Contrary to previous reports, it appears Windows 8.1 will receive an update a short while after Microsoft's Build developer conference in April.

Microsoft is allegedly developing a Windows 8.1 update called Update 1, and it was initially thought to arrive on 11 March via the Windows Update tool rather than the Windows Store. ZDNet has now claimed the update will instead release on 8 April.

An early-April release date would coincide with Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday, when the company regularly issues a suite of fixes, and it would align with Microsoft's Build developer conference. Build is scheduled to kick off on 2 April.

ZDNet previously descried Update 1 as a "relatively minor" update. Still, it is supposed to bring some much-welcomed changes including the ability to pin Windows Store apps to the taskbar. Update 1 might also optimise memory and disk space requirements, allowing Windows 8.1 to run on lower-end small tablets.

Update 1 will further include a desktop-like close button for Windows Store apps, meaning you wouldn't have to rely on gestures or keyboard shortcuts to close an app. In fact, Microsoft is supposedly adding a new title bar for its Windows 8-style apps that allows you to close, minimise, and snap apps to appear side by side with a mouse.

Update 1 might also allow you to right-click on Live Tiles. This action would then serve up context menus. There's even rumours that the Start Screen will get a direct search button and shutdown option, according to The Verge, which obtained leaked screenshots this week.

Other Windows 8.1 update reports have mentioned a "mini" Start menu, though ZDNet doesn't expect this to arrive in Update 1 but rather a second update expected to release within the next year. It could even arrive as part of Windows 9 - dubbed Windows Threshold - in April 2015.

READ: Windows 9 Threshold rumour round-up

Lastly, Update 1 could include a boot-to-desktop feature. Expect to hear a confirmation on this feature and other changes soon. That's because Microsoft will likely preview Windows 8.1 Update 1 at Build, ahead of the update's rumoured released on 8 April.

When reached for comment regarding the update, Microsoft said it had nothing to share at this time.