Windows 8.1

[roadbloc]

Today is the day for Microsoft to release their much anticipated update to Windows 8. Should be rolling in at about noon GMT.

For those who don't know 8.1 will bring the following features:
- Return of the Start Button.
- Picture slideshow on Lock Screen.
- Integrated SkyDrive.
- Two new tile sizes (huge and tiny).
- Redesigned settings app (meaning you no longer need the Control Panel on a tablet).
- Aggregated Search.
- Improved metro multitasking.
- Enhanced apps.
- Start Screen improvements.
- Redesigned Windows Store.
- Internet Explorer 11.
- [Supposedly] better with a mouse and keyboard. Unsure if this applies to the metro or desktop interface.
- Native 3D Printing.
- Improved multi-monitor support.
- Support for 4k monitors.
- Windows Explorer enhancements.
- DirectX 11.2

As someone who actually liked Windows 8 (I understand I'm certainly in the minority here) I'm rather pumped for this update.

 

[maflynn]

Too bad they're not offering a discount on the upgrade like they did when Win 8 first hit the streets. I think a lot of people were and still are on the sidelines. With the return of the start button and a nice discount on the upgrade, they may garner more marketshare.

 

[twietee]

Today is the day for Microsoft to release their much anticipated update to Windows 8. Should be rolling in at about noon GMT.

As someone who actually liked Windows 8 (I understand I'm certainly in the minority here) I'm rather pumped for this update.

I like Win8 too. It's free of charge for us win8 users, right?

 

[roadbloc]

I like Win8 too. It's free of charge for us win8 users, right?

Yep. It will come as a free download via the Windows Store.

 

[phrehdd]

Is it possible to run Win 8.x with "windows classic" setting?

Honestly I hate all the "fluff" and tiles on the screen. It might be excellent for a tablet or cell phone but on a large screen it is pathetic.

 

[roadbloc]

Is it possible to run Win 8.x with "windows classic" setting?

If by "classic setting" you mean the classic grey windows theme, then no. Microsoft ditched that in favour of the more coloured Windows 8 themes. Regretfully (for you) it seems Microsoft are unwilling to bring back the old Start Menu in favour of the new Start Screen, but there are plenty of 3rd party alternatives such as Start8 and Classic Shell.

 

[roadbloc]

The upgrade is now available.

 

[markyr17]

The upgrade is now available.

Thanks, downloading on my HTPC now

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Just downloading on my Acer W700 ... Slow but steady download ... Let see what it brings.

 

[ChazUK]

Damn my shoddy broadband connection.

Going to be an overnight affair for me I think.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

2.5 hours to finish the upgrade on my Acer W700. But now it's late, I need to sleep before I play more. But overall it's working.

I'm a bit concerned about the Wifi stability now; hope the driver will reliable work. Had some dropouts after upgrade

 

[roadbloc]

Fully upgraded to 8.1. Liking the changes. It's great to have some colour in the Start Screen and the ability to have it use your desktop background makes the desktop interface feel like it belongs in the OS rather than it just being tacked onto a touch interface. Surprised that it is also somewhat faster and more responsive than 8, which is very impressive when upgrading to 8 reduced my start up time to less than 10 seconds. My PC now boots in under 5 seconds which is kinda unbelievable.

Still a bit miffed about the location of Shut Down and Restart, I really hoped they'd put them in the sign out menu, but since I have power buttons on my keyboard its no biggie. The current location in the charms bar will still be a little confusing for most users.

It's nice to see they've also fleshed out the touch interface with more apps, but since I have no interest in the metro side of Windows 8, I deleted them. Roll on 8.2 next year with more improvements!

 

[WhackyNinja]

If you have a Bootcamp partition with Windows 8 can you update to 8.1?

 

[roadbloc]

If you have a Bootcamp partition with Windows 8 can you update to 8.1?

Haven't tried it myself but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

 

[WhackyNinja]

Haven't tried it myself but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

Good. Thanks for the help!

Cheers

 

[doherrick]

Fully upgraded to 8.1. Liking the changes. It's great to have some colour in the Start Screen and the ability to have it use your desktop background makes the desktop interface feel like it belongs in the OS rather than it just being tacked onto a touch interface. Surprised that it is also somewhat faster and more responsive than 8, which is very impressive when upgrading to 8 reduced my start up time to less than 10 seconds. My PC now boots in under 5 seconds which is kinda unbelievable.

Still a bit miffed about the location of Shut Down and Restart, I really hoped they'd put them in the sign out menu, but since I have power buttons on my keyboard its no biggie. The current location in the charms bar will still be a little confusing for most users.

It's nice to see they've also fleshed out the touch interface with more apps, but since I have no interest in the metro side of Windows 8, I deleted them. Roll on 8.2 next year with more improvements!

