If you th¬ink Tr¬avis`s s¬tory is co¬ol,, a mo¬nth-a¬go ¬mo¬m in-la¬w basica¬lly go¬t a ch¬e¬q¬ue f¬or $7¬484 jus¬t sit¬ting there an eleven h¬our w¬eek fro¬m h¬ome an-d t¬he'r¬e best friend's sister-in-law`s neighbour done t¬his f¬or ni¬ne mo¬nths an¬d mad¬e ov¬er $7484 part time from a la¬btop. ap¬ply t¬he ins¬tructions at th¬is w¬ebsite ...... - See more at:
No, no. I am in agreement with him on this. I've got nothing against the long Snow Leopard, Lion, Mavericks articles, they are interesting. But I do think we are severely lacking in equal treatment here. I know Anand uses an iMac/Macbook Air, but where's the love for the other 98% market share?
Completely agreed. The Apple OS's get painstaking detail, Microsoft OS's get a blurb. Still, this is about Tiles 8.1 so I really don't care. I won't care again until it can accurately be called "Windows" instead of "Tiles".
It already can, windows haven't gone anywhere at all...
Maybe you're referring to the new (optional) metro-style apps? Which don't run in moveable windows (unless you hack that in anyway), but are now horizontally resizeable.
Furthermore, we all know that Anand is turning into an apple ifanbozi. Its not even masked anymore. it the asus transformer review " I haven't had much time to spend getting into 8.1 but it's largely an improvement over Windows 8."
If this was an iphone os 7.0.0.0.0.000000000000001 update we'd get ten pages of changes.
'OMG the shading is now 2 degrees lighter then before, allowing greater visibility of the background while things zoom in. This is how awesome apple is ... bla bla bla." A major windows update...
And all we get from anand is...... nothing.
Still waiting for the site name to change to apple tech. This used to be my go to tech site, but if the focus is going to be so heavy on Apple, and Windows is going to be treated as some bastard child OS. Then I'm going to start to move on.
I agree here as well. The situation has left me visiting Anadtech less and less as they seem to focus more on apple than Microsoft. You know the last minor osx release got about a 20 page write up and this huge update to the most widely used family of OS's gets 2 paragraphs.
Already updated. Heres how the process went for me, i was already on 8:
Went to the Win 8 Store, downloaded the update and restarted PC when asked. Installation began, took about 15 mins, then afterwards it takes you through a few simple setup screens and you're done.
The processes was completely flawless - It kept all my PC settings, personalisation, app user data, files, drivers, desktops programs and Metro apps.
So pretty much exactly as you would expect it to go, this being an update, and not a new OS installation. It's just win 8 service pack 1, but win 8 is doing so badly that they've called it 8.1 instead, in my view, to fool people into thinking it's a different product.
Can't update to Windows 8.1 Sorry, it looks like this PC can't run Windows 8.1. This might be because the Users or Program Files folder is being redirected to another partition. [Close]
I was happily running Windows 8 Pro with my document folder on my secondary drive (3TB) while the system is on a 240GB SSD. Bummer!
Really? Silly me for not thinking about it myself...
Or maybe I can't because: - too much data to move; - I would have to move Dropbox and GDrive folders; - I would also have to move ALL the installed programs settings.
The redirection was done at installation time (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973289), not after the system was up, therefore I can't undo it unless I reinstall the entire OS.
Maybe it would be better if you don't assume how the redirection was done (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973289) before providing advices that don't apply to my case.
fabiogallo - the link you provided says that doesn't apply to Windows 8. Are you saying you did that when you setup Windows 7 and upgraded to 8 with no issues and then now 8.1 won't work? it might have working in Windows 8 when you did it, but the way I read that support article that it wasn't technically a 'supported' method. That could really suck I understand....
Yup. It was done with my previous Windows 7 installation. Upgrade to Win8 didn't pose any problem but now 8.1 installation gets stuck :-(
Btw, MS documentation is shaky as usual: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff71593... FolderLocations setting is supposed to work with: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Vista
The number of changes in 8.1 is pretty astounding. You're doing it a pretty big disservice calling it a service pack. There's quite a bit of new functionality, way more than any service pack has ever brought.
It's the same operating system, and in my eyes, they have serviced it to being more usable. A lot of the additions are not new features, but rather feautres it should have had. Imo of course.
XP SP2 actually added a lot to XP and changed many defaults, specially relating to security. Though it has been a 9 years since that service pack hit. Since then MS has shy'd away from introducing new features or interface changes until major updates.
XP SP2 still didn't add even close to 10% as many new things as 8.1 adds. And SP2 features were needed purely because of massive security problems and the unusually long time XP was going to be around for.
SP2 brought a lot, DX9.0c, DEP, Windows Firewall (enabled by default), security center, better WiFi support, Bluetooth-support, and so on. Pretty much all the stuff normally associated with XP.
But UI changes, which normally holds over a release shows how poorly and unready they were for 8. Adding other features don't necessarily show that though. It's not quite what SP2 were for enterprise users though.
Wasn't such an easymode for me, the installation took about 10 minutes but left me with no sound (partially blame Creative) and no antivirus/firewall. Reinstalling sound card drivers fixed the no-sound, but broken sound card control panel. When I gave up with "well at least it plays now" I got message pop-up telling me "devices need to finish installation"... didn't mention what devices... Few Yes/Next/Ok etc. and control panel works again. Too bad Avira security solution (fw/antivirus) is not compatibile with 8.1 yet... and that reminds me I need to check whether Alcohol 120% works.
