Hi All
I just found fair priced windows 8 Pro, so if you need to upgrade from from Windows 7, Vista or XP (SP3) then this is the product for you!
Also found in THE GOOD GUYS for $54 + $2 shipping
http://www.thegoodguys.com.au/buyonline/Microsoft_Windows_8_…
Enjoy
Has changed bro
thanks bor
Officeworks price is $53, but they price matched Budget PC (cheapest on staticice) at $49, so I got it for $46 or so (needed to go in of course)
5 minutes and noone hating on windows 8 yet? thats odd
haven't had a chance to hate it, can't work out how to use it…
start8 - remove charms bar, always start in desktop
and you're good to go
ClassicShell is the cheapest (free), and will do most people.
I've used a lot of alternatives (Pokki, Classic Start, Classic Shell, Stardocks). I find StartisBack seems to be the most stable and stays true to the classic W7 Start menu.
wow thanks for that, i haven't heard of that one before
Bought a new toshiba touch screen laptop at xmas it came with windows 8. The salesman said i could install windows 7 if i wanted so i took it cost around 1000. Tried to install win 7 but no good no drivers on toshiba website for it.So i have used laptop about 3 times since buying it dont like windows 8.
Windows 8.1, also known as Windows Blue, will restore the exiled Start button to the UI and allow users to bypass the divisive tablet-oriented Metro interface by booting directly to the desktop mode.
Windows 8.1, … will restore the exiled Start button …
It may restore Start Button, but there's no evidence that it'll restore Start Menu. At this stage, it seems like it's just Microsoft's attempt to regain historically significant bottom-left corner of the desktop and at same time passively discourage installation of 3rd-party Start Buttons (implementing some kind of Start Menu functionality bypassing Metro Start Screen) - most people will not want two Start Buttons.
I was trying to waste $50 on something but this seems to be the most useless. Thumbs up! :)
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/37572392.jpg
As a side note, I installed Ubuntu (for free) on my friend's 5 year old notebook a year ago and haven't heard any issues since. Should I convince him to buy a Windows 8 so he can start buying me beers while I'm fixing his machine again? Hm, temptation :)
As a side note, I installed Ubuntu (for free) on my friend's 5 year old notebook a year ago and haven't heard any issues since.
No issues with any Windows programs they were (or are) used to (or are bound to install in future)?
Well if his friend is like my mom who only uses a computer for yahoo mail, youtube, and surfing websites, he probably won't have any issues. That's why I bought my mom a Chromebook. :)
This isn't really a great deal is it??
http://www.thegoodguys.com.au/buyonline/Microsoft_Windows_8_…
So, can this DVD upgrade a Windows 7 =Starter= system to Windows 8?
Or… is there a required upgrade from Win 7 Starter to, eg, Win 7 Home step, before the step to Win 8 will happen?
These are all the possible upgrade paths for Windows 8
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj203353.aspx
You can also do a clean install — that is, from a blank hard drive to Windows 8. This can be done for example, when you buy a new computer and it comes with no operating system.
http://lifehacker.com/5984278/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-w…
A clean / custom install is usually preferable for Windows 8. This is because drivers that previously work in Windows 7 may not work correctly in Windows 8, and can cause issues down the road.
Thanks. Was considering upgrading win8 to win8 pro. Plus this way I get a physical disc, which I currently don't have (thanks Dell. That's sh-t).
Physical disc? You must have not bought a laptop in the last five years or so. :)
yeah, plenty of laptops have optical drives (thank goodness); many of the smaller or thinner 'boutique' ones don't (but external USB DVD drives are cheap enough), and those that do get you to make your own recovery discs.
Cheaper for them, and more effective given the many configurations of computers out there with different drivers and apps.
I got a laptop about a month ago from Dell.
Thing is, both the microsoft and dell apps to create a backup win8 disc don't work.
There's no partition with the win8 install files. (That's probably why the Dell app doesnt work).
The microsoft app doesn't because it's an OEM or volume dell license or something.
Which means if ever I want/need to format and reinstall, I can't.
That sucks; I'd never buy a laptop without some sort of recovery option in case of hard drive failure or otherwise. Have you tried contacting Dell?
What about the built-in Windows 8 backup to create a system image? That's even better as all your settings and programs would be retained.
http://www.itworld.com/consumerization-it/333466/create-syst…
Windows 8 is alright if you spend a lot of time social networking and like live feeds and updates on active tiles (you could argue that that's what tablets are for). However, I find them a hinderance to using the PC as a productivity device and I had to install Windows 7 style Start Menu and bypass the Metro interface. There are rumours that Microsoft has caved in to pressure to reinstate the Start Menu in SP1.
On my desktop I just treat the metro start menu as a full screen start menu. The metro start menu works pretty much the same as the windows 7 menu anyway - you can immediately start typing to search for a program, you can "pin to start menu" just like windows 7 as well.
I'd say that's (partially) true, because while it does have those features it works totally differently and it's far harder to work out how it does this (ie. pinning apps), and it still misses out on a lot of functionality you want from the normal desktop screen.
At least it does to me.
It comes across as a hindrance more than anything, with the process often being convoluted. It tries to marry 'touch' to an OS that was designed for rich functinoality with a keyboard and mouse and in my opinion the results are far from convincing.
Microsoft are simply scared that the touch train will leave without them. Even though they have Windows Phone, they want to 'tablet'-ize their desktop OS like their popular touch competitors.
Old habits are hard to change I guess. I usually put up with change in user experience fairly well but the Metro interface was so clunky and unintuitive for the mouse / keyboard that I ditched it, and not to mention completely pointless for a non-touch based computer.
My app launcher still remains the ol' faithful keystroke based app launcher, Launchy!
Hmm just wondering, what are you not able to do (or is difficult to do) on metro that you could with the win7 start menu?
Metro definitely makes more sense on a tablet. I bought a win8 tablet and all the gestures fully make sense. I find zipping around it quicker than on my Nexus 10.
Can I duel boot this with Window 7 if I upgrade? Or is it just an upgrade..
Yes you can leave your existing Win7 installation and dual boot Win8 on a separate partition. I do that on my laptop. Google it, as you have to do a non-standard installation (standard will replace Win7).
I got the Win8 Pro upgrade direct from MS when it was $14.99/copy.
$53 at officeworks
https://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/So…
BTW I replaced my drive and installed it fresh without upgrading. Works fine!
You'll find although that you can do a fresh install to a completely blank hard drive using the upgrade key but it is not activated and can't be activated without some registry hack or Windows will disable itself after 30 days. Need to firstly have an already installed version of Windows on the hard drive before running the Windows 8 Pro setup in order for it to become activated if you don't want to do a registry hack.
just install it twice - fixed
Gotta love the MS supported workaround :)
win 8 is still an intriguing OS for old pc's if you're willing to learn it
e.g
eee pc with atom n270 (a frigging atom!)
2gb ram
160gb standard hdd
boot time to desktop from hibernate wake up = 12 seconds, faster than some android tablets that I have used!
Is this a Chinese copy ???