The coolest Windows 8.1 feature: Native support for 3D printing

Forget the Start button or the ability to boot up to desktop mode — Windows 8.1 has a much cooler feature than either of those things. As Ars Technica reports, Windows 8.1 will feature both a standard driver and an application programming interface designed specifically for 3D printing. What makes this so enticing, Ars notes, is that “developers will be able to use the new API to integrate 3D printing dialog boxes into their applications, making it that much easier to print your designs using that $200 3D printer you just bought.” Adding native support for 3D printing is a pretty clever maneuver for Microsoft as it tries to move aggressively into what looks to be a quickly growing emerging technology.