W8.1 Preview now available on Technet

[jimbo45]

Hi there
W8.1 preview now available on TechNet for those who want to try it.

W8.1 preview now available on TechNet

See also: Windows 8.1 Preview - Download and Install

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Jerryw]

No thank you i do not want any part of that trash !

 

[Indianatone]

Me either, they can polish it all they like, it still stinks. Bring on Windows 9 desktop power user version.

 

[COMPUTIAC]

Got an email from M$ at 7pm :

"Windows 8.1 Preview is here
Be one of the first to see what we’ve been working on."

It was quickly deleted !

 

[cluberti]

Yeah? Well, you know, that's just like, your opinion man.

 

[emmett82]

Me either, they can polish it all they like, it still stinks. Bring on Windows 9 desktop power user version.

i wonder what the world would do if they decided to merge windows 8 and vista and redub it windows vista 2.0

 

[SIW2]

I am always otimistic. I have installed 8.1 preview.

I don't like it at all so far. Those who like organising those little kiddie building blocks for hours will be orgasmic.. For everyone else - not worth the download. My first impression is that is worse than 8.0, hard as it is to believe.

 

[strollin]

Not sure why all the negative responses, especially from people who didn't even try it.

8.1 provides me with the thing that I have wanted from the beginning which is the ability to boot direct to the desktop. I can now completely avoid the Metro Start screen and Metro apps (without needing to install some 3rd party app).

The new Start button is a little misleading. Instead of an icon that pops up when you hover over it in the lower left-hand corner, it's an icon that is permanently displayed on the Taskbar. Clicking on it takes you to the Start screen. It is customizable in that you can go to the standard Start screen or you can go into the Apps view of the Start screen. You can also right-click on the Star button and there is an additional menu that pops up that includes links to the Control Panel, Computer Management, Disk Management, Device Manager, etc... and also has a link for Shutdown.

For me, Windows 8.1 is an improvement over 8.0, albeit a small improvement. I still run Win 7 on my personal computers but need to run Win 8 for my job. I have never installed any of the 3rd party apps like 'Classic Shell' to make Win 8 more like Win 7 but instead would simply click on the Desktop icon to go to the desktop and use Win 8 the same as I would use Win 7.

MS also made a bunch of improvements to the Start screen but since I don't use the Start screen I can't comment on them.

 

[Gary]

I will stay wit Windows 7, I Thanks for the post though.

 

[SIW2]

I had a look at 8.1.

It doesn't address the issues. It is doubling down on metro. No help for desktop users.

The fake start button is worse than useless - it goes to metro, which many are trying to avoid. Even worse, it gets in the way of 3rd party start menu programs..

People were hoping for better.

In addition, the UI is very inconsistent - more so now.

 

[Teerex]

Tried it - it is a bit more comfortable, the unified search experience and the All Apps UI - much better that in 8 RTM.

I have pinned down one thing that annoys me as hell with Win 8; consider this scenario - you play videos in a news app which you snap to the side. Or play videos or music. Now, while this is playing you want to run something else. Instead of the Start Screen occupying the rest of the screen, and leaving the media playing - the media stops - news video gets interrupted mid-sentence. In Windows 7 it plays on and on, and you can start a zillion other applications without media getting interrupted.

There are some media glitches across media apps and Ie and visual artifacts in IE, but it is a Preview after all...

 

[meebers]

I have W8 installed now, not much of a fan but will probably install 8.1 when it is offered. Question is, can I back out 8.1 if it is really a tu--? W7 is the one I use for serious stuff.

 

[cyclic]

Thanks for the link, don't think I'll like it but with my main hobby I need to have a copy for familiarization, can't convince everyone to use W7!

 

[strollin]

Tried it - it is a bit more comfortable, the unified search experience and the All Apps UI - much better that in 8 RTM.

I have pinned down one thing that annoys me as hell with Win 8; consider this scenario - you play videos in a news app which you snap to the side. Or play videos or music. Now, while this is playing you want to run something else. Instead of the Start Screen occupying the rest of the screen, and leaving the media playing - the media stops - news video gets interrupted mid-sentence. In Windows 7 it plays on and on, and you can start a zillion other applications without media getting interrupted.

There are some media glitches across media apps and Ie and visual artifacts in IE, but it is a Preview after all...

So stop using Metro apps and run whatever app you used in Win 7! I don't use ANY Metro apps and Win 8 works great for me.

 

[Joan Archer]

I'll wait a bit longer before I try it, I'm mainly using my Windows 8 Notebook now and I'll still use it when the updates installed. I've still got my Windows 7 desktop when I need it but I like Windows 8 and look forward to seeing what they've done with the update. I've never installed 3rd party apps and never actually missed the Start button.

 

[vaidas3]

Tried it - it is a bit more comfortable, the unified search experience and the All Apps UI - much better that in 8 RTM.

I have pinned down one thing that annoys me as hell with Win 8; consider this scenario - you play videos in a news app which you snap to the side. Or play videos or music. Now, while this is playing you want to run something else. Instead of the Start Screen occupying the rest of the screen, and leaving the media playing - the media stops - news video gets interrupted mid-sentence. In Windows 7 it plays on and on, and you can start a zillion other applications without media getting interrupted.

