Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99

[x BlueRobot]

I think I'm going to wait for Windows 9, and stay with Windows 7. I can feel Microsoft will release Windows 9 pretty soon after the release date of Windows 8, due to the lack of popularity with desktop users.

 

[SIW2]

Yes, I think they will come out with something fairly quickly.

It would be very easy for them to do.

Put back the code they have ripped out of explorer.exe and allow their customers to choose which interface to use as default.

They might also add something back in - aero, or shadowing to alleviate the awful appearance. Agian that could be customer choice - those on tablets can turn it off to conserve battery power - or it could just turn itself off on a tablet.

It would then work better whichever device you were on. It would also allow desktop users to have an interafce they like - and still pop into metro and get apps.

That is what they should have done in the first place.

Perhaps they have already got it lined up as plan B.

 

[Night Hawk]

Will MS come out with 9 fast? XP when that came out was a "Fast Replacement" for ME! That's also why XP was a piece of work at first until SP1 came out since MS rushed it not seeing the full developed OS for things like the increase in hard drive capacities and the move away from Fat.

No one is in doubt on the core elements of 8 having seen improvements as you would when comparing Vista after XP and 7 after Vista as far as progressive improvements. 7 was the large leap and bound however where everything all fit together nicely from the start. 8 being a totally new version will be facing compatibility issues as the next to Metro haters second drawback.

What are those? Some of the gamers won't be so happy while some rave about gaming performance others find their games won't run! Generally games tend to fare better over desktop apps whenever the next version arrives but not with 8!

Device driver support was stressed by MS to OEMs before 7 arrived in beta while nothing for 8 except newer release for some 3rd party apps while drivers wait and wait and wait like it was for Vista. I guess MS needed to see 7 be a winner so they could "experiment" with other things at the desktop user expense to grab up mobile shares.

 

[ForestElf]

I see windows 8 as the disaster that windows ME was and Vista. I have simply no interest in windows 8 at all. I am going to wait till they get out of the mess and fix things and go to windows 9. There is no logical reason to buy windows 8 at this time unless your one of those people who must must have all things new when they come out. Waiting for windows 9 is I think a good thing to do.

 

[Night Hawk]

To this day I still hear that ME was nothing more then a 98 Part #3 still based on a reworked Fat 32 kernel and still didn't bring in much of anything with it while still not supporting newer softwares geared for the NT kernel as well as being "buggy" as a rush job!

With 8 the rush is for a different reason to lash out at the fruit company's endeavors in the mobile market. So that leaves us desktop users in limbo and we should simply skip 8 for the wait for 9? That would be another sudden ut oh when as I have been suspecting MS will simply follow the 8 path even further with what comes later?!

"NOW READ THIS! OVER!" Windows 8: Hate It Already? Why Waiting for Windows 9 Won't Help | PCWorld

Windows 8: Hate It Already? Why Waiting for Windows 9 Won't Help

We take a speculative look at the future of Microsoft's operating system.

By Jared Newman, PCWorld

Aug 28, 2012 9:00 pm

Conventional Windows wisdom seems to hold that every other version of Windows is terrible and needs to be fixed by whatever version comes after that. Does this mantra sound familiar?

Windows XP, good. Windows Vista, bad. Windows 7, good. Windows 8, bad. Windows 9, good.


That's how it's supposed to go, right?


Given the drastic changes in Windows 8, it's no surprise that some users who hate it are already holding out hope for a better Windows 9.

 

[vaidas3]

I dont mind removal of aero.. i even dont mind start interface, but i dont like multitasking in windows 8. for mobile phone or tablet it may be ok but for desktop .. its strange when apps take full screen there is no way to resize (you can fit one app beside at fixed size thats it).. its no longer windows its full screen backgrounds. i want to see other running software at the same time but even the start menu take all screen
there still is classical desktop but the face of new ui comes out way too often.
for example windows games like spider solitaire now is full screen thing .. before it was resizable window that you can keep beside other open windows with work etc.

 

[Night Hawk]

The Metro is simply too awkward for most users to start with for any desktop interaction. By removing all of the Metro trial buttons the new ones for programs pinned to the Start are half the size but still cluttered and with many you end up scroll, scroll, scrolling away off to the right endlessly!

The going back and forth and back and forth and back and... is also an extra tedious process to open the next thing even a second browser window or to open something else up! It can work for hand helds and Tablet PC but has many in arms when slapped on and called a desktop OS.

The lack of a windowed mode for Windows games would be just another annoyance since even with full screen 1st person shooters games they can often be run in a windowed mode by simply editing a value to the shortcut's target line like "-window". While I'm not heavy on customizations to any great lengths another large complaint is only seeing the change color shade option while even the new Lock screen can see a totally new wallpaper you select!

 

[vaidas3]

The Metro is simply too awkward for most users to start with for any desktop interaction. By removing all of the Metro trial buttons the new ones for programs pinned to the Start are half the size but still cluttered and with many you end up scroll, scroll, scrolling away off to the right endlessly!

The going back and forth and back and forth and back and... is also an extra tedious process to open the next thing even a second browser window or to open something else up! It can work for hand helds and Tablet PC but has many in arms when slapped on and called a desktop OS.