Only thing i hated in the preview was how they set up skydrive by default and auto-hide libraries. I've spent years building my library system, with skydrive AND dropbox integrated + all excess files moves on my E: drive on my big desktop but still listed in my libraries with acess on my surface via home network. I don't know if they fixed it up, but in the preview they f*** up my system big time. Enough to retrograde to Win7 on my desktop at least.
You can download the ISO from MSDN. When you boot from it, you MUST enter a product key in the installer, you CANNOT press next and enter it later (my biggest pet peeve in 8.1 TBH)
Unfortunately, your 8.0 key WILL NOT work in the Installer. It WILL, however, work once installed.
Still with me? :)
On the installation media, in a file called product.ini, will be the "default key." This is the key that used to be used when you left the key field blank during install on previous OSes. The default key is no longer used by default(lol) but its still on the disc, and still works. Use this key to install 8.1. After you install, specify your 8.0 key, and it should work fine.
If you have a Pro Upgrade Pack (your 8.0 key was for STD) you can now use this to upgrade 8.1 STD to 8.1 Pro.
The steps are basically the same if you have a key stored in the BIOS...8.1 won't use it during install but will once installed.
Connected standby, I thought that was just a 32-bit feature for now which makes it pointless to point out. It's actually only usable on =<4GB slates. The Surface Pro 2 doesn't even qualify.
DPI-scaling is actually the same, but you can use different scaling levels for different screens now, though that means it down/up from the primary monitors settings and doesn't do it independently. Say you have 150% scaling on your primary monitor and 100% on a secondary, then moving a program from your primary to your secondary display basically means it scales from 150% to 100% rather than using 100% natively. Which might not be that pretty if you switch your secondary and primary displays out so it works the other way around as that would basically be bitmap scaling. It's not a solution to really high-res screens. I hope the update doesn't show up for those that doesn't have driver support for 8.1 any how.
No, I think not as that is what has been indicated by Intel slides, only 32-bit support that is. That is why Atom chips doesn't run in 64-bit on Windows either. They do support it in other operating systems. You will probably get that support early next year though.
64-bit Connected Standby is supposedly "coming soon - 2014" for 8.1 which suggests they'll release a patch next year. It's not in 8.1 RTM as far as I can tell.
mostly correct about dpi scaling. the main improvement is the per monitor DPI. however they have finally disabled the on-by-default XP style scaling (text scaling) for the 125% scale step and have now automatically set the DPI scaling depending on res, screen size and viewing distance.
the dpi scaling works very well and works the exact same way as MacOSX, but its done on the GPU and its per monitor. its the best in the industry.
There's still a few issues with it. Most notably is that many of the built in visuals/images/icons have not been updated for high DPI, so they look stretched and lower quality than everything around it. Additionally they seem to only scale GDI composition instead of actually rendering it at higher resolution. Instead of rendering everything at a higher resolution scaled proportionally to the window size, they seem to just stretch it.
The DPI has improved dramatically from Windows 8, but it's not quite perfect. Hopefully it'll be ironed out further in the next release.
Scaling works exactly like Vista mostly, i.e. not like on OS X where a "virtual" resolution corresponds to a higher than display resolution that is then scaled down. You basically has to disable the DWM-scaling for apps that don't support it which is a lot of prosumer tools and enterprise apps. Good thing it can be done on a per app setting (compatibility mode) though. Extended EDID-support is needed for the DPI scaling to be automatic, multiscreen scaling works differently depending on which screen (and scaling %age) you have as primary, and doesn't really work independently. Plus a lot people still prefer XP-style scaling. It doesn't fix anything at all, but makes it easier to live with in a multimonitor setup, not a truly high-res setup like 4k laptop monitors.
I’ve been using it for months before the general release (MSDN), there’s really no reason for 8 users not to upgrade ASAP. I don’t even use StartIsBack anymore now that universal start search is back. Lots of nice little tweaks around both modes of UI. And it's nice to know they're still always improving the graphics pipeline and other nitty gritty performance stuff even if the difference isn't too noticeable over 8.
And gah, the start screen complainers. My usage is the exact same as it was on 7. Hit start button, enter a few letters of what I want, hit enter, and bam it's open on the desktop. You can still pin things to the taskbar too, you know. And if you really still can't stand either of those, there's always startisback.
It’s a shame that they still don’t allow IE extensions. IE11 is FAST. In my testing, even faster than Chrome, and worlds ahead of Firefox in both their latest releases. The GPU acceleration is top notch, everything is very smooth. If it had extensions, I’d consider making it my primary browser. But with Quero adblock I don't even mind lack of extensions that much, but I'll still stick to Chrome.
My experience with the beta/RC was essentially the same as before the update. It still takes more clicks and key presses to get things done. There are more settings buried away from regular view that require deeper submenus to access. The very slight performance improvements of the OS don't make up for that. Much like the handling of certain network settings from XP-to-Vista, some things are just more time-consuming to access.
As I see it, they just have to tweak a few more things. If they can find a way to bring back the full 7 desktop/menu/taskbar experience without the need to modify extensive settings or install 3rd party applications, I will gladly upgrade on that alone. 8.1 is a half-step in this regard.
As long as we're playing the "I wish" game, other things I'd like to see is the drive pooling performance greatly improved (it's terrible). I've used many other pooling applications with near hardware RAID-level performance. DPI scaling needs some sort of compatibility mode as many applications are still unusable. DX 11.2 isn't really a draw since it won't serve much purpose for at least a few years.
