Windows 8.1 - Have You Made The Move?
 

Ok, who's made the move to it, and what do you think about it?

I installed the 64bit version Saturday and played with it for a while over the weekend. Hard to get around in it initially as there's a pretty good learning curve to it. Once I found out how to do a few things I like it. Tho not as much as our old venerable XP. Me thinks it's time to head to the bookstore and get a copy of "Windows 8.1 for Dummies" for safe measure.

What was nice was it does updates and installs them automatically. It did the software for my graphics card, Windows Defender (MSE), the firmware for my 3 year old motherboard that you can't buy anymore, and my keyboard and mouse. The bottle neck doing the compatability check was the motherboard. I figured I had to buy a new one but it looks like I'm safe. All I need is more DDR3 RAM to get up to at least 8GB for 64bit.

And I got it on sale thru PriceWatch.com for 96.87 with free shipping with a 30 day money back guarrantee. :D

http://www.pricewatch.com/search?q=W...w&discounted=2

01/20/14 - GeekWire - A visit to HP’s website this morning will feel like a time warp … or maybe a welcome return home.

In a move that will cause headaches at Microsoft, the computer maker is running a special promotion for $150 off new Windows 7 PCs, touting the operating system as “Back by popular demand.” The company is still offering Windows 8 on new computers, particularly for tablets and laptops, but the first products shown when browsing for desktops on HP’s site are Windows 7 machines.

The situation is a reminder of previous comparisons of Windows 8 to “New Coke,” the infamous soda remake that sparked a consumer backlash and a return to the classic formula. In Microsoft’s case, the radical changes in Windows 8 require some adjustment for longtime Windows users, particularly on the desktop, although the company has been rolling back some of those changes with the return of the Start button and the ability to boot directly to the desktop in Windows 8.1.

Well, this is interesting. Windows 9 is possibly relaunch of XP with modern features. Now that sounds great.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Best-...s-417329.shtml

I can tell one more thing that's good about 8.1. It loads faster than XP ever has.

Is the price tag on 8.1 a one time fee?

I've got a 6-7 year old laptop that was 'scrubbed' in 2010. It runs XP and my only issues have been (occasional) slow loading pages and 'sticky' streaming of some video.
I wonderf if it's worth it to buy the Windows 8.1 upgrade or should I just get whatever the best medium grade new laptop I can find.

I'd do the later and not worry about it if I was drawing a paycheck. But I'm kind of limited on funds right now.

Just what I've been waiting for, and another 1.5 years of wait is worth it! I still use XP SP3 and I love it! I don't want the 7's and 8's, or 8.1's, I want the 9!!!!! I can't wait! Now I know which operating system I'm going to, and it's the 9! I love XP!

The 8.1 upgrade, as far as I know, is free to download and install if you already have 8. And OEM 8.1 is a one time activation fee. And there's already an upgrade out for OEM 8.1.

Don't feel bad Lightfoot. Funds are limited for many of us.

It'll probably be a year or two before 9 hits the streets. But I want 9 too IF it's going to be an improved upgrade for XP.

I had seen the news Mike posted about HP. My son is into IT and for the past year many of his business customers have been ordering new computers with Windows 7. I'm thinking of dumping my 8 and going with the 7. Looks like I won't be alone.
I do know 8.1 will not be an option.

I have a desktop running XP and a laptop with 7 and I can't tell any difference.

Running 7 till 9 comes out!;)
"Threshold" to be Called Windows 9, Ship in April 2015
http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/th...hip-april-2015
BTW; if you run windows 8 try http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/
It returns the standard menu in Windows 8.
I usually end up installing on most all of the puters I install 8 on.
It's free for 30 days $5.00 to buy,works very nicely. With it Windows 8 is much easier to deal with..

I am in IT and Microsoft certified and I have been running windows 8 since it came out and also upgraded to 8.1. I tell all my clients who ask about purchasing a new computer to stay away from windows 8 and purchase a computer with windows 7. I have no problems getting around 8 but it was quite the learning curve in the beginning and I still don't like it.