There are some media glitches across media apps and Ie and visual artifacts in IE, but it is a Preview after all...

windows 8 and 8.1 focus on single tasking at best double tasking when windows prior to that focus on multitasking. its like back to MS-DOS focus on single task, full screen no windows. tasks stops or pauses when you open another task.
I use windows 8 on my main home desktop and laptop.. but only in desktop mode and I avoid metro like fire.. I have 3rd party start menu with boot to desktop and disable hot corners option on.

to me windows 8.1 actually is worse than windows 8 .. because its not compatible with my 3rd party start menu (is MS doing this on purpose? they removed registry fix that would bring start menu back, from RTM windows 8 that was available in early builds of windows 8). even more things moving to metro and cloud less focus on desktop where spend 99.99% of my time when I use windows8.

if world is actually moving to tablets and mobile touch devices (as MS believes), then I will go for android. windows is best where it belongs on pc with keyboard and mouse... at least it was.

 

[Wenda]

From a post of mine on EightForums...

"I've seen enough to know that it's nothing like what it should (and could) have been.

There's simply nothing there for me. As a desktop user who likes to create, not consume, and has no interest in social media or 'cloud computing', it's a waste of time, money (yes, I know it's free, but my time surely isn't) and effort to even bother with it.

At best, it might go into my VM-based OS collection as a curiosity, but it won't be becoming my primary OS. I'll go over to one of my Linux distros first, or else simply stay on Win 7/8. Heck, I'd even go back to Vista in preference... But I have no need or use for such a blatantly net-centric OS. They tried that in W98 with their much-maligned 'integrated desktop'. This is the same rubbish, just dragged into the 21st century, and I want it as much now as I did then, ie, not at all.""

Unless I specifically tell it to, I do not want my OS tied to or communicating with the internet at all. And I do not want to have to disable 1001 options to achieve this. 8.1 is a fail, IMO. Far inferior to my customised Win 8... go figure.



Wenda.

 

[Gary]

I have W8 installed now, not much of a fan but will probably install 8.1 when it is offered. Question is, can I back out 8.1 if it is really a tu--? W7 is the one I use for serious stuff.

No!

Important
If you decide that you want to install Windows 8.1 Preview using the ISO, you won't be able to uninstall it. If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you'll need to reinstall it using the recovery or installation media that came with your PC, which is typically DVD media. If you're running Windows 8 and you don't have recovery media, you might be able to create a USB recovery drive. If you're running Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP and you don’t have recovery media, you might be able to create it from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer’s website for more information. After you install Windows 8.1 Preview, you won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows.

Source

I posted this before but it vanished.

 

[jimbo45]

From a post of mine on EightForums...

"I've seen enough to know that it's nothing like what it should (and could) have been.

There's simply nothing there for me. As a desktop user who likes to create, not consume, and has no interest in social media or 'cloud computing', it's a waste of time, money (yes, I know it's free, but my time surely isn't) and effort to even bother with it.

At best, it might go into my VM-based OS collection as a curiosity, but it won't be becoming my primary OS. I'll go over to one of my Linux distros first, or else simply stay on Win 7/8. Heck, I'd even go back to Vista in preference... But I have no need or use for such a blatantly net-centric OS. They tried that in W98 with their much-maligned 'integrated desktop'. This is the same rubbish, just dragged into the 21st century, and I want it as much now as I did then, ie, not at all.""

Unless I specifically tell it to, I do not want my OS tied to or communicating with the internet at all. And I do not want to have to disable 1001 options to achieve this. 8.1 is a fail, IMO. Far inferior to my customised Win 8... go figure.



Wenda.

Hi there
I'm afraid the idea of NOT communicating with the Internet unless you specifically request it is likely to be a wish of about 3 people on this planet (Home users -- work users have other controls anyway)-- it's easy enough to restrict access -- just set your browser to use a proxy (your own) which doesn't connect with the internet until you enable it.

Some applications have a nasty habit too of "Phoning Home" regularly -- so it's not always the fault of Ms.

These applications that "Phone Home" are not only confined to W 8 -- loads did this on W7 -- Adobe Photoshop for example.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[meebers]

I have W8 installed now, not much of a fan but will probably install 8.1 when it is offered. Question is, can I back out 8.1 if it is really a tu--? W7 is the one I use for serious stuff.

No!

Important
If you decide that you want to install Windows 8.1 Preview using the ISO, you won't be able to uninstall it. If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you'll need to reinstall it using the recovery or installation media that came with your PC, which is typically DVD media. If you're running Windows 8 and you don't have recovery media, you might be able to create a USB recovery drive. If you're running Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP and you don’t have recovery media, you might be able to create it from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer’s website for more information. After you install Windows 8.1 Preview, you won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows.

Source

I posted this before but it vanished.

I am not talking about the preview, but the final released version of 8.1. Can I uninstall it and go back to W8. W8 is the only system on the computer I am talking about. I keep a clone of W8 up to date.