As far as tablets go, I love W8. The desktop just needs more love.
"DX 11.2 isn't really a draw since it won't serve much purpose for at least a few years."
I'm not sure I agree. Many modern games already take advantage of 11, and 11.2 is an incremental upgrade. The consoles already support this and I suspect most new console games will harness it, and the port to PC will be relatively low overhead if already done on XBO.
In 8.1 you can define, on a per application basis, the compatibility with the high DPI scaling. It's on the Compatibility tab of the properties for the application shortcut.
Regarding drive pooling performance, are referring to the performance of Windows software RAID implementation or Windows Storage Spaces?
DO NOT UPDATE TO THIS!!! The scaling is horrendous because for some reason Microsoft decided to link 100% scaled UI to 100% scaled programs. Before scaling was defaulted to 125% UI and 100% programs.
This leaves you 3 options for using 8.1:
1. Set everything to 100% your programs look like they used to, but the Windows UI is tiny and fonts are screwed up 2. Use windows scaling and all your programs look blurry as hell 3. Use windows scaling and manually set compatibility mode for EVERY SINGLE program to not use the awful DPI scaling
You can't revert afterwards DO NOT DO IT until more support comes out for the idiotic scaling
what are you talking about? there is no different "UI" and "Program" scaling. its always a flat scaling for the entire system and has been that way since vista....
Right... exactly Windows 8 ties 125% windows UI to default program sizes. So on my laptop once I upgraded to win 8.1 my programs all got scaled up while the UI stayed at 125% causing horrendously bad blurriness on all my programs. If I set it back to 100% programs were crisp, but my UI shrunk to an unusable size.
I updated earlier. Update process went very smoothly. This is a much larger update than a mere service pack. I'd be interested in a more in depth review I guess I will have to check out Arstechnica to get that its a shame it wasn't done here.
I use tons of windows (applications) in my install of win8, so why are you calling it tiles again? Oh because of the new menu system it has which is as big a part of windows as the start menu was.
Did you used to call win95 to win7 menu95 to menu7? No of course not because that would be absolutely stupid.
It wouldn't update for me. I get an error after reboot. Error 0x80070004 - 0x4000D. Using a Sony Vaio SVS13 with Windows 8 Pro and Windows Media Center. Anyone have any ideas?
I eagerly upgraded to 8.1 hoping that the font problems that have plagued Win8 since the beginning would finally be fixed. Nope. Fonts are still broken. Random inconsistent anti-aliasing, font hinting not consistently applied so non-anti-aliased fonts sometimes look terrible, etc. This is not a matter of taste (I'm not complaining about different anti-aliasing, since I never liked ClearType and have it turned off), these are unambiguous BUGS.
Windows 8.1 is a pretty good update from 8.0, it is ignorant to treat it as a service pack specially from a site like Anandtech. Arstechnica has not treated it as a service pack and actually used and reviewed the OS objectively:
Using Windows 8 on a traditional desktop is like going to a restaurant and ordering a rare steak, only to receive a bocca burger because the cook decided to be a vegetarian. When you complain you are ignored and charged for it anyway, and on your way out an annoying young woman tries to lecture you how vegetarianism is better for you, and you should really just stop eating meat.
And seriously download 3.5G on each PC everytime I upgrade? Nonsense... hope they wake up from their silly dream and create a downloadabe file or iso very very quickly and soon.
This has, so far, been a typical Microsoft upgrade. First a fresh reinstall of Windows 8 to replace the 8.1 Preview (if I lose all of my applications with the "upgrade" I figured I'd start fresh). Then the "store" was completely oblivious to the fact that the update was available. I'd click the link on the Microsoft Website and the store would come up with nothing to download. Apparently I needed the KB 2871839 update before the system was happy enough to even start the download. Why I even needed the store and just couldn't get it through Windows Update I'm guessing is a question for Microsoft's marketing department. Now it's downloading. From a server which I'm guessing is having a total nervous breakdown under the load (understandable).
Of the big 3 OS'es on the computers on my desk, this has been the most painful upgrade.
From experience, this isn't something I'd recommend DL-ing from a WI-Fi connection as it's painfully slow. I started that way on my wife's laptop and switched to a hard line instead. It went by significantly faster even though her Wi-Fi is of the N variety.
"cant update to win 8.1 because the user folder is redirected to another partition" Way to go Microsoft. So what you really mean is there is a free upgrade only for those users who use only the standard cookie cutter build of windows 8. If you sysprep your install and relocate the user folders to a different drive because you don't want to jam up your tiny SSD with those folders well then no free upgrade for you.
Well I wasted a lot of time last night upgrading one of my 2 w8 machines. The second machine will not be upgraded.
The problem is very simple. I upgraded, w8.1 boots up and my password will not work. I have not changed my password, the keyboard did not have caps lock accidently on...
Some total idiot at MS had coded the upgraded such that if you were using the English language it reset the keyboard to an American keyboard.
Just in case somewhat at MS reads this... please note that not everyone using the ENGLISH language is American.
Perhaps we need to go back to a wonderful set up process I saw a screenshot of a while ago. Under language options is had
I upgraded both our desktop and laptop machines yesterday after I got home from work. I was rather surprised at the size of the file, but I guess that's what you get since it was more than just a patch.
After getting some time to work with it and learn the differences between W8 and the .1 update, I can see how these changes were done for the better and should bring it to where it should have started. As others have stated, IE11 is very FAST. I still find that I prefer Firefox (I use Nightly, which is the 64-bit tester) but may end up switching between.