Look at this article, about 3/4 down for a simple, no cost, way to get easy access to these commands:

http://winsupersite.com/article/win...r-preview-lock-sign-shut-restart-sleep-142665

 

[phrehdd]

If by "classic setting" you mean the classic grey windows theme, then no. Microsoft ditched that in favour of the more coloured Windows 8 themes. Regretfully (for you) it seems Microsoft are unwilling to bring back the old Start Menu in favour of the new Start Screen, but there are plenty of 3rd party alternatives such as Start8 and Classic Shell.

Thanks for the response. I admit I find Win 8x a nice touch for tablets (pardon the word usage) but for a desktop it is cumbersome.

 

[John Jacob]

I have Win8 on my bootcamp partition. Can I download Win8.1 and do a complete format (of the bootcamp partition, not of the complete Mac!) and clean install?

 

[m4v3r1ck]

I'm running bootcamped Windows 8.1 Pro x64 on a trial-and-error spare disk now. It was a very heafty update of appr. 3,7 GB and took about 2 hours to complete download and install.

So far so good for testing my apps in Windows 8.1!

Good luck with your upgrades, cheers

 

[roadbloc]

Thanks for the response. I admit I find Win 8x a nice touch for tablets (pardon the word usage) but for a desktop it is cumbersome.

I don't find it too bad. If you pin nothing but desktop apps on the Start Screen, you rarely see the metro side of things. I just wish they'd put some of the newer settings in the Control Panel so PC users don't use to use the metro Settings app to configure the Start and Lock Screens.

But I do understand people's frustrations. Microsoft seem to have some good ideas but have a habit of executing them horribly. 8.1 is at least a step in the right direction.

 

[TheHateMachine]

I have yet to update my Surface Pro or my Home PC. My employer is still in the process of pushing 8.1 through QA and it shouldn't be long for my Surface. Will be doing this over the weekend for my home pc.

 

[ChazUK]

My install was done rather quickly last night and without a hitch!
The visual cue of the start button should help some usibility issues and having my desktop wallpaper as my start menu wallpaper makes the whole jump into Metro seem far less jarring.

Pleased with the changes so far.

I'm also trying out Ubuntu 13.10 alongside Windows 8.1 on my PC. Enjoying tinkering with both.

 

[Lloydbm41]

I'm loving 8.1, especially the multi-monitor support. Windows automatically found and configured my dual monitor set up (one touch monitor and one non-touch monitor) without me needing to do a thing. Thus far, Windows 8 and 8.1 have done an amazing job downloading and configuring drivers and codecs on its own.

Skydrive is fine, the integration is much better. It's extra storage, but I have 125GB of free storage on Google Drive and 16gb on Dropbox, so not a big deal. But for those just starting out on Windows, 7gb of free Skydrive space isn't bad.

Start button isn't really the same as the Win 7/XP start button, but thank god it is 10x easier to get to the control panel, device manager, task manager and restart! OMG, it sucked in Windows 8!
And being able to search in all areas, instead of having to pick from the 3 in Windows 8 makes life so much easier.

IE11 - Still feels the same as IE10 and 9 to me. Maybe I just don't notice the difference (other than in the UI look)

Biggest improvements in usability though, have to go to the following areas:

• Return of the Start Button.
  Picture slideshow on Lock Screen.
  Integrated SkyDrive.
  Two new tile sizes (huge and tiny).
  Aggregated Search.
  Improved metro multitasking.
  Enhanced apps.
  Start Screen improvements.
  Redesigned Windows Store.
  Internet Explorer 11.
  Mouse and keyboard integrate with metro better.
  Native 3D Printing.
  Improved multi-monitor support.
  Support for 4k monitors.
  Windows Explorer enhancements.
  DirectX 11.2

 

[Lloydbm41]

My install was done rather quickly last night and without a hitch!
The visual cue of the start button should help some usibility issues and having my desktop wallpaper as my start menu wallpaper makes the whole jump into Metro seem far less jarring.

Pleased with the changes so far.

I'm also trying out Ubuntu 13.10 alongside Windows 8.1 on my PC. Enjoying tinkering with both.

I'm gonna install 13.10 this weekend. Did you partition a drive for the install? If so, how much space do you recommend? I have both an external 2TB drive (1TB free) and 2 raid configured internal drives with 2TB of free space between them. I could easily partition 250mb

 

[ChazUK]

I'm gonna install 13.10 this weekend. Did you partition a drive for the install? If so, how much space do you recommend? I have both an external 2TB drive (1TB free) and 2 raid configured internal drives with 2TB of free space between them. I could easily partition 250mb

I have them installed on two separate hard drives (Windows 8 on my 256GB SSD and Ubuntu on a second traditional 250GB SATA HDD.)

The base install takes around 5.9GB from what I remember so depending on your usage, anything above that should do.