These days, living without a Facebook account is like living without a telephone. Despite the expected occasional backlash any massively successful enterprise experiences, the social network of record has become an essential communication tool of modern life. Any mobile platform without an official Facebook app lacks a significant component. So, even though there have long been many third-party Facebook apps in the Windows Store, it's surprising that it's taken this long to get the real McCoy from the horse's mouth. But it was worth the wait: The Windows 8.1 Facebook app (free) delivers the lion's share of what you'd want, in a well-designed client.

Installation

I installed Facebook for Windows 8.1 from the Windows Store on a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet with a dual-core 1.7GHz Core i5 processor and 4GB RAM, and on a Core i7 desktop PC, so I'd have both the touch and keyboard/mouse experience with the app. On first run, a privacy permission bar appears across the screen asking you to allow the app to run in the background, which you probably want, in order to get notifications.

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Interface

Facebook for Windows 8.1 resembles other platforms' Facebook apps, but uses design elements standard for the platform, like the Charms, an app bar, and the Windows 8.1 fonts for touch options. It sports the standard 3-panel interface, with the left rail offering Search and navigation to your sites sections—your profile, news feed, messages, location, events, and so on. Unlike the iPad and Android apps, though, this side panel is always there, not to be swiped away as on the iPad, which is only wide enough to show either the left or right sidebars, not both at once.

One great interface feature is that when you click on a link one of your Friends posted, the app opens a half-screen app to the right, rather than switching you to full-screen browser view, as you'd have to in any other tablet operating system. Something you don't get in the Windows 8.1 Facebook app is Chat Heads, those persistent circles on the screen representing your conversations with buddies profile images. Another interface drawback is that it doesn't look great when you hold the tablet in portrait orientation; it works, but you get a blank lower screen area.

The app makes use of Windows 8.1's lock screen for status updates. I saw "toast" notifications over the screen when someone commented on a post that I had previously commented on. The app's Start page tile initially showed just a number indicating how many activity notifications you have waiting. But after a while, like Windows 8.1 built-in People app, the Facebook tile also showed profile photos with comment excerpts.