Windows 8.1: Microsoft's reluctant upgrade has a split-screen personality

"Will Microsoft or its OEM partners ever work out how to deliver Windows 8.1 devices that are simple, attractive and as cheap as they need to be to compete with Android /FULL STOP/?"

Don't put Apple products in a sentence with the word "cheap". Overpriced by a large margin.

That said, I found Win8 intuitive and easy to use as a desktop OS. Took about 5 minutes to get used to it.

So...

Now there's a useless start button that does nothing, what's going to happen with the start menu replacements that put their own start button in?

Aha, now I think I see the plan. Well fuck you, too.

"it has done so through gritted teeth"

Not gritted teeth.

But I think penny arcade said it best, so just go check them out.

The question "why no choice on first install wether to go desktop or modern" has a simple answer:

Convertibles / 2 in 1

They are tablets on one boot and notebooks on the next one. So what should be the default? Same for tablet pc with a dock. And quite a few units on the market fall in that group the Surface Pro being one of the few "mostly tablet" devices

Windows 8.1: Fail and still Failing

Microsoft where the Fails keep on coming.

They just don't seem to realise that they can't cater to both desktop and tablets as people use them both in completely different ways.

The only way forward that will work is to release desktop OS, and a tablet OS.

Still no better.

It's quite clear Microsoft have no understanding of the crucial problem.

Windows 8 is designed around media CONSUMPTION.

PC's are designed around CREATION, i.e. WORK

MetroUI is really bad at work, as it's tailered for watching cats on youtube. And if you want to do that, then get a Nexus7, it's better and cheaper.

New SkyDrive's New Name

NSADrive

Windows 8.1 is a generous free upgrade

"Windows 8.1 is a generous free upgrade" an upgrade maybe, but care to clarify why "generous"?

Crap.

Still an utterly useless downgrade from Windows 7.

Boot to desktop in WIndows8(.0)

My son managed to achieve boot-to-Desktop in 8.0 by removing all entries from the Start screen apart from the Desktop one, which he put at top/left. Then, when he booted the system (very briefly) went to the Start screen then flipped into Desktop mode on its own.

And there he added an extra toolbar for "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Wuindows\Start Menu", and has a Start button.

Is Microsoft astroturf out in force?

Or are there really this many Win8 fanbois on the Reg?

Still stubborn, still resisting, still refusing to give our Start Menu back...

...so I'm still refusing to let any of this onto my network, you arrogant, fat, bald chair-throwing clown.

The touch-oriented desktop efforts just pitiful, but a pretty good OS (au fond), and can be made to work reasonably well with a little effort.

Let the Dancing begin...

Now we will have more adverts that show people dancing around and flipping screen icons. Then the attack of magnetically attaching keyboards.

Shades of "West Side Story". Choreography breaking out in a vacant lot. *GROAN*

I never understood the rage against Win8.

I'm now using Windows 8 myself. My mom (who is the least tech savvy person in the world) uses it. A friend's father is using it. It's easy to use and not cluttered for the people who get confused or aren't tech savvy enough to understand the options. Metro may be a tablet UI, but as a side effect, simplifies things for the average person.

If you want desktop applications, you can still download them like you would Win7 and earlier. This hasn't changed. Hell, I spend all my time in desktop mode because I don't need to be babied. I spend literally just seconds each day in the Start Screen for searching for settings and whatnot (muscle memory has not changed since Vista/7: click /press start, type.). For me, Win 8 behaves pretty much the same as WinXP - there's just simple defaults for users who don't want to run around downloading Adobe Reader or a photo gallery application..

its just awful

Its really horrible badly thought out and a terrible experience and hard to support. Ive done many roll backs to windows 7 and even to XP.

The only reason why Windows 8 exists

Microsoft simply wanted to leverage its desktop business onto the touch-centric mobile device business, and consequently cooked up the Jekyll-and-Hyde monstrosity called Windows 8.

Now that Microsoft's mobile device business is failing (Surface and Nokia Lumia phones), its dominance of the desktop business will also begin to wither away.