All in all, I think this is a great update. No matter what changes are made, there will be detractors for one reason or another. As the saying goes, "You simply can't please everyone."
I was surprised this is coming through the Windows store rather than Windows Update, and that there's no real notification about it.
Was surprised by the giant size too! I had to put off downloading it until tonight as I don't want to do something that huge at work, and it wouldn't have had time to download tonight.
MS says: If you are running Windows 8 Enterprise, you will need to check with the source that provided you with the OS—Microsoft Volume Licensing, MSDN, TechNet, or whatever—to obtain Windows 8.1.
Some editions of Windows 8 don’t support the free update to Windows 8.1. These include: • Windows 8 Enterprise
No automatic nor free update for the Enterprise? What a kind of an Idiots works there?
And, of course, our legal VLK keys for 8 Enterprise don't work for a 8.1 Setup Box loader - Invalid key. I am not ever surprised nor disappointed but this is a shit.
And of course, they still pretend that 8 Enterprise have a free update to 8.1 via Store:
Just installed 8.1 Yep they brought back the button and they called it START they do have some useful things in it but no program menu.... I don't have a tablet or a touch screen. Thank you to the 3rd party venders to give us the program menu. Almost forced to use a hotmail account to use windows. Before upgrading to 8.1 from 8 I was using a local account. During the install process they make it very very difficult to continue to use the same local account. I lost the game you have to go through add a new account to continue to use the old account. If Microsoft is going to change how the rules work with user accounts during service packs, with no advanced warning, I will have to think 4 times before committing. Usually by the 3rd time I give up and do something else. Microsoft has definitely alienated me as a user. Service pack 8.2 ... forget it if 8.1 works. Windows 9 only only only only if I have to and only if it is free.
Dear Friend: Are you looking for a way to activate windows8.1, there are a lot activation code can be used for your reference. website: http://www.windows8key-sale.com/
Upgraded for windows 8 to 8.1 about 2 months ago. It's a great upgrade and addresses the objections to the start menu. Makes Windows much more usable. I actually like 8.1 ..... it's fast, easy and very stable.
The key will invalid sooner or latter, that’s very upset. So just searching ^^^windows 8 key sale^^ from google, to find out the activation code and the download link~~
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michal1980 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
If it was an apple update we'd have a 30-40 page article listing every tinny change.DanNeely - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Head over to Arstechnica. They've got 3 articles that do a good job of covering it up now.computerninja - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Leave it to the kids @Ars...they do a thorough looksie at stuff!tinaaa - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
If you th¬ink Tr¬avis`s s¬tory is co¬ol,, a mo¬nth-a¬go ¬mo¬m in-la¬w basica¬lly go¬t a ch¬e¬q¬ue f¬or $7¬484 jus¬t sit¬ting there an eleven h¬our w¬eek fro¬m h¬ome an-d t¬he'r¬e best friend's sister-in-law`s neighbour done t¬his f¬or ni¬ne mo¬nths an¬d mad¬e ov¬er $7484 part time from a la¬btop. ap¬ply t¬he ins¬tructions at th¬is w¬ebsite ...... - See more at:xinthius - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I am sure they'll do a full review. No need to bring Apple into this.freedom4556 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
No, no. I am in agreement with him on this. I've got nothing against the long Snow Leopard, Lion, Mavericks articles, they are interesting. But I do think we are severely lacking in equal treatment here. I know Anand uses an iMac/Macbook Air, but where's the love for the other 98% market share?Just saying. Don't hate. Not a fanboy.
Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Completely agreed. The Apple OS's get painstaking detail, Microsoft OS's get a blurb. Still, this is about Tiles 8.1 so I really don't care. I won't care again until it can accurately be called "Windows" instead of "Tiles".althaz - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
It already can, windows haven't gone anywhere at all...Maybe you're referring to the new (optional) metro-style apps? Which don't run in moveable windows (unless you hack that in anyway), but are now horizontally resizeable.
UltraTech79 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Whiny little bitch.t.s - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Fat, ugly troll.Homeles - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Oh, but what about their extensive Windows 8 coverage prior to its launch?Yep, AnandTech is *real* biased.
Stop bitching already.
caleblloyd - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
This is a pipeline article for a reason. It takes a while to compile a useful review with scientific data.michal1980 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
The preview has been out for how long?Furthermore, we all know that Anand is turning into an apple ifanbozi. Its not even masked anymore. it the asus transformer review " I haven't had much time to spend getting into 8.1 but it's largely an improvement over Windows 8."
If this was an iphone os 7.0.0.0.0.000000000000001 update we'd get ten pages of changes.
'OMG the shading is now 2 degrees lighter then before, allowing greater visibility of the background while things zoom in. This is how awesome apple is ... bla bla bla." A major windows update...
And all we get from anand is...... nothing.
Still waiting for the site name to change to apple tech. This used to be my go to tech site, but if the focus is going to be so heavy on Apple, and Windows is going to be treated as some bastard child OS. Then I'm going to start to move on.
SpartanJet - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I agree here as well. The situation has left me visiting Anadtech less and less as they seem to focus more on apple than Microsoft. You know the last minor osx release got about a 20 page write up and this huge update to the most widely used family of OS's gets 2 paragraphs.UltraTech79 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
What does Apple have to do with it? What the hell is wrong with people like you? Get your head out of your ass.tinaaa - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
helo every bodyB3an - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Already updated. Heres how the process went for me, i was already on 8:Went to the Win 8 Store, downloaded the update and restarted PC when asked.
