Peter Le wrote:
Lars Johnsson wrote:
With Microsofts really low upgrade price, I can't see any reason not to buy Windows 8. I paid something like $ 35-40 for the Windows 8 Pro

Very true Lars......but this is a new build so need a full version.....but OEM price is no different then 7.

I just upgraded from 32-bit Win-7 to 64-bit Win 8. The $40 introductory download, however, does not make the change from 32-bit to 64-bit...you can only download to the bit-level you already have.

But I discovered this: You can apply the $40 download to an unactivated copy of Windows, then activate the download.

RDKirk wrote:

This needs a tangital comment. People are saying that tablets are killing the concept of the PC. No, what's really happening is that the world is shaking out a difference between content consumers and content creators.


Agree with you 100% on this, RD. People don't really need a desktop to check mail, view photos and videos, and update their status on Facebook.

I played around a bit with the Win8 demo but one thing I didn't really get a feel for is what noticeable improvements are there if you decide to go Win8 but not use the Metro interface? I know there are supposedly security improvements and quicker boot times. Anything else important that a Win7 user would notice?

RDKirk:
I agree. AND I feel somewhat relieved, since the amount of support phonecalls from relatives and friends/acquaintances has decreased noticeably since I've started to recommend "consumption" devices for most "upgrades"...

Eyeball wrote:
Agree with you 100% on this, RD. People don't really need a desktop to check mail, view photos and videos, and update their status on Facebook.

I played around a bit with the Win8 demo but one thing I didn't really get a feel for is what noticeable improvements are there if you decide to go Win8 but not use the Metro interface? I know there are supposedly security improvements and quicker boot times. Anything else important that a Win7 user would notice?


There's a series of incremental performance upgrades, but they mainly drown in the overall 'difference' of the experience. I would say the main differences are in power-management and general network/communication subsystem performance - making the difference more noticeable when running on battery than when on a mains feed.

bobh665 wrote:
So what is the trick to install the Win 8 upgrade on a clean hard drive?
Install Windows 8 clean on a new or formatted drive use the product key you were given, you can do the install but it won't activate. Then do this.

Cange from 1 to 0 the setting here:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE]
"MediaBootInstall"=dword:00000000

Then do this.

1. Open elevated command prompt (Right click -> Run As Administrator)
2. Type slmgr -rearm <enter>
3. Reboot

Voila, should be activated after reboot. If not, re-enter key and should activate.

WAYCOOL wrote:
bobh665 wrote:
So what is the trick to install the Win 8 upgrade on a clean hard drive?
Install Windows 8 clean on a new or formatted drive use the product key you were given, you can do the install but it won't activate. Then do this.

Cange from 1 to 0 the setting here:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE]
"MediaBootInstall"=dword:00000000

Then do this.

1. Open elevated command prompt (Right click -> Run As Administrator)
2. Type slmgr -rearm <enter>
3. Reboot

Voila, should be activated after reboot. If not, re-enter key and should activate.


Very cool WAYCOOL Im doing a new build soon and that will save a lot of time. Thanks for the info.

Works exactly the same way installing Win7 upgrade edition to a clean drive.



WAYCOOL wrote:
bobh665 wrote:
So what is the trick to install the Win 8 upgrade on a clean hard drive?
Install Windows 8 clean on a new or formatted drive use the product key you were given, you can do the install but it won't activate. Then do this.

Cange from 1 to 0 the setting here:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE]
"MediaBootInstall"=dword:00000000

Then do this.

1. Open elevated command prompt (Right click -> Run As Administrator)
2. Type slmgr -rearm <enter>
3. Reboot

Voila, should be activated after reboot. If not, re-enter key and should activate.

As I dig deeper and (now that I have it) read more about the Metro UI, I'm more annoyed with its basic premise. The UI is really just a storefront for Metro apps.

That's okay for a content-consumption device, but very annoying for a work device. It's like advertising for third-party products on YouTube videos--okay.

But if I hire a video company to produce, say, training videos for my own company and they plant Coca-Cola ads in them, I'm going to be steamed. I'm feeling pretty much the same way about the Metro UI.

RDKirk wrote:
As I dig deeper and (now that I have it) read more about the Metro UI, I'm more annoyed with its basic premise. The UI is really just a storefront for Metro apps.

That's okay for a content-consumption device, but very annoying for a work device. It's like advertising for third-party products on YouTube videos--okay.

But if I hire a video company to produce, say, training videos for my own company and they plant Coca-Cola ads in them, I'm going to be steamed. I'm feeling pretty much the same way about the Metro UI.

No one is forcing you to use and/or purchase the apps for the Start page. I just unpinned the majority of them and kept a few that I find useful (weather, calendar, mail). I find it the Start page useful for doing my mundane, day-to-day stuff and then switch to the Desktop for creation related duties. It's all about customization and making it work how you want it...I look forward to more applications that are Windows 8 specific.

Windows 8 doesn't get in my way at all, utlizing the corners and keyboard commands makes it quick and more efficient. It took me a couple of weeks to adjust but now that I have I wouldn't want to switch back.

It's all about customization and making it work how you want it...I look forward to more applications that are Windows 8 specific.

Actually, the Metro UI, as it comes, is far less customizable, which is my point. I have to purchase plug-ins to customize it to my liking. Even at that, I'm only hiding the storefront.

That is the the philosophy that I object to: The OS is now a storefront instead of a tool.

My experience and opinion is completely different than yours. Good luck.

I had 7, went to 8 the day it came out, installed Start8 and have never looked back.

Win 8 it feels a little bit quicker and more responsive and more secure.Go for it !!!

I've noticed that Win 8 does handle some chores that had been in the province of Windows Home Server. It looks like Win-8 is also Microsoft's yet-unheralded (as far as I've seen) HTPC.

Ran the demo on my antiquated T60 ... ran fine and seemed efficient, but I LOATHED the interface from a workflow perspective.

Good to hear about the Classic Shell option ... wish I'd have known about that before I reinstalled Vista Business (32 bit). Guess I can revisit it for the laptop & workstation (Win 7 Pro 64).

Too many hanging issues with windows 8 IMO. I had to resort to modifying the disabledynamictick count to solve the hanging problem on my recent asus notebook. That fixed the problem but I shouldn't have to be debugging that kind of problem.

I just put windows 7 on my new workstation and am very happy I did.

I put it on two more laptops last night.

Interesting thing. I had customized the first laptop with personalized icons, background, lock screen, et cetera. I registered each of them with my Skydrive account and the other two automatically replicated all the settings and customizations--even the icons--from the first machine.

I probably allowed it to do that at some point, but it sure wasn't clear when that happened. In this case, it wasn't a problem, but it would have been annoying if I'd intended each machine to share a Skydrive account but have a different "personality."

RDKirk wrote:
I put it on two more laptops last night.

Interesting thing. I had customized the first laptop with personalized icons, background, lock screen, et cetera. I registered each of them with my Skydrive account and the other two automatically replicated all the settings and customizations--even the icons--from the first machine.

I probably allowed it to do that at some point, but it sure wasn't clear when that happened. In this case, it wasn't a problem, but it would have been annoying if I'd intended each machine to share a Skydrive account but have a different "personality."

Ah, I see where that happened. I still think Microsoft could have made "so you want to share settings" a bit more clear that it's essentially cloning the look and feel of one computer to another through Skydrive.