In place Upgrades to Windows 8 ($39.99)

[Valec]

I made the switch months ago to the developer preview version. My in place upgrade is already done. No idea what you mean on lack of steam support. It's worked fine ever since the developer preview that came out a longass time ago. The performance enhancements made the downgrade to Windows 7 irritating when I got the new laptop, but I didn't want to do developer preview again when the real shit was so close to release.

I guess there's been a lot of nonsense thrown around about it. I hadn't looked into it much, but I was under the impression Steam wouldn't be supported on Windows 8 at all. Actually searching, I didn't find anything that directly said that, and if it works on Windows 8 now, I don't see why it wouldn't down the road.

However, I do still think upgrading as a matter of course isn't the way for me. I'll need a genuine reason to upgrade and as of yet I still see none.

[Ziel]

Honestly I think one of the main things to think about is, what reason is there to switch? What is Windows 8 providing that you covet over Windows 7? Certainly nothing on the gaming front. Accessibility is probably not one, either, since any enhancements in this regard are nullified by the fact that most of us probably know Windows 7 well enough already.

As far as I can tell, it simply offers no real reasons to switch. Just "Hey, i'm shiny and new!".

Well supposedly it's a fair bit improved under the hood, resulting in faster start-up times and the like. If I were to speculate, I'd probably guess it wasn't enough to be worth upgrading from Windows 7 though.

My reason for switching is that I'm currently using WinXP 32bit.

[Marou]

Well supposedly it's a fair bit improved under the hood, resulting in faster start-up times and the like. If I were to speculate, I'd probably guess it wasn't enough to be worth upgrading from Windows 7 though.

My reason for switching is that I'm currently using WinXP 32bit.

I recommend this to anyone who upgrades: http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

You can then push the metro "start menu" out of the way and use XP styled, Vista styled, 7 Styled, whatever, for start menu.

[Andile™]

Will think a little more about this today but can't see myself not doing it eventually. I like shiny and new.

[Ziel]

I recommend this to anyone who upgrades: http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

You can then push the metro "start menu" out of the way and use XP styled, Vista styled, 7 Styled, whatever, for start menu.

I'll definitely keep that handy, though I've increasingly been hearing how enjoyable some people are finding metro with the mouse/mouse wheel.

[Alex Mars]

Hell, I just made it to win7 for my new laptop and I am going to win7 for my new desktop in a few months, I can't see any reason to bother with win8. I tend to skip every other version of windows anyway (98 to xp to 7).

[Mute]

Wasn't intending on upgrading since I'm currently running on a pirated version of win 7, until I read that I can get the same discounted price with an illegitimate windows copy. That's pretty groovy of 'em.


Also, today only, Staples has this coupon going on for those of you who want the $40 price for the boxed version. (clicky)

[Andile™]

I'll definitely keep that handy, though I've increasingly been hearing how enjoyable some people are finding metro with the mouse/mouse wheel.

A few comments in brief as I am heading to bed now...

... The installation and transfer of stuff over from Windows 7 went without issues. It highlighted that COMODO wouldn't be compatible but, as Marou told me, that was a lie.

... After a couple of hours of solid use, I have no real complaints and am enjoying the tiles system more than I thought I would. It isn't a hindrance like I've seen described elsewhere and I haven't, for the time being, found anything I could do before and can't now. It has a clean look and feel that I enjoy too. Even cleaner than my previous "barebones" desktop.

... As far as performance is concerned, it does very well but hard for me say if better or worse than Windows 7 as I haven't been using the computer to its full capacity. I was very happy with 7's boot time and am just as happy with 8's.

... I've selected to login with a newly created Microsoft account but don't see myself doing anything with it besides checking apps out. The whole music/video/games via XBox system makes me cringe. It is handy though that I can consolidate my last 2 weeks of emails in the email app rather than a cumbersome Outlook and like I have it on my phone and tablet. Nothing extraordinary but convenient.

... The only issue I have for now is related to drivers for my keyboard and nostromo but that's Razer's fault, not MS's. They waited for too long before getting to it and now have a release estimate for November for those two items' drivers. Some of their other stuff is not expected to have updated drivers until December.

... Tip: after the install, there's some cleaning up to do but it is easily sorted with Disk Cleanup. Select "Clear system files" (or something similar) and check the options for previous systems and installation temp files. That will reclaim a good 35GB off your SSD/HDD.

[Garal]

Has anyone done the in place upgrade from Vista to 8?

[Marou]

Has anyone done the in place upgrade from Vista to 8?

I did during the developer preview. It's much more of a hassle than 7 to 8. It retains all of the stuff in your documents folder but you have to end up re-installing all of your applications to re-establish all of their registry keys and shortcuts. In my case that was only about 8 app suites, (since everything else is steam games that (didn't) haveto be reinstalled, just copied back to "cache"). However, it was annoying and took a few hours.


I snagged some screens of my desktop hur: http://imgur.com/a/fP7BG

Ok, fuck the classic start menu. I can dock the whole desktop in metro.

http://i.imgur.com/I9ttA.jpg

[Garal]

Hm. I don't think I have anything on my C drive that's critical except for a few website files that I can copy over to my D drive before I upgrade. And fortunately I don't really have that many programs installed either.

[Andile™]

Ok, fuck the classic start menu. I can dock the whole desktop in metro.

http://i.imgur.com/I9ttA.jpg

How did you do that???

Eh, google: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...8-desktop.html

[Marou]

Free Windows 8 Media Center functionality upgrade promo lasting until January 2013. (DVD Codecs, Blue-Ray Codecs, etc).

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w.../feature-packs

[Draconian]

Any word on performance differences besides startup? I restart my computer maybe once a month. Usually when I get the "gee haven't restarted in a while..." feeling. -_-


Would be interested though if apps and games run better.



Brb, restarting.

[Marou]

Any word on performance differences besides startup? I restart my computer maybe once a month. Usually when I get the "gee haven't restarted in a while..." feeling. -_-


Would be interested though if apps and games run better.



Brb, restarting.

Switching between apps feels alot snappier. The desktop itself feels alot snappier. Game performance is unchanged.

[Graveworm]

Upgraded last night. So far I like it, but I still have some learning to do until I can use it to its full potential and give a real review.