Win8 prices for upgrades and full will jump ~2X+ on Feb1!

[NE-Firebird]

Win8 prices for both the upgrades and full installs will jump a lot on Feb1!


If you do the Microsoft $40 upgrade from the MS site, that will only upgrade a 32-bit system to a Win8 32-bit install. Although, someone posted that if you do the upgrade request on a 64-bit system, you can use that license to upgrade a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system. But, it's unclear if you can then get another 64-bit license upgrade using that first system again.

FWIW, Amazon has the win8 Pro Upgrade (32-bit or 64-bit) for $67 ( http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wind.../dp/B008H3SW4I ). And, they have the Win8 Pro full install (new system) for only $111( http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Profes...dp/B0094NXBZ0/ ) !

I have "a few" Win8Pro upgrades and Win8-Full DVDs. That's in addition to my existing Win8 machines.


Also, get Windows 8 Media Center Pack for Win8Pro the next ~month or so.
Add features - Microsoft Windows


As I mentioned in another thread:
Win8 Pro has a kick *ss VM and bitlocker. Like with their anti-virus, IMHO, their VM and bitlocker (can now do the OS/boot/etc) should be fine for 99% of the users of those tools.

If you run Win8, get the freeware Classic Shell ( Welcome to Classic Shell ) . With Classic Shell, Win8 kicks the a** out of every other OS out there! I configure my machines to look like either WinXP or Win7.

Without Classic Shell, Win8 is the biggest flaming POS OS ever! What *********ing ******* in MS thought that it made any sense to get rid of the start button in the desktop? With no Slates available, Win8 (without Classic Shell) makes zero sense.


Note: if you run your old OS in a VM (Virtual Machine), then you need a Win8 full-install, not an upgrade! Last I checked, supposedly, MS is still allowing a Win8 upgrade system to run it's old OS (and license) in a VM. But, MS has explicitly stated that is not a valid/legal use of the licenses. So, MS can start to enforce that and then the "wga" ("OS license validity check") will fail in the VM's OS. IMHO, they likely will. It's just a question of if it's in the next few months, or next year.


Also see from engadget.com:
PSA: Windows 8 and Pro upgrades will jump to $120 and $200 on February 1st
PSA: Windows 8 and Pro upgrades will jump to $120 and $200 on February 1st
Jan 18th, 2013
This should come as no surprise -- we reported the increase back in October -- but Windows 8 upgrades will become a bit more pricey come February 1st. That means you have the better part of two weeks to take advantage of introductory online upgrade pricing of $40 (for the Pro version), before the sticker jumps to 200 bucks. Fortunately, you'll be able to utilize current pricing for the rest of January, including a DVD Pro upgrade available at retailers for $70. After the switchover, you'll pay $200 for a Pro upgrade, a standard edition of Windows 8 will run you $120, the Pro Pack will be available for $100 (upgrading from standard to Pro) and a Media Center Pack will cost $10. You could, of course, stick it out with Windows 7 or Vista or even XP for the indefinite future, but if a fresh OS is in the cards, now'd be as good a time as any to make the jump.

[CJREX]

Ditto on the Hyper V in Win 8.

Very nice.

And it is possible to do a full "clean" install of Win 8 from the upgrade disc.

I went from 32 bit 7 Ultimate to 64 bit 8 Pro using the disc from the box upgrade (Microcenter had open box for $40, same as download)

As far as 32 or 64 bit, when you purchase the upgrade you are sent a link.

If you open that link from a 32 bit machine, you get the 32 bit, 64 bit machine you get the 64 bit version.

Upgraders should note that anytime you go from 32 bit to 64 bit you will be doing a clean install. All your data will be wiped.

And thanks to NE-Firebird for the info about the Classic Shell.

With the addition of that bit of freeware, Win 8 makes sense and is easy to use.

I would say to the point where it is better than Win 7 due to lightning fast bootup and shutdown.

Just make sure your programs are compatible with Win 8.

I had a couple of games that said they were compatible but ended up not working at all.

[jiveass]

windows 8 pisses me off....takes me an hour to find any of my files...and thats cause i keep forgetting how to do it...

[ls1camino]

Who cares? It is a shitty operating system for anything that isn't a tablet and even that is debatable.

[NE-Firebird]

If you open that link from a 32 bit machine, you get the 32 bit, 64 bit machine you get the 64 bit version.

