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I upgraded from Windows 7 to 8 then 8.1  I have not had any more major issues with it short of the UX/UI that is basically common knowledge at this point.  I’ve downloaded Windows 10 and although I have not experimented with it too much, its a better experience then 8, so I feel I’m getting the ‘upgrade’ that was promised.  Whats just as cool about this is the fact that I’m getting this for free!  And Microsoft claims I will get all future upgrades for free..  Yeeahh..  Thats … wait.., what?  All upgrades for free?  And then what is this I hear?  They have applied for a trademark for Windows 365 and announced a subscription service?  Hmm.. So we already know about Office 356 going subscriptions, Adobe seems like they are happy with it.  Already on my phone I get my OS upgrades for free, first Apple and then on my Android.  Windows phone I hear will be the same.  A major sea chance is taking place here…

I think the days of waiting for a major OS upgrade from Microsoft is over.  Lets think about it.  One of the major issues with Windows’ security is the fact that many people do not keep their machines up to date.  Browsers were first of the box to deal with this by auto updating just like Flash and Java.  So I can imagine the updates we see from Microsoft every now and again will not just to be bug and security fixes, but changes at the OS core that normally are reserved for numbered OS upgrades.  Also, if you offer it free, you can finally get the army of Windows 7 users to upgrade reducing the number of older OS out there and thus reducing the security risk that Windows is known for.  What if ALL windows users could upgrade for free?  That might make a lot of sense from a security and support point of view.  Now we know XP and Vista and not supported anymore, but with a subscription, and assuming it was cheap enough, they may just upgrade, although I kinda doubt it, its not THAT much to upgrade windows and if you are still on XP or Vista its because you have some legacy software or you just fear change.

But if I have my Windows machine constantly being updated and upgraded, like a browser, then do we really need numbers anymore?  At what point do I go from Windows 10 to Windows 11?  Unless the change the core is so substantial that you HAVE to use an external install and lose your applications, you may as well stop saying Windows, 8,10, 11 or whatever and just say, Windows.  Done.  Or as we have recently learned, Windows 365.  Of course you will still need build numbers just to be sure that the application you bought will still run, but even then I would be there will be some sort of windows service that will run older apps in a completely sanitized box, almost like a virtual machine, to allow older code to work but not expose the current OS to bugs or security threats. And some older code, kind of like what happens with some Apple apps that do not keep up with the upgrade path, simply stop working and your out of luck.

I think the could be the last major ‘Upgrade’ we see from Windows for a long time.  We have Windows 10 coming, but after that, it will be Window 365… until another sea change takes place.

Does it show the SSD at all? I would check to see that it’s indeed being picked up by the BIOS and if not, check the cables.
Occasionally, Windows setup can chuck a fit when it discovers a drive with an invalid MBR/boot sector and won’t install to it. To fix this, you could try the following
1.Boot up Windows 7 disc.
2.When the welcome screen comes up on Windows Setup, press Shift + F10, which will display a command prompt.
3.Type “diskpart” (no quotes) and press enter.
4.Type “list disk” and press enter.
5.Hopefully you can see your SSD in the list. You should see a number identifying it. Now type “select disk X” (where X is the number identifying your SSD) and press enter.
6.Type “clean” and press enter. This will write a blank MBR, YOU WILL LOSE ANY DATA ON THE SSD if you did have anything on it.
Hopefully one of these tips helps :

The users who are facing blurry, bold or hard to read font problem in Windows 8.1, just need to enable this new option and their problem will be fixed forever.

So if you are also facing this problem, just check out following simple steps:

1. Right-click on Desktop and select “Screen resolution” option.

2. Now click on “Make text and other items larger or smaller” link.

3. It’ll open “Display” settings page. You can also directly open “Display” window by selecting “Personalize” option from Desktop context menu and then click on “Display” link given at the bottom of left-sidebar.

4. Now enable “Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays” option and apply the changes.

5. Restart your system and your problem will be fixed.

Since Windows 8.1 is under development, it seems this new feature is not working properly in many computer systems. We hope the issue will get fixed in final version of Windows 8.1.

First you can finally boot directly into the desktop.  This is huge for me.  Right now there are two moves I have to make that are a total waste.  I have to first move the splash graphic out of the way so I can get to the login, then after logging in, I have to click on desktop. Sigh.  I’m hoping to find a way to shortcut the landing graphic, but at least with 8.1, I can go directly to the desktop top.  Much better.

