Windows 8.1 -- Available

Windows 8.1 is out.

Most people think it doesn't change the main issue with windows 8 and mouse/keyboard usage. But is it not worth upgrading to?

Personally, I'll be installing it. I see no reason why not to, besides don't fix what isn't broken. But we all know Windows 8 is already broken, so it can only be better.

If you have windows 8, here is a link to the download page in the windows store.

Let's discuss what you think of the changes.

I felt to lazy to do a decent write up for a blog.

Well, for me 8.1 broke some things:

My favorite custom theme doesn't work anymore, waiting for a fix.

They added a load of useless crap to windows explorer, had to delete registry keys to remove it.

Mouse sensitivity adjustment in Osu! doesn't work.

I use StartIsBack and I had to disable taskbar on the secondary monitor because otherwise start menu opens on the last active monitor instead of the main one.

Actually useful changes: 0.

To each his own.

But you do bring up valid points. I have yet to actually use it, but I've been using Windows 8 vanilla.

this is why win7 is still the king for all tasks that are still optimized for win 7. win8 is just a headache to even attempt to use even if you have a fresh OS.

reliability is where it stands and win7 will be the king tell something better comes out that actually works AS a desk top os... not some gimmick of a tablet os that should stay on tablets "android/apple". granted the mac os works but linix/ windows still owns most of the market

 

If you remove annoying tablet features, Windows 8 looks a lot better and works a little bit better than Windows 7.

In a way that's true, but MS semi-admitted today that win 8 is bad and the bug fixes hardly does anything but create more headaches. but in terms of compatibility  issues, win 7 has next to none with almost all applications. overall it's preference, but anyone who want's to do a home based build, go with win 7.. you will never regret it and the support will stand with all MS common issues. Win 8 is another game altogether that does not need to be thought of.

win 8 = alot of things needing to be changed out the box to get it working the way you want it.

win 7 = just install and play

I agree with this.  However I do feel that when you tweak 8 the rewards are there.  Especially for SSD's (fast boot) and UEFI support and those types of things.

I just upgraded to 8.1 from 8 today and thus far have not noticed anything.

I dont even think i want to have 8.1 undo my tweaks .

I am yet to be convinced that windows 8.1 is worth going to from Windows 7 Pro 64. I can get either of them free and indeed I did when I chose Win7 for my first build last year.

 

I wouldn't be adverse to changing if it really was worth it consistently. I may try it for a while if I get some free time.

The only bad thing so far for me is the search function. It was almost better, but now you have to hit enter to get the results.

I also had to change the scale of everything from 150% to 100%. That was weird.

I like the overlay effect you can select for the start screen. It makes things seem more homey and connected.

Don't like the down arrow that opens the full app/program screen though.

The modern ui settings are alot better. Though it's kinda confusing at first, as they try to layer settings.

Well keep us posted cause i am chicken . Just because its free does not mean its worth it .

I wanted to update, it asked me to enable UAC.

I instantly lost complete interest after this.

Hope for you guys it doesn't break too many things. Good luck!

I was able to disable UAC with ease.

On another note, the split screen actually works now. That's one step closer to making the distant modern ui apps closer to desktop usage.

But again, the new search function isn't that good... It's a whole separate app. It should be seamless with the os and not have to hit enter to see all the results.

well i have windows 8.1 laying arround for a few weeks allready, but i did not had the time to install it in vm ware and to play with it.

But i must say i did this also with a tweaked windows 8 version, with start menu and things, but it just don´t make me happy for some reason.

Im happy with windows 7 X64 ultimate as my main os ☺

Hmm, if someone was trying get me to choose Windows 8 over 7, what would be the reasons I should switch? Because the slightly faster boot times won't matter shit to me because my partition is on a storage hard drive so it'll be a bit slower to boot anyway, there's also not really a significant increase in fps in games, and I hate that the OS was basically designed for touch devices and has a stupid app store.

I just want to know why sooo many people on reddit recommend it over 7, and anyone who says they'll stick with 7 or will get 7 instead is downvoted into oblivion.

EDIT: I also don't care about DirectX 11.2

Boy did we get up on the wrong side of the bed . Anyway Win 8 is faster that Win 7.  Metro and the app store just suck.

Who exactly? I'm just stating my opinion. But like I said, the slight performance increases isn't enough for me to switch.

EDIT: Also, I should note that I already have a hard time getting some older games to work with Windows 7 alone (especially after updating to SP1) so I doubt Windows 8 will be any better in that respect and may actually have more compatibility  problems.

I was very skeptical going to windows 8 but I didn't want to judge it without trying. After about an hours worth of optimizing and tweaking (same as I do in win7 64bit ultimate pretty much) + a few gui mods to make it feel like win 7 I can honestly say I LIKE IT. It's faster (not boot time, don't care about that) My raid 0 ssd setup is faster, everything is more "snappy" and my core usage in games went UP. Win 8 pro 64bit is putting my 8350 to work for sure and with TRI-FIRE 7970's I haven't had one hiccup yet :D 

I'm glad I tried it. I highly suggest using "seans guide to windows 8" on overclock.net to set everything up properly and then you can find guides all over the place for getting rid of all the stupid GUI dumb shit. THEN, go through the services.msq (or whatever it is) and eliminate all the rest of the dumb shit.

I do this for all my windows installations be it XP, 7, 8, etc.. so setup time was the same and I truly feel I have a better system now for power using and gaming. IMHO :D 

Having said all that... I am not going to switch to 8.1 yet. I feel there is no need at the moment. 

Its already driving me crazy . I trying to give it a chance but they didnt fix anything important . I just noticed that whe windows performance index is missing . Not that matters alot .