Installation began, took about 15 mins, then afterwards it takes you through a few simple setup screens and you're done.
The processes was completely flawless - It kept all my PC settings, personalisation, app user data, files, drivers, desktops programs and Metro apps.
hughlle - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
So pretty much exactly as you would expect it to go, this being an update, and not a new OS installation. It's just win 8 service pack 1, but win 8 is doing so badly that they've called it 8.1 instead, in my view, to fool people into thinking it's a different product.fabiogallo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
That was not my experience.Instead I got:
Can't update to Windows 8.1
Sorry, it looks like this PC can't run Windows 8.1. This might be because the Users or Program Files folder is being redirected to another partition.
[Close]
I was happily running Windows 8 Pro with my document folder on my secondary drive (3TB) while the system is on a 240GB SSD. Bummer!
extide - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Well, move it back temporarily, and then do the upgrade and then move it off again.fabiogallo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Really? Silly me for not thinking about it myself...Or maybe I can't because:
- too much data to move;
- I would have to move Dropbox and GDrive folders;
- I would also have to move ALL the installed programs settings.
danielkza - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Do you need to physically move the files? Can't you undo the redirection, upgrade, then restore it?fabiogallo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
The redirection was done at installation time (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973289), not after the system was up, therefore I can't undo it unless I reinstall the entire OS.rabidkevin - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
That's absurd. Just move the library redirect link back to c: and after the update repoint it to your second drive. Simplefabiogallo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Maybe it would be better if you don't assume how the redirection was done (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973289) before providing advices that don't apply to my case.michaelljones - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
fabiogallo - the link you provided says that doesn't apply to Windows 8. Are you saying you did that when you setup Windows 7 and upgraded to 8 with no issues and then now 8.1 won't work? it might have working in Windows 8 when you did it, but the way I read that support article that it wasn't technically a 'supported' method. That could really suck I understand....fabiogallo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Yup. It was done with my previous Windows 7 installation. Upgrade to Win8 didn't pose any problem but now 8.1 installation gets stuck :-(Btw, MS documentation is shaky as usual: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff71593...
FolderLocations setting is supposed to work with: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Vista
Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles 8*FolderLocation settings is supposed to work with: Windows 7, Tiles 8*, Tiles 8.1*, Windows Server 2008...
damianrobertjones - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles? Do you have a mental age of 3?damianrobertjones - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Probably over 9 billion trillion people don't run their computer like you do. Shame :(fabiogallo - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Funny...not.Shame on MS, that doesn't support its own stuff.
inighthawki - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
The number of changes in 8.1 is pretty astounding. You're doing it a pretty big disservice calling it a service pack. There's quite a bit of new functionality, way more than any service pack has ever brought.hughlle - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
It's the same operating system, and in my eyes, they have serviced it to being more usable. A lot of the additions are not new features, but rather feautres it should have had. Imo of course.Kevin G - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
XP SP2 actually added a lot to XP and changed many defaults, specially relating to security. Though it has been a 9 years since that service pack hit. Since then MS has shy'd away from introducing new features or interface changes until major updates.B3an - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
XP SP2 still didn't add even close to 10% as many new things as 8.1 adds. And SP2 features were needed purely because of massive security problems and the unusually long time XP was going to be around for.Penti - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
SP2 brought a lot, DX9.0c, DEP, Windows Firewall (enabled by default), security center, better WiFi support, Bluetooth-support, and so on. Pretty much all the stuff normally associated with XP.But UI changes, which normally holds over a release shows how poorly and unready they were for 8. Adding other features don't necessarily show that though. It's not quite what SP2 were for enterprise users though.
HollyDOL - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Wasn't such an easymode for me, the installation took about 10 minutes but left me with no sound (partially blame Creative) and no antivirus/firewall. Reinstalling sound card drivers fixed the no-sound, but broken sound card control panel. When I gave up with "well at least it plays now" I got message pop-up telling me "devices need to finish installation"... didn't mention what devices... Few Yes/Next/Ok etc. and control panel works again.Too bad Avira security solution (fw/antivirus) is not compatibile with 8.1 yet... and that reminds me I need to check whether Alcohol 120% works.
gobaers - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Here's the real question: for non-enterprise usage, it's it time to move to 8?OoklaTheMok - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Yeah, it's time to move to 8.1 ;)Da W - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Only thing i hated in the preview was how they set up skydrive by default and auto-hide libraries. I've spent years building my library system, with skydrive AND dropbox integrated + all excess files moves on my E: drive on my big desktop but still listed in my libraries with acess on my surface via home network. I don't know if they fixed it up, but in the preview they f*** up my system big time. Enough to retrograde to Win7 on my desktop at least.skiboysteve - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
While it may not work for your workflow, the new SkyDrive shell integration is truly innovative and amazingalthaz - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
They changed the defaults, but it's the work of less than a second to put it back to Win7/8 mode (which I did immediately as libraries are awesome).Synomenon - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Has Microsoft released an ISO of 8.1 Pro. that I can use my Windows 8 Pro. key with? I'd rather do a clean install.dolphin boy150us - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Yes, but its Not Obvious(tm).You can download the ISO from MSDN. When you boot from it, you MUST enter a product key in the installer, you CANNOT press next and enter it later (my biggest pet peeve in 8.1 TBH)
Unfortunately, your 8.0 key WILL NOT work in the Installer. It WILL, however, work once installed.
