Windows 8.1, so far so good

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Stoly

Supreme [H]ardness
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So I upgraded to 8.1.

Issue #1 my technet windows 8 Pro key was not detected as valid. I got a generic key, and proceeded to upgrade. Actually there is no "upgrade" option, there's the keep files and settings which I feared might mess with the programs installed, but everything went fine.

Upgrade took a while, like an 1:40+, but still better than reinstalling everything.

After numerous reboots finally the "new" desktop. So lets change the key and activate.... nope it won't work it says "windows can't activate try again later" This has happened to me before with windows 7 so its probably MS fault.

Other than the start button and boot to desktop, I don't really see much of a difference.

I don't really see any reason to upgrade from 7, but its a must for current windows 8 users.
 
I will do it eventually... Thx for posting. Guess ther is no need to rush. I actually like win 8 on my HTPC. For my desktop it's just ok.
 
I do like windows 7 for somethings but not enough to make the switch.

I got used to windows 8 but I recommend windows 7 to my customers. Maybe I'll start to make them migrate to 8.1

Update.
I have two clients with laptops, one likes windows 8 and one hates it, both were waiting for 8.1, lets see who will keep it.
 
I tried it and had to use a generic key to upgrade as well. Was able to activate with my Windows 8 key after it was done but then my Media Center key deactivated it. On top of that several applications were broken. Some were fixed with a repair or reinstall, others were not. I'll try again when it goes public. It looked promising but nothing I can't wait another month for.
 
I gave it a shot also.... and ended up back on W7Pro again. I think I am just going to skip this OS and wait for the next.
 
I believe the guts and the kernel of 8.1 are superior to windows 7. I have 8.1 running on a spare Lenovo t400 laptop. core 2 duo, 4gb of a regular hard drive. It's very smooth and works well. It's just the metro start menu and the metro apps. They take a lot of getting used to and the fact that the settings don't all reside it the control panel is also very frustrating. The guts make me smile the GUI does not. :(
 
Windows 8.1 is really fast and responsive. I love the feel of the OS.

I hate the GUI. Every time I use the metro app, I find it needlessly complicated - there is no close, they sit in the background and use system resources.

The OS would have really benefited with a better UI, and a persistent start menu or at least a button. The whole hot corners are inconvenient.
 
PatchRowcester said:
I hate the GUI. Every time I use the metro app, I find it needlessly complicated - there is no close, they sit in the background and use system resources.
Click to expand...
I don't think you need to worry about it. They're generally prohibited from doing much of anything intensive when backgrounded, so at the very worst they'll suck up some memory that can be trivially freed when necessary.
 
PatchRowcester said:
Windows 8.1 is really fast and responsive. I love the feel of the OS.

I hate the GUI. Every time I use the metro app, I find it needlessly complicated - there is no close, they sit in the background and use system resources.

The OS would have really benefited with a better UI, and a persistent start menu or at least a button. The whole hot corners are inconvenient.
Click to expand...

I never noticed the apps running when I dragged them down, they seemed to close out just fine for me. I moved back to 7 on the latest install trying to troubleshoot a sound issue but it didn't end up having anything to do with Windows, however now its installed so I'm not going to mess with it again.
 
Just don't use the metro apps. Install classic shell and forget metro even exists, much simplier.
 
I like it a lot. It's funny that when you make the "All Apps" section easier to reach how much different things actually feel.
I've been running it since the public preview and have been more than happy. Plus, I'm glad the System Image section came back in the final version, even if it is kind of hidden.

The funny thing about metro apps is that even if you do close them, they're still running resident...at least per the task manager. I don't think it really affects performance on a machine like mine, but on a bare bones PC they might.
 
Domingo said:
The funny thing about metro apps is that even if you do close them, they're still running resident...at least per the task manager. I don't think it really affects performance on a machine like mine, but on a bare bones PC they might.
Click to expand...

They are not running, they are suspended and consume no resources. Some apps like music playback/gps are allowed to run in background but most don't.

If you look in the task manager 'app history' tab, you can see the cpu time consumed by Metro apps. So e.g. start an app, then switch back to desktop. The app will show up in the recent list, but you can see its not taking any cpu time.
 
Stoly said:
So I upgraded to 8.1.

