. These are annoying, but I suppose they're useful in the face of all the dumb redesigning that took place in Windows 8. Just Microsoft realizing they made an incorrect assumption about the marketplace and working around it.

The majority of these Metro apps still require a Microsoft account (and like before, it makes sense for some but certainly not all of them). This isn't much of a problem anymore, however, as Microsoft has upped the difficulty level for making local user accounts as opposed to their Microsoft "Live" crap.

I see this as nothing more than a massive nuisance, and a way to force users to use Microsoft products as opposed to things such as GMail and Yahoo and whatnot. Brings back shades of Microsoft abusing their monopoly to crucify Netscape, in fact, it's basically exactly the same, just with different players!
Only too bad for Microshaft, their "monopoly" that they had then isn't quite a "monopoly" any more. The only thing preventing Linux from completely crushing Microsoft and Windows (ignoring the plethora of Linux dumbasseries that are still present even now) is the continued presence of Windows-only applications and hardware for high end commercial use. Linux, unlike Unix, is not a commercial operating system.

The average consumer does not need "cloud storage", or an email address for that matter, they already have local storage (and, with any luck, backups!) and it is very likely at this point that they also have an existing email address. Oh sure, you can create a Microsoft account using an existing email address, but what the hell is the point of that? Most users want to simply log in and use their local computer that they paid for, without any of that online unnecessary crap. So much for that I suppose.

Oh, and in the "this is an obvious bug that wasn't a problem before" department, that useless "helpful tip" crap continues to be in your face, until you actually perform the action it asks. If that isn't a complete waste of time, I don't know what is.

Applications that used to display static information now just outright refuse to display anything. So we've taken a step backwards.

Windows 8.1 now includes Internet Exploder 11 by default, but it is still the same gigantic turd that it always has been.

Hey, look ma, TWO Metro apps on the screen at once, and I don't have an IMAX-sized monitor! But ONLY two of them!

Unbelievably this is considered to be a "new feature" of Windows 8.1. Oh yes, because having two "windows" on the screen is so new, never mind the fact that I used to be able to bring up many more on my 800*600 Windows 95 display (and on a Pentium 120 no less!).
It's also nice to see Microsoft catching up to the Linux world by bundling duplicate applications. Or not. What the hell is even the point of a pretentious looking full screen calculator?
It doesn't require a Microsoft account to use it, at least. I suppose this will be "corrected" later on so that it can keep a record of all your calculations on the internet or some other mindless crapola. Send usage statistics to Microsoft? Why not!