Still with me? :)
On the installation media, in a file called product.ini, will be the "default key." This is the key that used to be used when you left the key field blank during install on previous OSes. The default key is no longer used by default(lol) but its still on the disc, and still works. Use this key to install 8.1. After you install, specify your 8.0 key, and it should work fine.
If you have a Pro Upgrade Pack (your 8.0 key was for STD) you can now use this to upgrade 8.1 STD to 8.1 Pro.
The steps are basically the same if you have a key stored in the BIOS...8.1 won't use it during install but will once installed.
inighthawki - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Thanks, this is good to know!Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles 8 Pro*jimbo2779 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
How many times are you going to post that immature post?althaz - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
It makes even less sense once you realise that the windows the OS is named for haven't changed at all and tiles are replacements for icons :).Penti - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Connected standby, I thought that was just a 32-bit feature for now which makes it pointless to point out. It's actually only usable on =<4GB slates. The Surface Pro 2 doesn't even qualify.DPI-scaling is actually the same, but you can use different scaling levels for different screens now, though that means it down/up from the primary monitors settings and doesn't do it independently. Say you have 150% scaling on your primary monitor and 100% on a secondary, then moving a program from your primary to your secondary display basically means it scales from 150% to 100% rather than using 100% natively. Which might not be that pretty if you switch your secondary and primary displays out so it works the other way around as that would basically be bitmap scaling. It's not a solution to really high-res screens. I hope the update doesn't show up for those that doesn't have driver support for 8.1 any how.
extide - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I think they are implying 64-bit support in connected standby now.Penti - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
No, I think not as that is what has been indicated by Intel slides, only 32-bit support that is. That is why Atom chips doesn't run in 64-bit on Windows either. They do support it in other operating systems. You will probably get that support early next year though.Gigaplex - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
64-bit Connected Standby is supposedly "coming soon - 2014" for 8.1 which suggests they'll release a patch next year. It's not in 8.1 RTM as far as I can tell.skiboysteve - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
mostly correct about dpi scaling. the main improvement is the per monitor DPI. however they have finally disabled the on-by-default XP style scaling (text scaling) for the 125% scale step and have now automatically set the DPI scaling depending on res, screen size and viewing distance.the dpi scaling works very well and works the exact same way as MacOSX, but its done on the GPU and its per monitor. its the best in the industry.
inighthawki - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
There's still a few issues with it. Most notably is that many of the built in visuals/images/icons have not been updated for high DPI, so they look stretched and lower quality than everything around it. Additionally they seem to only scale GDI composition instead of actually rendering it at higher resolution. Instead of rendering everything at a higher resolution scaled proportionally to the window size, they seem to just stretch it.The DPI has improved dramatically from Windows 8, but it's not quite perfect. Hopefully it'll be ironed out further in the next release.
Penti - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Scaling works exactly like Vista mostly, i.e. not like on OS X where a "virtual" resolution corresponds to a higher than display resolution that is then scaled down. You basically has to disable the DWM-scaling for apps that don't support it which is a lot of prosumer tools and enterprise apps. Good thing it can be done on a per app setting (compatibility mode) though. Extended EDID-support is needed for the DPI scaling to be automatic, multiscreen scaling works differently depending on which screen (and scaling %age) you have as primary, and doesn't really work independently. Plus a lot people still prefer XP-style scaling. It doesn't fix anything at all, but makes it easier to live with in a multimonitor setup, not a truly high-res setup like 4k laptop monitors.agent2099 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
So this is Windows Blue, right?inighthawki - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Yestipoo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I’ve been using it for months before the general release (MSDN), there’s really no reason for 8 users not to upgrade ASAP. I don’t even use StartIsBack anymore now that universal start search is back. Lots of nice little tweaks around both modes of UI. And it's nice to know they're still always improving the graphics pipeline and other nitty gritty performance stuff even if the difference isn't too noticeable over 8.And gah, the start screen complainers. My usage is the exact same as it was on 7. Hit start button, enter a few letters of what I want, hit enter, and bam it's open on the desktop. You can still pin things to the taskbar too, you know. And if you really still can't stand either of those, there's always startisback.
It’s a shame that they still don’t allow IE extensions. IE11 is FAST. In my testing, even faster than Chrome, and worlds ahead of Firefox in both their latest releases. The GPU acceleration is top notch, everything is very smooth. If it had extensions, I’d consider making it my primary browser. But with Quero adblock I don't even mind lack of extensions that much, but I'll still stick to Chrome.
nathanddrews - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
My experience with the beta/RC was essentially the same as before the update. It still takes more clicks and key presses to get things done. There are more settings buried away from regular view that require deeper submenus to access. The very slight performance improvements of the OS don't make up for that. Much like the handling of certain network settings from XP-to-Vista, some things are just more time-consuming to access.As I see it, they just have to tweak a few more things. If they can find a way to bring back the full 7 desktop/menu/taskbar experience without the need to modify extensive settings or install 3rd party applications, I will gladly upgrade on that alone. 8.1 is a half-step in this regard.
As long as we're playing the "I wish" game, other things I'd like to see is the drive pooling performance greatly improved (it's terrible). I've used many other pooling applications with near hardware RAID-level performance. DPI scaling needs some sort of compatibility mode as many applications are still unusable. DX 11.2 isn't really a draw since it won't serve much purpose for at least a few years.