The second thing is the return of the ‘Start’ button.  Its not as populated nor as flexible as the start button in Win7, but I expect that will improve as well.  Far better then the window-x option we have now.  Did you guys even know about that?  Also the search UI is suppose to flow better, but an issue I have still does not seem to be addressed; when I type in an app or file, I have manually move from category to category.  Sigh.  Although now they have added skydrive and email as part of the search.  Not sure how I feel about that.

I have read that the metro apps are getting better.  They are really half baked and anytime I accidentally go from desktop to one of these things, I’m immediately struck by just how limited the UI option are on them. Perhaps in a few more iterations they will be become as useful as the equivalent desktop app, but I’m not seeing it. There have been more improvements on the start screen, like more sizes for the chicklets, better filtering and a few other niceties, but honestly, I never use any of them, so I cannot say if this matters or not.

Also there is IE11.  I have lived without Internet Explorer for so long I do not even know the difference between the versions any more.  From what I have read, 11 is suppose to bring IE into the modern browser age, but I read that about IE 9 and 10 and yet they always fall short.  So I guess time will tell.

Bottom line, if you are already on windows 8, as soon as its released, and its free, go get it.  Else if you have not made the jump yet, there is nothing here to change your mind.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/feature-packs

And remember, you only have till the end of the month before the price of Windows 8 jumps from $40 to $200.  If you have a PC, ESPECIALLY if you have an old one, get it.

Screw off.  While I think the whole apps thing on Apps on Windows 8 is nothing more then wasted code and memory for the normal PC user, Windows 8 is still much faster and just as stable as Windows 7 has been for me. I have been running Windows 8 on my very old Lenovo x61 and its been great!  With a SSD and only 2G of RAM I am just as productive as the rest of the office with their modern Mac and PCs.

They key here is not let the the Metro App layer ( or whatever they call it ) let it blind you to some real improvements in the OS. Faster boot times, a few nicer UI elements, better memory management, etc..  However, if you were to listen to all the haters out there, Windows 8 sucks because of the UI change of putting the App layer on top of the UI.  I have to guess these are the same people that complain when Facebook makes a UI change.

However, I was reading a post on VentureBeat letting people know that the price of Windows up is about to jump from $40 to $200.  And fair warning it is.  Then the author goes through 5 reasons you should get it before the price jumps.  Not convinced about reason 5, but the other 4 were good enough.

Then I read the comments

Gezzz!!  Its like troll city out there.  Its like suddenly a whole parade of 14 year old (most likely Apple fan-boys) were let out of their collective cages to given access to a energy drink fueled masturbation on why Windows sucks.  Almost all of them complaining about the Metro Apps layer of the OS while completely ignoring the fact that ‘ hey Timmy’, you can get around the Apps layer and even get the start button back and have a FASTER OS!!..

Trolls.

But now that my evaluation version has aged out, I decided to buy Windows 8 pro.  The downside is that all my app got blown away so I have to reinstall everything.  One of the first apps I wanted to install was Skype. I decided however that I would give the metro apps another try.

I installed the win8 skype app.  All went well enough. I did not understand how to get to my history but I figured I would work it out over time.  I sent a Skype  message to someone and then went back to the desktop to do email.  After 15min I was wondering why I have not heard back.  I manaully went back to Skype and I had a reply waiting for me.  FAIL.

99% of desktop PC users are going to use, you guessed it, the standard desktop to do most of their work.  So why would I not have notifications working on the desktop?  Basically once I go into the desktop, the win8 apps may as well not exist because there is no link between the two worlds.

I’m still happy with Windows 8, it has taken my old PC and granted it a few more years of life. But the whole metro bit.  Waste of code and memory. In fact, I’m waiting for a hack that will unload all this and squeeze even more performance out of this thing.  And perhaps get the Start button back too.

I like windows 8 despite all the heaters and will buy a proper version tonight.  I will most likely write a follow up post on how it goes.  Assuming I get this post out before it reboots.   And remember folks, after Jan 2013, the price will jump from $40 to $200, so get on it.

{Newer Update}

Finally got everything installed and working. Finally, life is good again on my X61.

{update}

So I bought windows8 upgrade, $39.00.  Downloaded it, and went through the install process.  Locked up twice on me.  On the 3rd attempt it finally made it all the way through.  Of course the crappy part about all this is all my apps were wacked.  Kept all my files though. Whats funny in the first thing I did was kill off 1/2 the tiles because I would never use them and they are annoying.  Next I opened IE to do, what else? Download Firefox and Chrome.  The fricken browser locked up on me as I was typing in Chrome!  And then again later as I was trying to click download.  Now it unfroze after a few seconds, but still!

Finally have my two browsers back and have to go through the fun process of reinstalling everything.  Ah well.