Correct. But, if you have a Win7 6-bit machine, you can get your 5 upgrades from that machine. Just download the upgrade, and then at the end choose - Write ISO for DVD instead of install. Them, you need to write the ISO to a DVD (a number of free programs if needed).
That's what I did for 4 of my upgrade licenses.
The first license I did was from a Win7 32-bit PC and I was PO'd. Still, it's fine.


I do notice somethings with the 64-bit. Not sure if it's 64-bit specific, of something else.


Yes, Win8, like Win7, does move system/etc files around. I store everything in my own folders. Still, it's a PITA if you want to copy/save the profiles for some programs. If you want to find a corresponding folder/directory for Win8, then USE GOOGLE!

Otherwise, Win8 is much faster. For people people with SSD, IMHO, it's the only way to go. Win7 was a semi-hack with SSDs. Win7 was never designed to support SSDs.

For a laptop, battery powered device, Win8 is the only way to go! There are a TON of changes in the OS and file system. IMHO, this is one of the biggest upgrades MicroSoft has done. When Win7 was designed, SSDs, and chips specific things like : Intel Turbo Boost Technology, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology, where mainly dreams. Also, Intel's Hyperthreading before the i-series chips was a semi joke! In many cases, it was faster to not use the hyperthreads.

With an i7, the core cranks so fast, has so much parallelism capabilities, and has such a fast micro-code feeder, in most cases, one execution core handles the two threads with little/no performance hit verses a single thread per core. I had a very time critical design. I did extensive research and testing with the i7. Plus, it's nice to be with a place (again) where a real Intel Applications Engineer would actually talk to me. Oh yea, my focus in Grad school (a zillion years ago) was CPU design, with Networking, Controls, Mechanical Engr, etc as minors. Cough, cough, sound a little like intelligent robots - hmm... IMHO, when robot can mow my lawn, use my snow thrower, paint my house, clean the gutters, take out the trash and pick up the barrels when it's below zero and in the middle of a *******ing blizzard (winter sucks ), then I may start to worry about them taking over the world in 50 years.

Back on topic, Win8 now has a scheduler that takes advantage of the way the i-series Intel chips works, and is faster and uses less power. Plus, in general, it's much faster all around since they Microsoft wasn't in a massive panic mode to get any OS out there that didn't suck *ss (i.e. Vista).


For real Window8 technical info:
Microsoft's: Building Windows 8 Blog
https://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/?Redirected=true

Win8 Blog: Improving Power Efficiency for Applications
https://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/...edirected=true

[NE-Firebird]

BTW: One thing that I don't like with Win8 is the way it does the "accessibility" changes. Let's take this "hypothetical case":
1) You want Win8 for a HTPC (Home Theater PC).
2) You want the nice touch/pad abilities/etc.
3) You want to be able to see and read the ******** screen.
4) You change the "accessibility" to do 1.5x or 2x magnification. And, WTF does Win8 do? It changes the screen resolution! WTF!! (Okay, maybe Win7 did the same thing, and I didn't notice.) So, your 1920x1024 screen becomes 960x512. Not great resolution for watching videos! As far as I can tell, that's to support the very different screen sizes and the possibility of having the OS adapt nicely to different screen sizes from the same platform (like the ASUS Android padfone does).

Hmm, this may be an incentive to learn and write a "Metro app". I have a custom desktop app now to switch resolutions. The icons still move. I haven't found any .net code to save/restore icons. There are plenty of programs that save restore icons. Plus, for my HTPC, I do not have a lot of desktop icons to begin with. So, I just keep them in a pattern that works for both resolutions.



BTW, for reference:
ASUS Android -Padfone

[Blakbird24]

I have 8 on both my laptops now, and yes it was very frustrating at first, but now that I have learned the new GUI style, I like it ALOT better than 7 (and that's WITH "Metro") and will be purchasing licenses for my workstations too before this promotion is over.

The hate for this OS is really unfounded. IMO, anyone who says that it just sucks really hasn't used it. My next smartphone will be the best Win8 phone I can get my hands on at that time. Microsoft has the holy grail of connected tech here if the can play their cards right. Apple was able to steer the market in the direction they wanted with the iPhone...Microsoft has the next step here...they just need to know how to play it. Only time will tell if they can pull it off, but i'm hoping they succeed, because apple's solution is far too limited.