The lack of a windowed mode for Windows games would be just another annoyance since even with full screen 1st person shooters games they can often be run in a windowed mode by simply editing a value to the shortcut's target line like "-window". While I'm not heavy on customizations to any great lengths another large complaint is only seeing the change color shade option while even the new Lock screen can see a totally new wallpaper you select!

windows games like minesweeper or solitaire are different than most FPS or other "heavy" games.. its a short games to kill some time while you wait for download, longer taking task, script, rendering other work etc to finish.. and i want to have small window for game open to see how the work is going not full screen.. i dont need the achievements or other features of xbox games... :/
even in start menu that hogs all screen i would like to see some of the desktop.. at least task bar.
all the new ui (former metro) apps is not intended for efficient work. major problem for me lack of windowed mode. hey this os is called windows for a reason.
I like how windows 8 feels faster and snappier than windows 7. i like changes in task manager, file copy/move ui. I even like new ribon explorer. hey they have "up" back.. some people complained about its removal in vista.. well now i dont need it that much but its nice to see it

MS made windows 8 cheap.. 39.99$ for a pro upgrade is nice.

I am person who likes to upgrade .. but windows 8 makes me doubt is it worth it.. :/.. can i work with it.

 

[Night Hawk]

The task manager is something different with definitely a new look that you would expect to see improved as well as a surprise in a new Windows version. The Performance now seeing a graphical chart was impressive.

It's simply a shame that MS didn't use that type of thinking when going to make drastic gui changes that would seem to be doomed to "Flop"! How do you recommend 8 to a novice as a good choice to upgrade into? You don't! I finally got one person out of XP into Vista but still not 7 despite explaining the newer version there is the "Best so far"! in the Windows line-up!

People want familiar things in Windows despite new features and a fancy list of new themes to go along with the newer "Bells & Whistles"! They don't want to be playing guessing games as to move about and find things that were either changed or removed!

The one thing about Windows Explorer fortunately has not been changed is being able to have the Control Panel viewed and accessed from any WE window. Generally whenever you open up the CP it uses a WE type window to begin with. Over at SF you could pin a CP shortcut to the 7 taskbar to make that even easier. But search and find is what 8 is bringing in there!

 

[msdos622wasfun]

I plan on upgrading as soon as it's released. Been running the Release Preview on my new hard drive for about a week now. Pretty happy with it. And those Surfaces ... yummmmm ... might get one to replace my HP laptop.

 

[slurp812]

Balmer says Metro I mean , "Modern UI" (WTF?) is the shit. Resistance is futile, bla bla.. I understand there are already ways around this crap:

Thinix RetroUI lets Windows 8 users step off the Metro, stick to the classic desktop -- Engadget

 

[SIW2]

There will probably be a lot of demand for alternatives - putting back what MS has removed.

 

[Night Hawk]

The Classic Shell option solved that fast enough while the rest are nothing more then 'money makers" exploiting the opportunity to cash in on 8 hardships! Yet some love the changes 8 is bringing in?!

In the final analysis however what MS did as to why the price tag is so low compared to what was seen for the previous versions is how they started stripping out features you would generally expect to be included in Windows such as dvd playback and video support seen since WMP 10 while 9 for XP required separate codecs be purchased. The Media Center included since 2005 removed and now to be sold separately at the apps store.

Once you strip away the media features you then add the touchscreen gui best serving Tablet PC tossed on as the new desktop. If you don't download an alternative like the Classic Shell you end up creating a shortcut or pinning the programs folder somewhere to once again find everything.

The real headache however if you don't have the Control Panel in view when opening up a "File Browser" no longer Windows Explorer window is looking for one hidden right click menu of some CP items here and then another Settings bar hidden when hovering the cursor over just the right spot for some others. And then you still don't find everything since even the look is far different.

For the advanced user the places will be found in some fashion in a reasonable amount of time. For the novice or less computer literate the "confusion go on"! Confusion say: "This is Windows 8! take it or leave it! But you are stuck with it if you do!"

 

[slurp812]

Thanks for the classic shell link! I may be getting windows 8...

 

[Night Hawk]

That's an excellent freeware for 8. It won't see the right click options however like you would see on 7 for customizing the System notifications as well as changing the shutdown button's shutdown to restart or logoff as well as changing Start items from links to folder views.

The image attached here shows how it look in general before you have a number of programs installed. Presently I still have the RP on the Oracle VirtualBox when I need to take a look at something.

 

[Joan Archer]

I saw the other day that you can pre-order Windows 8 from Tesco for £49.99 which is more than I paid for Windows 7 when I pre ordered that.

 

[SIW2]

I think it was £39.99 at tesco for win7 - if I remember correctly, tesco and others were able to sell it for less than the initial quoted price.

Factor in 3 yrs inflation and it isn't much different for the boxed dvd.

What is different is the very cheap offer if you d/l the installer - instead of getting the physical product in a box.

 

[Night Hawk]

Want one even cheaper far cheaper then that? Try £24.99 as the price Amazon, UK is fetching. Windows 8 UK cost confirmed as £24.99 - News - Trusted Reviews

Speaking about preorders Sofpedia just had a report on the W8 Phones for Europe. Windows Phone 8 Handsets Already Up for Pre-Order in Europe - Softpedia

 

[fomik]

I have not tested it. But if it's good i am definitely buying.

 

[Night Hawk]

Some are now saying it is more stable then 7 while others find it problematic. But some of those finding 8 more stable as they say also have the RTM not the RP running having TechNet or MSDN subscriptions.