Windows 8.1 (what happened to the good old days of calling it Service Pack 1, hm?) will not salvage the situation for Microsoft. If you thought users clung onto WinXP for too long, wait till you see them cling onto Windows 7.

Ballmer wasted an entire decade, and I doubt the next CEO (likely an internal hire) will turn things around at Microsoft.

Microsoft will become the next IBM or Kodak.

Win 8.1 "RTM" is GREAT

Runs great! Nightly, ice dragon, cometbird browsers with 38 tabs, outlook, IE with maybe 10 - 3.2 gig memory used. Boots extremely quickly. Mounts *.iso. Runs hyper-V VM's. Bootleg true MS code installs fine with default key, activates with win 8.0 key. IE can be set to one mode only, desktop or TIFKAM. Tiled start screen manageable. TIFKAM side by side works intelligently. Between new "start" and older WinKey 'power menu', charms can be avoided. Ne search feature now works as they say it did in Preview. Media Center was there.

I don't see much reason to change/upgrade tools 'just because its new', but this thing is a real improvement!

There are issues imho with portable contraptions used as computers, even laptops, but both Intel and ARM chips and SSD storage are getting to the point where before long applications as opposed to "aps" will run and run well. The smaller display and small, non-existent, or add-on KB input means limit the use of such Iimho, but they sure are great for taking ones electronic connections, including the hundreds of thousands of 'aps, with one at all times. And the portables are largely used for networking, geography, media consumption, and communication.

Whether the concept of "one ring to rule them all" makes sense, I don't know. The use case differs. BUT. If it matures successfully, users and those who support them and code for them would have one and only one user interface to deal with. It's already converging - MAC OS X, Android, Windows, and most public-oriented Linux distros are looing more alike every day.

As to the upgrade. I put 8.1 RTM atop a 8.1 preview and yes I had to reinstall the limited number of aps , principally communication, browsers, and productivity stuff. There is no 'keep aps' option on this path, as was stated in the beginning. I AM WAITING for the actual final release code to upgrade 8.0. Screen shots from others who have put the RTM - ACTUALLY ANOTHER BETA - atop 8.0 show a "keep aps" option. Also, the real public release build will be supported for 90 days after install.

Windows 8.0?

I find it amusing that the author refers to Windows 8 as Windows 8.0. I know, he has to distinguish it somehow from the upcoming "Windows 8.1."

In fact, "Windows 8" is actually Windows 6.2, and "Windows 8.1" is Windows version 6.3. For that matter, "Windows 7" is Windows version 6.1. Microsoft really should have incremented the version number to 7 with Windows 7.

Best Solution to Windows 8

Its very simple: Windows 7!

It costs the same.

Its more compatible.

It looks much better, not some 80's Window 1.0 crap

Its easier to use.

Its bloody works.

Its 100% compatible with ALL Windows XP+ software.

Unlike Windows 8 lovers, nobody says "Its not that bad".

bskyb?

Who thought of that name anyway? Mushmouth from the Cosby Kids?

hmmm

I find a lot of the comments a bit @nal

Having used win7 and win8.

other than adding the start button they worked 99.9% the same

I actually found win8 as a experience more forthcoming and

the system prompts far more generic and user friendly.

there is a lot more "plain language prompts now"

on upgrading to win8 the only learning curve I had was the apps screen

and that was about 5 minutes playing around till I was comfortable with it.

I really believe to many people over think a lot of this

sometimes cheap and nasty apps that pollute the phone/tablet ecosystems

is all you may need. I like the fact that that is an option.

with GIS systems havings access to both

provides a usable creative platform and the consumable interface ie tablets/phones.

When I have work to do I use the desktop and real programs.

if I choose to take a break and just consume info from live tiles or chitchat then its a simple swipe

on my dual screen PC they both can be visible.

I think a lot of the stigma is purely in peoples heads and has little to do with reality.

Not unlike the 80ies and 90ies where 90% of people had mental blocks about PCs.

if you had given them a smartphone back then they would have complained it had no buttons

to dial with!