Seems I must have just had a bad run. May run a 2nd VM and test it out, Fedora is working perfectly and I expect a VM of 8 will work superb also, I just hope MS does not mess up next year, Even if its just through a VM I would love a return to form :)
Don't try it. You will regret it. It is not PC friendly.
Thats quite allright, I never upgraded to 8.1 in the first place.
I read all the hightlights. None of them had value.
Why am I on windows 8? I am a full blooded pc gamer, and I attach SOME value to the enabled used directx 11.1 libraries on my rig. (Yeah, even though DICE is the only dev-team on this planet that uses it).
DirectX 11.2 yielded no gaming-related benefits at all. Nothing.
I might still be using W8, but I'm not blind. I expect this all to change soon. Windows is setting a course on a different direction than where I put my values.
Makes you kind of wonder if they do it on purpose -___- I have little faith in MS these days though, Vista was a decent OS with the right customizations and tweaks, Windows 7 was just icing on the delicious cake. Windows 8 however. UGGGHHHHH
Once I have Linux compatibility with Autodesk Maya/Zbrush/Unity3D and the main video games I play, I will be making the switch to Linux...
The ONLY reason I'm still with Windows is familiarity and program compatibility.
I'm getting almost double the fps with my sli setup with directx 11.1. No more cpu bottlenecking and minimal frame drops. This is for most my games, especcially bf3-bf4. Moving to windows 8.1 has been pretty damn good for me.
Why do people feel the need to make public service announcements like this, and assume that because they have an issue, EVERYONE does? I have Windows 8.1 on 3 PCs, I have none of the issues described at all.
In fact, my boot speed of my SSD PC increased when I moved to 8.1, so my PC is booting faster than ever.
Same as other people above. Windows 8.1 since two days after it released. No problems at all. Performance is actually slightly better if you ask me.
You must have broke something yourself.
So is XP.
Same here. The biggest complaint I have is just windows 8 in general, that sometimes you get weird compatibility issue bugs from websites and a few programs. In general I find it faster, easier to use, and when you get used to the things it does and how it works, it's honestly better and easier to use than previous windows versions. Very glad I upgraded from windows 7.
When you get used to it, it's quite a nice addition. 8.1 makes some minor tweaks to the Modern UI, keeping the same background and boot to desktop. The Windows 8 overlay now feels a part of the desktop and more of an extension to access your programs and windows 8 apps. It's quite nice, honestly. You don't have to depend on it at all, or even see it, unless you want to. And if you use it right, it is very organized compared to some of the older ways of organizing all the programs and utilities you had on your desktop suck as pinning them to the taskbar or making lots of folders and shortcuts on the desktop. Keeps your computer looking clean and slick.
8.1 is bigger than 8.0, so it's better!!
This is kinda different though, it's like holding Ubisoft accountable for the Assassins Creed 1 torrent that didn't let you get to a certain, necessary part of the game to continue forward and claiming that Ubisoft needed to fix that.
Other than a mouse hickup and some driver issues ( which you get with any OS change ) It works fine tho i am still a little annoyed by the admin thing when i am signed into my admin account.
Must be a problem with your system. I've been using 8.1 since release and have had no issues.
Cheers.
Yes, I have noticed a performance increase, at lest in Adobe CS, of about 5%. Having used Windows UIs since they exist, I believe 8/8.1 is the best at such a young age...Some annoying aspects don't brake it. I can still remember the horror that was XP, until SP2, or Windows ME....
Microsoft had done a magnificent job...Of course, being MS, they had to piss everybody with a very annoying UI...But the OP essence is magnificent.
Cheers.
Did you upgrade or fresh install? If it was an upgrade than user error for the fact you upgraded rather than doing a fresh install.
People like you always talk about how Linux is so much better and has less issues and is so much easier to use, have you even used Linux? I agree that Linux probably has less issues IF you are willing to learn ins and outs of it. Majority of issues in windows can be fixed yourself, if you can't do that, what makes you think Linux is gonna be easier and better?