I have all the systems running from windows 98 up through windows 8.1 and I must say that I like windows 7 the best with XP being a very close second.

For my clients that have to get a new computer because XP support will be going away come April 2014, I tell them go to 7 because there is very little to no learning curve depending on how you use your computer.

I will get 9 when it comes out but I never recommend new operating systems to my clients until microsoft gets all the bugs out. They are just in too much of a hurry to get their product on the market to make money and we become the free test bed for them. I tell my client to wait till after the service pack comes out or at least a few months until some of the major bugs are caught and taken care of.

Mark

Unless you "have" to, why change/upgrade your OS if all is running OK? :confused2

I think the adage of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" was coined specifically for MS products.

I've been playing with 8.1 tonight and now that I can navigate around in it I really like it. No problems installing software like I've heard happens with 7. Hey, I'm no computer genius but 8.1 is pretty user friendly and stable.... so far.

I can send this back within 30 days for a full refund, but So far I like what I see and I'm going to keep it. Now if support would be continued for XP until 9 comes out, I'd be staying with it and sending 8.1 back where I got it from.

Amen and x2!

That make sense as Drs office & Medical Equip, et al, now using XP Based to transition to 9.

My WAG is that current XP will contine a "miraculous" continuation and support way past the current April "death date" as has been the case due to customer/end user demands for support in the past.

If not no big deal. I'd be willing to bet the launch of 9 is "fast tracked" like previous Win OS to replace such hits as "Vista" etc. personally, I'd not purchase a new device TODAY loaded with 7, as I've experienced in the past the device is almost immediately out of date OS wise.
Ex: 7 to new 9

Have had 8 for about 3 weeks, on a laptop, not liking it much at all. Took hours to get it setup esp had problems with printer/fax/scanner drivers. IMO its made for touch screen use, just a pain to move around and find things. Have XP and 7 on desktops, out of all of the I like XP with 7 right behind it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20683...-yes-now-.html
Funny most ATM's run windows XP still.lol
Let the discounts begin.
http://images.techhive.com/images/ar...4852-large.png

..........
 

....

Mark. I have ran into some web sites that say MS will support the malware upgrades until April 2015. That would coincide with the 2015 Windows 9??
Of course i'm definitely no IT guy. And I have XP SP3 wondering whats next??!!
Troy

Giddy, if you're running 8 do the upgrade to 8.1. It's free for those running 8. The only thing I don't like is that your Documents are saved to the Cloud. When you first install you can change that and have a User/(My?)Documents folder. I'm trying to change to that now.

I played around with 8.1 all lastnight. I really like it now. And the more I run it the more I like it. Loads fast and the learning curve isn't all that bad. I installed programs that ran on XP and they are also running on 8.1. So IMHO it's not as bad as some are crying about it. If I can run it with no problems anyone can..... I'm not a computer guru like some are. Well most all are compared to me.

These are just my :2cents: worth of thoughts. Run what you like. I'm just telling what I've found out about 8.1. It's not as bad as you think or have been told. ;)

Windows XP Pro here at the office. Thinking about finding a Windows 7 computer to "upgrade" to since Columbus brought this one over with him.
Mac at home.

:pound:

This thing just showed up at my house last Thursday.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-14-l421...d=xps-14-l421x

Guess I spent $1500 on a computer with an outdated OS.;)

Nice! I like our Dell Gear. Planning on purchasing more Dell with upgrade in OS. Our HP gear; other than monitors & printers; not so much.

Sent from my Radio Shack TRS 80 via Tapa What? :eek: :pound:

Nice. Love my Dell Latitude D830's!

Came real close to getting a Latitude. Thought it had too much "bussiness stuff" for what I needed. Good computer for the money.

And came with a dvd/rom drive that this one doesn`t have.