As far as tablets go, I love W8. The desktop just needs more love.
inighthawki - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
"DX 11.2 isn't really a draw since it won't serve much purpose for at least a few years."I'm not sure I agree. Many modern games already take advantage of 11, and 11.2 is an incremental upgrade. The consoles already support this and I suspect most new console games will harness it, and the port to PC will be relatively low overhead if already done on XBO.
OoklaTheMok - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
In 8.1 you can define, on a per application basis, the compatibility with the high DPI scaling. It's on the Compatibility tab of the properties for the application shortcut.Regarding drive pooling performance, are referring to the performance of Windows software RAID implementation or Windows Storage Spaces?
b4bblefish - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
DO NOT UPDATE TO THIS!!! The scaling is horrendous because for some reason Microsoft decided to link 100% scaled UI to 100% scaled programs. Before scaling was defaulted to 125% UI and 100% programs.This leaves you 3 options for using 8.1:
1. Set everything to 100% your programs look like they used to, but the Windows UI is tiny and fonts are screwed up
2. Use windows scaling and all your programs look blurry as hell
3. Use windows scaling and manually set compatibility mode for EVERY SINGLE program to not use the awful DPI scaling
You can't revert afterwards DO NOT DO IT until more support comes out for the idiotic scaling
skiboysteve - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
what are you talking about? there is no different "UI" and "Program" scaling. its always a flat scaling for the entire system and has been that way since vista....b4bblefish - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Right... exactly Windows 8 ties 125% windows UI to default program sizes. So on my laptop once I upgraded to win 8.1 my programs all got scaled up while the UI stayed at 125% causing horrendously bad blurriness on all my programs. If I set it back to 100% programs were crisp, but my UI shrunk to an unusable size.Gigaplex - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
You can always re-enable the XP-style scaling at 125% if you want.SpartanJet - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I updated earlier. Update process went very smoothly. This is a much larger update than a mere service pack. I'd be interested in a more in depth review I guess I will have to check out Arstechnica to get that its a shame it wasn't done here.Very satisfied good job Microsoft!
xstylus - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Is there an offline installer for the Win8.1 update available?I absolutely refuse to use the trojan horse that is the Windows app store.
Doh! - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Use this: http://web.esd.microsoft.com/W81GA/81GF9D695DA9DF8...Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles8.1 update *jimbo2779 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I use tons of windows (applications) in my install of win8, so why are you calling it tiles again? Oh because of the new menu system it has which is as big a part of windows as the start menu was.Did you used to call win95 to win7 menu95 to menu7? No of course not because that would be absolutely stupid.
Synomenon - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
So if I don't have a MSDN account, I can't get a legal full install ISO of 8.1?Doh! - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
You can use this to make an iso: http://web.esd.microsoft.com/W81GA/81GF9D695DA9DF8...Shinshin - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Sadly, can't update on my AMD Opteron machine.....Windows 8 works fine so I wonder what they've changed.
Lonyo - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
"but going through a link to the update from Microsoft’s website will bring up the update regardless of whether it’s visible or not. "Not working for me, maybe it's a UK thing and they haven't done a global rollout or something?
quagga - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Do you have the KB 2871839 patch applied? Apparently without that, my store couldn't serve Windows 8.1 to me.http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/why-c...
NatePo717 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
It wouldn't update for me. I get an error after reboot. Error 0x80070004 - 0x4000D. Using a Sony Vaio SVS13 with Windows 8 Pro and Windows Media Center. Anyone have any ideas?NatePo717 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I got it to install. Make sure to disable antivirus before installing!!Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles 8 Pro* and Tiles Media Center*evilspoons - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Seriously? How many of these "tiles" comments have you left in this article's discussion? Knock it off already.cbm80 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
I eagerly upgraded to 8.1 hoping that the font problems that have plagued Win8 since the beginning would finally be fixed. Nope. Fonts are still broken. Random inconsistent anti-aliasing, font hinting not consistently applied so non-anti-aliased fonts sometimes look terrible, etc. This is not a matter of taste (I'm not complaining about different anti-aliasing, since I never liked ClearType and have it turned off), these are unambiguous BUGS.BMNify - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Windows 8.1 is a pretty good update from 8.0, it is ignorant to treat it as a service pack specially from a site like Anandtech. Arstechnica has not treated it as a service pack and actually used and reviewed the OS objectively:http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013...
BMNify - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
They have posted two more informative articles on 8.1, good read for anyone interested:http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013...
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013...
Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles 8.1*Hrel - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Tiles 8.1*jimbo2779 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
LOLOLOLOLOLIs that what you were wanting? Well I hate to tell you this but I was being insincere just like your parents when they say they love you.
robbertbobbertson - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Using Windows 8 on a traditional desktop is like going to a restaurant and ordering a rare steak, only to receive a bocca burger because the cook decided to be a vegetarian. When you complain you are ignored and charged for it anyway, and on your way out an annoying young woman tries to lecture you how vegetarianism is better for you, and you should really just stop eating meat.ThomasS31 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
What a cr@p way of update this is??? Seriously?If I want a clean windows 8.1 and I have Windows 7 and upgrade Window 8 I have to:
Install Windows 7.
Update
Upgrade to Windows 8
Update
Upgrade to Window 8.1 in Windows Store
???
What?
Whaaaaat????
Who ever decided this at Microsoft... he is an idiot.
Doh! - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
If you already have the retail key for windows 8, just get an iso of windows 8.1 rtm, install/activate it, and update the GA roll-up updates. Done.ThomasS31 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Not working with 8 keys... only 8.1 (the install part at least).And that is not offficial anyway to any "normal" user.
