Windows 8.1 prices

[hazelnut]

Not exactly what people will want to see, no price promotions.

 

Win 8 users get it for free but otherwise the prices are steep.

 

http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-81-pricing-revealed

[mta]

just when you thought MS may be turning a corner and trying to get their client base happy, they come along with another dumb idea - well, not so much dumb as it fits their track record, but definitely a missed opportunity to get the masses over to 8.1

 

the prices are not unheard of. looks like 8.1 will be in the ball-park of 8 and 7, so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

but they may change their minds - look at all the discounts offered when win8 came out (i think i got mine for $60 and there were reports of a $40 offer available somehow)

i even seem to recall @login123 mentioning $20, a USB stick and a set of steak knives or there-about.

[login123]

...i even seem to recall @login123 mentioning $20, a USB stick and a set of steak knives or there-about.

 

I can't find that link right now, but there may have been a year of free car washes included.

 

When you upgrade from 8 to 8.1 do you get 8.1 pro?

Seems like I read that somewhere, maybe with the ad for the steak knives.

[hazelnut]

I am using Win 8 pro so I am hoping it upgrades you to the same version as you have already.

[Derek891]

Microsoft can count me out. After the problems I've had with Windows 8, I will not be upgrading. And here's 3 reasons why:

 

1.) I've had a recurring problem with Windows Update failing to work. I keep fixing it, and it keeps breaking.

 

2.) The Back button in I.E. 10 randomly stops working. At first I blamed it on the website servers, but then a Google search revealed other people are experiencing the same problem, and it's connected to I.E. 10.

 

3.) I've saved the worst for last. Several times, my mouse pointer has frozen and fails to respond. The first time it happened, this machine was four days old. After fiddling around for several minutes, I walked away. For six hours. And when I came back and tried it, it was still unresponsive. So I took a deep breath, held down the power button, and did a forced shutdown. With disastrous results. Windows failed to start, and after trying the startup repair utility in Recovery, and having that fail to work, I ended up using the only restore point available to rescue Windows. Twice since then, I've had the mouse pointer freeze, and after walking away for a few minutes, I've come back to find it working again. (For the record, HP's hardware testing software finds nothing wrong with the touchpad, or any of the other hardware.)

 

If this were Windows 3.0, or 95, or even 98SE, I would accept these problems as being part of a new and evolving technology. But Microsoft Windows is 7 or 8 generations beyond that time, and you would think that by now, they would have figured out how to get Windows Update, or the back button, or the mouse pointer to work in a flawless manner. I would suggest that they spend a lot more time and money on quality assurance if they expect consumers to pay the prices they are asking for.

[hazelnut]

Guess you've been unlucky Derek. Been using Win 8 since it came out and had no problems like you have had.

 

Then again though, I did a clean Win 8 install from a bought disk so don't have any of the stuff on that HP, Sony or any of the other manufacturers put on which had sometimes cause complications for me in the past.

[Derek891]

I think the term unlucky is inadequate in my case. Perhaps the word cursed is more appropriate.

[Nergal]

Wow Derek all those problems much make for a very Superfast computer, huh?

[Derek891]

Wow Derek all those problems much make for a very Superfast computer, huh?

 

Do you want to know what the real irony is Nergal? My other machine is a 3-4 year old HP Mini 210, with WinXP, and a whopping 1GB of memory. It can be a slug sometimes when I open an application. But it has never failed me, or given me the kind of problems that this new machine has. The price of progress I suppose. And with support of XP ending in April 2014, I really dread the thought of upgrading to Win 8 on that machine.

[Andavari]

1.) I've had a recurring problem with Windows Update failing to work. I keep fixing it, and it keeps breaking.

 

Anyone using XP or newer can testify to it breaking at some point, and it's not always easily fixed. I'd much prefer them have something like a software built in that only tells what updates are needed, and then it's up to the end-user to manually download and install them. Automatic Updates and Microsoft Updates sometimes don't get along.

[Hinata]

I'm actually using Windows 8.1 right now, though it is a preview. I actually like Windows 8, it's nice. Though I don't mess with the start screen...

[Winapp2.ini]

nice to hear from you Hinata, I also prefer 8 to 7. I love the start screen in so far as the search function, but don't use it myself for launching programs (i launch programs via command line generally - faster!)