Looked hard at this one before the XPS.

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/la...aptop#TechSpec

Love these for the quality - price - performance.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2425036,00.asp
But that Dell is a nice looking rig.
Enjoy!

I've been running windows 8 for about a year now, upgraded to 8.1 yesterday finally. It is a very fast OS, and coupled with the fact that its installed on a SSD hard drive my reboot times are right around 15-20 seconds.

All you have to do to make 8 totally fine is install an aftermarket program named Classic Shell. It puts the normal start button back in the bottom corner that everyone is used to. Windows 8.1 put a start button back there but all it does is bring you back out to the start screen. Classic Shell gives you back a REAL start button.

I installed Classic Shell yesterday too. 8.1 said not to as there could be problems with it.... or something like that. Anyways, I put it in and I like it.

Now the only big thing I have to do is install my motherboard's CPU Level Up software to overclock my i5 2.81 processor to an i7 2.93 or 3.06. I need that little boost to run Silent Hunter 5 the way it should be run. With the Corsair H-60 water cooling it'll stay nice and cool.

I will keep the 8, its just another learning curve, read something about 8.1 that was an issue but do not remember what it was. With the 7 it took me awhile to get used to the libraries. I finally went and read up on them and now find them to be a nice feature.
Software is not anymore intuitive but it is getting more features so it takes longer to learn it all. Will 8 save me time? At this point I don't think so...

try editing video clips with the windows live movie maker in windows 8.
I dare you.
I really regret buying this pos.
they've overcomplicated things that were simple and worked fine.
xp was user friendly.

I have had several popups in the last week offering W8 free trial. If I download to try will it wipe all my files? Here is the link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/i...P9&OCID=MA00P9

Why not just get Windows 7 ,
Backup you're documents to a UBS or another drive then do a "clean" install not an upgrade!
A clean install is the way to go, less headaches down the road.
You have 30 days before you need to get a product key to activate windows.
Just download the correct Windows 7 or 8 version you intend to buy because the key that comes with purchased copy only works for the version you install.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...download+links

forcing 8
 

I recently ordered a new HP Pavilion laptop with Windows 8 , no choise on the Windows edition they're all Windows 8 !!!

Had it for a week and got real close to smashing the thing about 4 times.
Really hated the software architecture , completely counter intuitive , like having to solve a puzzle for every little move I made.

So I got on the Dutch version off 'Craigslist' and bought a young secondhand HP Pavilion with Windows 7.
Now I can enjoy this laptop without getting aggravated every 5 seconds . . . . hallelujah. :)

They offer (HP-Dell) windows 7 again in case you missed it guy's!
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/20/53...popular-demand

Bob, you could have done the free upgrade to 8.1. Other than that you have to play around with 8.1 to get to know it. It's not that bad if you take the time to play with it and get used to it.

Old Goat 67 had a look at some screenshots I took of it today and said from what he can see, and what we discussed, that it's better than 7. Like we both said... anyone that gets 8.1 has to get past the learning curve..... just like we all had to with XP. ;) My first OS was Millennium Edition and I had learn how that ran. Took me awhile but I got to really like it. So much so that I swore I'd never go to XP. XP was crap until they did SP2 and 3. I was forced to go with XP when the motherboard on my Compac Presario died. It was still under warranty so I was sent a new computer.... with XP. The rest is history.... I HAD to learn how to use XP too. Don't get me wrong..... I still love my XP but I decided to take the leap. I couldn't see getting an OS that cost more (Windows 7) than 8, which many hated for the obvious reasons we all know. Instead I jumped into 8.1, and each time I use it I like it even more. But I also can't wait to see Windows 9 come out seeing it'll be XP based... so MS says. I think they finally took the hint and caved to redoing XP because of all the negativity they got on 7 and 8, and now 8.1.

