Windows 8.1

[CrippsCorner]

Who's got it? Painfully slow on the download... started over an hour ago and not even halfway yet. Be lucky to get it installed tonight.

 

[Nickson]

Been using it on my desktop for a while now, since the RTM version became available.

So much hate for the version of Skydrive they've integrated. I use the desktop application that you install on 7/8. But in 8.1 that isn't possible, as it is so tightly integrated into the OS and it properly sucks.

Nevermind.

Apart from that it is all good, starting to prefer 8 to 7.

 

[Darren S]

Is the 8.1 update solely available from the Store? I can't see it anywhere?

Pics on the net suggest it's off to the left, past the Facebook stuff. Any ideas?

Cheers,
D.

 

[Darren S]

Looking like I need a specific KB download - seems a common problem?

Seems quite messy this from Microsoft, imo. This should be super slick - not leaving people to scrabble around looking up hints on the internet.

D.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

I'll have a proper look at it tomorrow, although I've just looked in the store and it was the first tile that came up.

3.6GB though will take a while for me

 

[Gareth]

Got it on a VM, still on 7 on my actual machines.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Okay well I got in. It has an annoying thing now where it's going back to the Smart Screen on the wrong monitor! Can't figure how to get it back on the other one permanently... it's a shame Messaging as gone as well, I hate Skype.

 

[Cookie]

Still cack

 

[Darren S]

I'll have a proper look at it tomorrow, although I've just looked in the store and it was the first tile that came up.

3.6GB though will take a while for me

Yep - that's the one that didn't appear unless I downloaded the KB article. It's only a 12MB patch, but after restarting, you see the 8.1 download in the Store then.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...ere-can-i-find-kb2871839?forum=w8itproinstall

Still looks and feels clunky and unnecessarily complicated to use. Like last night, I had three IE tabs open on the Classic screen and another session of IE opened in the Metro thingy - again with three tabs. It 'feels' like it does a LOT in the background without any involvement from the user. It certainly doesn't appear to have the clarity of Windows 7, either.

Regardless, I'll stick with it for a while. As much as the logical side of me is screaming to revert back to Windows 7 - I guess Windows 8 isn't going anywhere soon and that I'll have to get used to it - lol.

D.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Food & Drink app is very good...

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Am I going to have any problems with current program's do you think? Or should it be OK?
Mainly Adobe Light room.

Hopefully get to download it once I've finished work tonight.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Upgrading from Windows 8? Should be exactly the same mate... I got Lightroom ages ago but actually still haven't played around with it, need to get my finger out on that one.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Yeah on Windows 8 at the moment. Was just unsure if it would make a difference to current installed program's.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Nope if you were on 8.1 preview you'd have to re-install everything... but from 8 it's straight forward

 

[Toypop]

Well the Start menu isn't as good as what I had on 8.0 with classic shell.

Worse though is that I have the "SecureBoot isn't configured correctly" watermark.

Only way to fix that is to take the risk of updating my BIOS so that I can enable SecureBoot assuming an updated BIOS is available that has that option - I have UEFI but don't currently have a SecureBoot option. Oh and then I'd have to create new OC settings again. All this to remove a bulls**t watermark that wasn't there in 8.0. Nothing wrong with my PC, it is working fine I just don't have an option enabled that MS are trying to force everyone to turn on.

So I am not impressed with that. Not sure why MS felt it necessary to put their bullsh*t message on my desktop with no easy way to remove it. I mean by all means warn me but a watermark? Seriously? Thanks for being a bunch of d**ks.

Shame as I have been a big defender of Windows 8 but now they have really f**ked me off.

Screw them, I take back all I said. Stick with Win 7 and don't waste your money.

 

[gex23]

Is it actually possible (cheaply but legally) to 'downgrade' back to Windows 7 if you buy a laptop pre-installed with Windows 8?

 

[The Fatty]

Is it actually possible (cheaply but legally) to 'downgrade' back to Windows 7 if you buy a laptop pre-installed with Windows 8?

no you will have to do a fresh install and have a valid windows 7 key. ebay will have some I expect. Not sure why you would want to though, windows 8.1 desktop mode is practically windows 7 with a different start menu.

 

[Munson]

Windows 8 blows. I have no intention of ever installing it on my machine. Not ever. Ever.

 

[Dink]

i had vista on my laptop before i upgaded to 8 and it's like night and day

never had any problems with vista but 8 is awful

i've ironed most problems out apart from the card reader not working and having to reset my wireless card on the pc upto 10 times a day

was it really that hard for them to do 2 OS's

 

[CrippsCorner]

Think of Windows 8 as that annoying stage when you're growing your hair when you can't quite style it yet... they're pushing forward for Modern UI to be the only way there is. If they cut desktop out at this stage it would be even worse. So, it's a necessary evil I think.

Saying that, I have no problems with Windows 8. It makes a lot of sense with a touchscreen (which I run it on, extended to a non-touchscreen) and even without one... just hit 'desktop' and it's back to Windows 7 mode

 

[dk]

well just upgraded my dads 8 to 8.1 and it looks no different, even the start button just takes it back to the metro screen?

i just installed classic shell instead and that'll do.

 

[Toypop]

I flashed my BIOS in the end and that removed the annoying Secureboot watermark. Kind of question the point of beta testing as this issue would surely have been encountered (it was - FACT) yet MS didn't put in an option to disable the watermark once a user had acknowledged it. A lot of people aren't as fortunate as me and have no way of removing it. Branding peoples desktops with a watermark even though their PC's are working fine is just well.......the "C" word springs to mind.