Issue #1 my technet windows 8 Pro key was not detected as valid. I got a generic key, and proceeded to upgrade. Actually there is no "upgrade" option, there's the keep files and settings which I feared might mess with the programs installed, but everything went fine.

Upgrade took a while, like an 1:40+, but still better than reinstalling everything.

After numerous reboots finally the "new" desktop. So lets change the key and activate.... nope it won't work it says "windows can't activate try again later" This has happened to me before with windows 7 so its probably MS fault.

Other than the start button and boot to desktop, I don't really see much of a difference.

I don't really see any reason to upgrade from 7, but its a must for current windows 8 users.
Click to expand...

from what I read you need a win 8.1 key to activate a clean install of win 8.1. A win 8 key won't work. Does seem odd as it is a free service pack for win 8 so one would think a win 8 should work but it doesn't :(
 
I use 8 and 8.1 in corporate environment and 8 after applying GPO is just as slow as 7 and sometimes slower because of fast processing needs to be disabled or gpos don't work.

I hate metro its useless I hate the missing start button. and the stupid start screen. I just end up making TONS of icons on the desktop and Taskbar. I have my God Mode folder on my desktop.. I just use Classic shell just to boot to desktop. I find it that it takes more work on 8 desktop due to the fact that I need tons of stupid icons. I hate the start menu high jack I use the search to start programs all the time. Whats worse 8 works like shit in rdp window. I also can't stand the fucking color schemes in 8. Moronic color scheme for semi retarded monkeys.

I barely tolerate 8 the only reason why I use it cause of RSAT for 2012.

Best thing about 8 is the following commands.
Get-AppxPackage –AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage –online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –online
 
So far, the only issue I have ran into is a hybrid shutdown problem. (It will not fully shut off.) Otherwise, with the improvement to Modern Apps remaining sticky and other nice improvements, I see no reason to go back to Windows 8 itself. (Also, I found Windows 7 to be straight up boring now on my own computers.)
 
therat said:
from what I read you need a win 8.1 key to activate a clean install of win 8.1. A win 8 key won't work. Does seem odd as it is a free service pack for win 8 so one would think a win 8 should work but it doesn't :(
Click to expand...

Yes, weird. I'm a TechNet member but I also purchased a retail Win8 key when they were running the promo earlier this year. I never ended up using it yet - I decided to wait for 8.1 to use it on my main workstation, and I want to do a clean install. I'll be a little ticked if the Win 8.0 retail key can't be used.

It seems difficult to find straight forward, verified and authoritative information on these issues. There's a lot of conflicting statements out there.
 
You need to install with the VLK key that's floating around, and once installed, activate with your 8.0 key. Can't use your 8.0 key to install, and you don't need a 8.1 key to activate. Hope that helps.
 
therat said:
from what I read you need a win 8.1 key to activate a clean install of win 8.1. A win 8 key won't work. Does seem odd as it is a free service pack for win 8 so one would think a win 8 should work but it doesn't :(
Click to expand...
This is MS logic; 8.1 is a free upgrade. If you're doing a clean install, you're not doing an upgrade, so you had to have bought 8.1 to be doing a full install.
 
Has anyone tried the old fashioned clean install via upgrade? ie. From within an existing win 8 install and using a win 8.1 iso burned to dvd (or mounted in win 8) run setup.exe and choose clean install.

I wonder if that will accept a win 8 key to install and activate?

BTW I really don't want to scour the net looking for a VLK key
 
SuperSubZero said:
This is MS logic; 8.1 is a free upgrade. If you're doing a clean install, you're not doing an upgrade, so you had to have bought 8.1 to be doing a full install.
Click to expand...

But "UPGRADE" licensing is not the same as an "upgrade" install even though in English we use the same word. You could have a perfectly valid license to upgrade (being the owner of an eligible previous edition) but you MUST do a clean install because, for example, it's your first time going x64. You cannot use the automatic upgrade process to go from x86 to x64.

An "upgrade" license should not force you to use the "upgrade" installation method.
 
Is there any purpose in still having x86/x64 anymore? or Home Premium/ Professional?
4 GB limitation of x86 seems a waste.
Even the 16 GB limitation for Home Premium seems unrealistic.
 
therat said:
Has anyone tried the old fashioned clean install via upgrade? ie. From within an existing win 8 install and using a win 8.1 iso burned to dvd (or mounted in win 8) run setup.exe and choose clean install.