Legit Keys
 

For Windows ...
http://www.go2keys.com/
Based on the good things said about go2keys.com, I actually went for it and bought a Windows 7 pro key from them, having got the .iso file from the Microsoft Technet pages. I have been using it for just under a week now and no problems. On the system page it has the Genuine Microsoft Software logo. All in all I'm pretty happy and would recommend it to anyone. Put simply, it's legit!
more info;
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...8224944AAgkZoq

Which OS is really faster Windows 7 or Windows 8?
Nice review here;
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/14...faster-windows

I went Win 7 when I built the computer I'm typing this on. Had XP before that.

I always wait to see what the buzz is about an OS before making the plunge, and only upgrade when I really need to.

XP was really stable, never had any problems with it. 7 is just as good in that regard and better in other ways. I love the way it handles drivers, networking, and crash recovery.

I'm not hearing much positive about 8, so why bother?

Upgrading was necessary - XP wouldn't have been able to properly support the hardware in this machine (quad core processor, 16gb RAM, 1.5TB hard drive space, dedicated graphics card, etc.)

I'd think anyone who can build a car can build a computer these days. They're pretty much plug & play and you save a boatload of money. If I was to buy a machine like this from Dell or whoever I'd have spent twice as much. Just do a little research to make sure you're buying quality parts (just like for a car) and you'll be good to go.

Yep, I was impressed. Looks very similar to Win 7.

Charles

More info on Windows 9 and 8.2..... Plus some other good reading material.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/mic...one,25735.html

Will, 8.1 is as stable as a rock from what I'm seeing. Downloads are as fast as XP's were. Loads faster than XP too. Can't say anything about 7 as I've not run it. Cost for 7 was more than what I paid for 8.1 so why bother. So that was the main reason I went straight to 8.1. And it looks like Win9 will be, or could be, another upgrade from 8 and/or 8.1.

A side note. It only took 1 second to download the Start Button 8's 4.32MB file. That's faster than XP.
http://softreviews.co/get/start-butt...8_CCUS_Content

So what version of Microsoft Office Suite is compatible with both 7 and 8 point 1 point whatever?

Most geeks don't bother with paying for a month subscription to MS office suite anymore.
We use this free linux version;)
http://www.openoffice.org/why/index.html

post up your windows Experience numbers ;)
http://i41.tinypic.com/fu3tjq.png
http://i42.tinypic.com/33kd3xy.png

[QUOTE=GT182;5114856]Bob, you could have done the free upgrade to 8.1. Other than that you have to play around with 8.1 to get to know it. It's not that bad if you take the time to play with it and get used to it.

GT182 , I know what you mean .

The problem is , I'm a very simple uneducated guy and I get really agravated when I have to use apliances which are designed by highly educated people who have some kind of weird abstract notion about how these apliances should be operated.

So most of the logic you use operating them , is simply wasted because of that.
And that is just 'killing' for the little patience I have. :)

Clarification - My Q (above) referring to stand alone licensed copy(s) of MS Office, not monthly fee based license versions.

My disk data transfer rate is 5.9 , would a digital HD be the answer?
Win 7.. runs like XP have them both.. it works..
Win 8, essentially made for the "Surface Tablet" as a touch screen OS
Why in hell would they expect to sell that on a desktop or even laptop, makes ya wonder, more exercise?, more bacteria on the screen? more screens to replace?
Some things work, we STILL have steering wheels, and turn signals... I hate the customer "re training" these developers try to do.. My Webroot puts all my navigation tool bar stuff on the RIGHT when it runs a scan.. why? because facebook, PY, etc advertising is over there, think Im going to change for that?
8.1 was a help but only masks the 8.0
Real users, not portable users want stuff that works, and well...

Add an ssd drive,you'll be blazing fast then.

[QUOTE=Bob Timmermans;5115490]You are not alone Bob. Most of are in the same boat as you, and really get aggravated too when something that's supposed to be simple ends up really really hard.

Remember the old saying.... "Life's a cinch by the inch, but hard by the yard." ;)