I'm sorry if I come off sounding rude, but it just baffles me when people think Linux has less problems, when in reality, Linux requires a lot of fiddling and messing with stuff to make it do what you want it to do.
I find it amusing how *some* people use their own subjective opinions as a means to say windows 8, in general, is not good simply because they don't like the new interface or the way the new OS differs from previous gens. I realize the OP has encountered a few real problems, but that just gets me every time.
As for those issues, I have to agree with nearly everyone else here. It must be user error issue. I'm also on 8.1 and have no problems what-so-ever except for the secureboot message in the bottom right hand corner, but that I know can be solved by updating the bios on my motherboard. If you're experiencing mouse issues in games, go watch Logan's "Windows 8.1 mouse lag fix" video.
In terms of functionality, I find 8/8.1 to be fantastic. It's fast, efficient and easy to use. Once you learn a little more about it and how to find what you're looking for, you may realize, like me, that you don't even need the start menu anymore. To be honest, I never used the start menu much to begin with. There are better ways to go about doing certain things and just because you're used to doing those things a certain way for so long, doesn't mean there can't be another, better way. ;)
Also, as someone else had already mentioned, you don't have to interact with the metro interface if you choose not to and set it up properly. My system boots straight to the desktop (in about 10 seconds from a Samsung 840 SSD) and I never have to use the metro interface unless I choose to. I pin my most used apps to the taskbar and have a few key apps on the desktop, and that's it! Anything I need to do is right there. No need to navigate through the start menu. I've always found the start menu to be a slow, inefficient interface anyways, so I really don't miss it at all.
Im getting 8.1 down the road because I want DirectX 11.2.
That depends entirely on what flavor of Linux you choose. There are some flavors that really do require some serious knowledge upfront just to install them, but then you have flavors like Ubuntu that have devs that do everything in their power to make it as easy as possible to use.
Another aspect of Linux is the kernel and the way it is developed. There is an enormous community of developers who help develop the kernel just because they can, not for profit and definitely not with a deadline hoovering over their heads like an axe. That's how MS develops their OS, with money and deadlines as the foremost objective, and the user experience as a secondary objective to be completed if they have time before hand or else after the OS ships. This lack of deadline/profit objectives enables the Linux development community to create a truly functional Core to Linux that can be customized into everything from an industrial server bringing internet to the masses down to grandmas humble desktop.
Why was windows 7 considered so good? Its very simple, after the fiasco with Vista, Microsoft realized that this time around the User experience was going to be crucial to meeting their profitability objectives. So thus we got a really good OS out of 7. Flash forward to today, and you see that Microsoft has decided to engineer the market a bit so that the average (IE afraid of/unfamiliar with Linux) users have no choice but to use windows 8(.1) by 1: stopping the sale of windows 7 as soon as sales of 8 began, And 2: locking systems into using windows 8 by implementing special coding into the UEFI bios on motherboards that ship in PC's with windows 8 pre-installed. (Yes I know there are ways of getting around this but you try explaining how to your average PC user and I guarantee you'll end up wanting to beat them into understanding right before you end up just doing it for them.)
This enables MS to return to its old development strategies and allows them to worry about the user experience after you've already made the mistake of buying it early. That is exactly what windows 8.1 is, an attempt to fix the user experience after MS committed us all to using Windows 8 and Metro on our new PC's. Its MS knocking out its secondary objectives after the initial release and tripping all over itself while doing so.
Full disclosure: I DO NOT USE LINUX. Having grown up using every version of windows from 3.1 and up, the Windows way of doing things is thoroughly ingrained in my mind. I spend about 1 hour in any other operating system and my brain starts to itch for my next windows fix.
I do however understand Linux's potential, and I respect it for its awesomeness. I personally use Win7, and Microsoft be damned if they think there going to get me to upgrade to 8 Before they fix just about everything that's wrong with it.