I wonder if that will accept a win 8 key to install and activate?
Click to expand...
No. That's the path I took, and it (for whatever reason) still requires an 8.1 key.

SuperSubZero said:
This is MS logic; 8.1 is a free upgrade. If you're doing a clean install, you're not doing an upgrade, so you had to have bought 8.1 to be doing a full install.
Click to expand...
Windows 8.1 is described by Microsoft as an update, not an upgrade. Microsoft's communication on this has actually been very consistent.
 
wonderfield said:
Windows 8.1 is described by Microsoft as an update, not an upgrade. Microsoft's communication on this has actually been very consistent.
Click to expand...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/preview-iso

You can find additional information—including system requirements, support options, and a list of supported upgrades—in the FAQ.
Click to expand...

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/jj721676

Windows 8.1 provides a terrific experience on the same hardware that runs Windows 7 and Windows 8. In fact, you might even notice that your computer seems a little faster after upgrading to Windows 8.1.
Click to expand...

If you want to prevent users from seeing the update under any circumstances, you can set the group policy "Turn off the offer to upgrade to the latest version of Windows" located under “Computer\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Store”.
Click to expand...
(note they use update AND upgrade in the same sentence)

Customers using a retail or OEM version of Windows 8 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8.1 via the Windows Store.
Click to expand...
 
That's "very consistent" relative to typical levels of Microsoft consistency, not in general.
 
Running 8.1 build 9431 here and its working great so far. The only issue I have is I get a weird lag in source games when moving side to side. Tried 3 different AMD drivers and all of them are the same so I m going to guess it has something to do with windows itself. Other than that I am really liking it.
 
techie81 said:
Running 8.1 build 9431 here and its working great so far. The only issue I have is I get a weird lag in source games when moving side to side. Tried 3 different AMD drivers and all of them are the same so I m going to guess it has something to do with windows itself. Other than that I am really liking it.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of fixes between the RTM and 9431. I've not seen this in the RTM in games like Portal 2 and HL 2 with a GTX 580.
 
My windows 8 license won't activate, It tries to connect to a KMS server, but its not a kms key.

Not that big of a deal as I actually do have a kms server but haven't got 8.1 keys for it yet.
 
Stoly said:
My windows 8 license won't activate, It tries to connect to a KMS server, but its not a kms key.

Not that big of a deal as I actually do have a kms server but haven't got 8.1 keys for it yet.
Click to expand...
run as admin cmd prompt
slui 0x3
 
heatlesssun said:
There are a lot of fixes between the RTM and 9431. I've not seen this in the RTM in games like Portal 2 and HL 2 with a GTX 580.
Click to expand...

I dont have Technet, is there any other place where I can try out the RTM or will I have to wait?
 
Question, if I install the Windows 8.1 RTM, do I have to later install an upgrade, or reinstall the OS when Windows 8.1 comes out?

Or does that "Build 9600" message stay in the lower right hand corner forever???
 
PimpUigi said:
Question, if I install the Windows 8.1 RTM, do I have to later install an upgrade, or reinstall the OS when Windows 8.1 comes out?

Or does that "Build 9600" message stay in the lower right hand corner forever???
Click to expand...
That goes away when you have a fully licensed and properly activated Windows 8.1.
 
Oh alright, I won't wait then. : )
I'm tired of the shell button in Classic Shell.

Their old start button looked so good, but Microsoft made them take it out...I didn't want to upgrade just for a nice looking start button if I was just going to have to reinstall the OS again in a month. D:
So, before I go do that...let me double confirm, I don't have to reinstall later like with the preview?
 
heatlesssun said:
There are a lot of fixes between the RTM and 9431. I've not seen this in the RTM in games like Portal 2 and HL 2 with a GTX 580.
Click to expand...

I have been going crazy with this issue. It has happened on two different computers; one with AMD one with nVidia. Anytime I turn in CS:source or DoD:source the screen has some type of stuttering/lag/distortion, however, its subtle but there. It has to be an issue with windows 8 because my windows 7 computer does not exhibit the same issue.
 
Windows 8.1 reminds me of the Windows XP SP2 release. It was not an upgrade...but def a big ass update. Enough to change some of the underlying code and such and a decent overhaul of the guts of the OS with enough Window Dressing to signify some changes.
 
When did 'winver' start bringing up a dialog instead of just printing the version in the cmd line?!
 
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