ThomasS31 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
And seriously download 3.5G on each PC everytime I upgrade? Nonsense... hope they wake up from their silly dream and create a downloadabe file or iso very very quickly and soon.Gigaplex - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
The ISO came out months ago on MSDN.ThomasS31 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
See above... same.Not working with 8 keys... only 8.1 (the install part at least).
And that is not offficial anyway to any "normal" user.
cbm80 - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
They must have screwed with audio because I can't get 44.1K to work any more, only 48K. It worked fine in Windows 8.0.Sigh...old bugs not fixed, and new bugs added. Some "service pack"!
quagga - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
After an hour, we're at 5% on the download.This has, so far, been a typical Microsoft upgrade. First a fresh reinstall of Windows 8 to replace the 8.1 Preview (if I lose all of my applications with the "upgrade" I figured I'd start fresh). Then the "store" was completely oblivious to the fact that the update was available. I'd click the link on the Microsoft Website and the store would come up with nothing to download. Apparently I needed the KB 2871839 update before the system was happy enough to even start the download. Why I even needed the store and just couldn't get it through Windows Update I'm guessing is a question for Microsoft's marketing department. Now it's downloading. From a server which I'm guessing is having a total nervous breakdown under the load (understandable).
Of the big 3 OS'es on the computers on my desk, this has been the most painful upgrade.
SkyBill40 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
From experience, this isn't something I'd recommend DL-ing from a WI-Fi connection as it's painfully slow. I started that way on my wife's laptop and switched to a hard line instead. It went by significantly faster even though her Wi-Fi is of the N variety.NesuD - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
"cant update to win 8.1 because the user folder is redirected to another partition"Way to go Microsoft. So what you really mean is there is a free upgrade only for those users who use only the standard cookie cutter build of windows 8. If you sysprep your install and relocate the user folders to a different drive because you don't want to jam up your tiny SSD with those folders well then no free upgrade for you.
fabiogallo - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I'm in the same boat, my friend :-(cjs150 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Well I wasted a lot of time last night upgrading one of my 2 w8 machines. The second machine will not be upgraded.The problem is very simple. I upgraded, w8.1 boots up and my password will not work. I have not changed my password, the keyboard did not have caps lock accidently on...
Some total idiot at MS had coded the upgraded such that if you were using the English language it reset the keyboard to an American keyboard.
Just in case somewhat at MS reads this... please note that not everyone using the ENGLISH language is American.
Perhaps we need to go back to a wonderful set up process I saw a screenshot of a while ago. Under language options is had
English
Simplified English (American)
SkyBill40 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I upgraded both our desktop and laptop machines yesterday after I got home from work. I was rather surprised at the size of the file, but I guess that's what you get since it was more than just a patch.After getting some time to work with it and learn the differences between W8 and the .1 update, I can see how these changes were done for the better and should bring it to where it should have started. As others have stated, IE11 is very FAST. I still find that I prefer Firefox (I use Nightly, which is the 64-bit tester) but may end up switching between.
All in all, I think this is a great update. No matter what changes are made, there will be detractors for one reason or another. As the saying goes, "You simply can't please everyone."
Wolfpup - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I was surprised this is coming through the Windows store rather than Windows Update, and that there's no real notification about it.Was surprised by the giant size too! I had to put off downloading it until tonight as I don't want to do something that huge at work, and it wouldn't have had time to download tonight.
enkov - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
MS says:If you are running Windows 8 Enterprise, you will need to check with the source that provided you with the OS—Microsoft Volume Licensing, MSDN, TechNet, or whatever—to obtain Windows 8.1.
Some editions of Windows 8 don’t support the free update to Windows 8.1. These include:
• Windows 8 Enterprise
No automatic nor free update for the Enterprise? What a kind of an Idiots works there?
And, of course, our legal VLK keys for 8 Enterprise don't work for a 8.1 Setup Box loader - Invalid key. I am not ever surprised nor disappointed but this is a shit.
And of course, they still pretend that 8 Enterprise have a free update to 8.1 via Store:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/...
rfry200 - Thursday, November 7, 2013 - link
Just installed 8.1Yep they brought back the button and they called it START they do have some useful things in it but no program menu.... I don't have a tablet or a touch screen. Thank you to the 3rd party venders to give us the program menu.
Almost forced to use a hotmail account to use windows. Before upgrading to 8.1 from 8 I was using a local account. During the install process they make it very very difficult to continue to use the same local account. I lost the game you have to go through add a new account to continue to use the old account. If Microsoft is going to change how the rules work with user accounts during service packs, with no advanced warning, I will have to think 4 times before committing. Usually by the 3rd time I give up and do something else. Microsoft has definitely alienated me as a user. Service pack 8.2 ... forget it if 8.1 works. Windows 9 only only only only if I have to and only if it is free.
yangjia - Friday, November 29, 2013 - link
Dear Friend:Are you looking for a way to activate windows8.1, there are a lot activation code can be used for your reference. website: http://www.windows8key-sale.com/
review_again - Sunday, January 5, 2014 - link
Upgraded for windows 8 to 8.1 about 2 months ago. It's a great upgrade and addresses the objections to the start menu. Makes Windows much more usable. I actually like 8.1 ..... it's fast, easy and very stable.peter589 - Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - link
The key will invalid sooner or latter, that’s very upset. So just searching ^^^windows 8 key sale^^ from google, to find out the activation code and the download link~~