We heard last month that Microsoft would be including 3D Printing options within it's windows 8.1 software, a major shift by the worlds largest software company which will significantly boost 3D Printing into the mainstream. Windows 8.1 will include the following:


  • Driver model for 3D manufacturing devices;
  • Support for Windows Store device apps and extensions for 3D manufacturing devices;
  • Job spooling and queuing support;
  • Keywords for modeling device capabilities;
  • API for apps to submit 3D manufacturing jobs to your 3D printer.

Today Microsoft stated that they will likely collaborate with Stratasys, 3D Systems and Xone to expand on their offerings. They see 3D printing as a possible goldmine it seems and we are just in the very early stages of this movement.

More details:
http://www.3ders.org//articles/20131...er-makers.html