As I've seen others point out on forums, MS will no doubt get enough complaints and have to patch-in a way to remove the watermark but by then loads of disgruntled users would have been raging on every forum going and sh*tting on Windows 8. Microsoft really need to get their act together to avoid bad PR like that if they want people to adopt it. As I have said all along; once you have rectified the poor support for the majority that don't have touch screens you actually end up with the best OS they have ever made - works just like Win 7 but faster.

So anyway is it possible to install classic shell on top of 8.1? I thought it might clash with Microsofts start button?

It is annoying that left clicking that button takes you to the metro screen as I'd prefer it the other way around but I guess I can work around that. I have pinned my most used apps to the task bar and tidied up the metro screen to only have the programmes I used to access via the classic shell start menu. So it is kind of acceptable now but I'd rather go back to classic shell if I could.

 

[biojo]

first thing I did with windows 8 was install

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

turn them corner hot spots off. So now from logon to using it looks like previous versions of windows. Upgraded to 8.1 still looks same and unlinked the email-username thing

 

[dk]

classic shell works fine with 8.1

 

[Toypop]

first thing I did with windows 8 was install

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

turn them corner hot spots off. So now from logon to using it looks like previous versions of windows. Upgraded to 8.1 still looks same and unlinked the email-username thing

Aha! I was annoyed that it forced me to link to my MSN account! Didn't realise I could unlink it! Will investigate!

Will also go back to Classic Shell.

 

[biojo]

yer, goto

User Accounts
Make changes to my account in PC settings

Then below you ICON it says somet like unlink account

 

[msremmert]

I'm still one of those awkward folk still on Windows 7 and I've gotten too efficient at my daily routine to want to change it.
I am curious about Windows 8.1 though to see what's improved/changed. I tried Windows 8 for a bit with the aid of StartIsBack but still didn't get on with it so maybe I'll give this a go because if I don't make the jump, I never will.
Wouldn't it be funny if they re-integrated the old startmenu in Windows 9 :rasp:

Might play with it in a VM first.

What does everybody else think of 8.1? How much touchy feely s**t have they bundled with it for business users to loathe?

 

[biojo]

I only upgraded as windows 8 was 25 quid, but I was running vista before.

I hate the tiles and think there should be the option for normal look or tiled.

Prolly is better for tablets etc but not my normal use

 

[Darren S]

I'm still one of those awkward folk still on Windows 7 and I've gotten too efficient at my daily routine to want to change it.
I am curious about Windows 8.1 though to see what's improved/changed. I tried Windows 8 for a bit with the aid of StartIsBack but still didn't get on with it so maybe I'll give this a go because if I don't make the jump, I never will.
Wouldn't it be funny if they re-integrated the old startmenu in Windows 9 :rasp:

Might play with it in a VM first.

What does everybody else think of 8.1? How much touchy feely s**t have they bundled with it for business users to loathe?

^^^ - the exact same reason as me. Windows 8 is here for the long term I reckon. And I doubt very much that Windows 9 will revert back to the traditional interface that we're all used to. Better get used to it, I guess.

I do think it's a shame overall though as I felt that MS had really got the vast majority of things right with Windows 7. Especially as a marked improvement over Vista. I would have much preferred a Windows 7 SP2 to be released about now, rather than Windows 8 ever seeing the light of day.

D.

 

[Longy]

yer, goto

User Accounts
Make changes to my account in PC settings

Then below you ICON it says somet like unlink account

This breaks Skydrive which is a massive pain in the arse.

 

[H182]

Is it actually possible (cheaply but legally) to 'downgrade' back to Windows 7 if you buy a laptop pre-installed with Windows 8?

no you will have to do a fresh install and have a valid windows 7 key. ebay will have some I expect. Not sure why you would want to though, windows 8.1 desktop mode is practically windows 7 with a different start menu.

It is possible I believe. You get downgrade rights to Windows 7 with a Windows 8 OEM licence. You just need to contact the manufacturer to obtain their install disks with the serial built in. They can sometimes charge around £20 for the convenience though.

 

[CrippsCorner]

yer, goto

User Accounts
Make changes to my account in PC settings

Then below you ICON it says somet like unlink account

I've heard if you do this you won't get any app updates...

 

[Thrill]

Well the Start menu isn't as good as what I had on 8.0 with classic shell.

Worse though is that I have the "SecureBoot isn't configured correctly" watermark.

Only way to fix that is to take the risk of updating my BIOS so that I can enable SecureBoot assuming an updated BIOS is available that has that option - I have UEFI but don't currently have a SecureBoot option. Oh and then I'd have to create new OC settings again. All this to remove a bulls**t watermark that wasn't there in 8.0. Nothing wrong with my PC, it is working fine I just don't have an option enabled that MS are trying to force everyone to turn on.

So I am not impressed with that. Not sure why MS felt it necessary to put their bullsh*t message on my desktop with no easy way to remove it. I mean by all means warn me but a watermark? Seriously? Thanks for being a bunch of d**ks.

Shame as I have been a big defender of Windows 8 but now they have really f**ked me off.

Screw them, I take back all I said. Stick with Win 7 and don't waste your money.

Same problem, updated BIOS and couldn't get back in. Formatted and went back to 7 Pro. s**t.