Hi there,
Looking to install Windows 8.1 on my Mac for gaming etc, just wondering what would be the cheapest way to obtain it legally?
Are there still cheap product keys out there that are legit? Student editions?
I sort of found Aussie retailers putting it out for low 100's but just wondering who out there has an idea.
Cheers and thanks.
It is the upgrade version, but with a very simple trick you can make Windows install onto a completely blank hard drive with no issues.
Might be simple, but unless you have a valid licence to upgrade from our Win 8 licence isn't valid either.
I don't understand the point of this, either buy a valid licence or don't.
The Windows 8 upgrade ($68 from Officeworks posted above) work fine when you install it on a machine with previous version of Windows on it (you can chose to do a clean install, as long as it detects a version of Windows already install on the computer), But to install it on a Mac using bootcamp or virtual machine, requires a small register editing after installing, otherwise it won't activate because it can't find any previous version of windows on it)…I have done this on 3 machines and 1 on my iMac using Parallel desktop.
All upgrade fine to Windows 8.1. However, the Windows 8 license key won't activate Windows 8.1 installation… you have to upgrade from Windows 8, go to app store and install 8.1 from there.
You missed my point. I understand it can be done technically. I understand there are valid reasons to do this.
I don't understand people who do this without a valid licence to upgrade from.
"without" = NOT applicable here because the post above refer to "Windows 8 bought from Officework"
"valid license" = he/she bought a Windows 8 from Officeworks + (own some previous version of windows, be it xp, windows vista etc..)
If you bought Windows 8, its licence entitles you to FREE Windows 8.1 upgrade, but you need to do the upgrade from the app store…..My point is with Windows 8 license, even though it is valid and entitle you to FREE windows 8.1 upgrade, it won't be recognised if you use that license to activate Windows 8.1 instillation, ie you download Windows 8.1 from MS website and use your VALID windows 8 license to activate it.
I'm sorry if I still miss your point. :)
I think the point Bruce is trying to hit is that purchasing an upgrade license for use as a full license falls short of being 'legal' as you're circumventing checks and others — which in short is a way of piracy. This puts it in the same categories as keygens and others; which negates the first point of buying it.
I'm not sure though, Bruce, between a keygen cracked and an upgrade purchased, I do believe that the latter would be more formally recognised and have longer lifetime. Although I understand the probable moral/ethical standpoint of your argument, I just thought I should point this out.
Cheers.
I think the point Bruce is trying to hit is that purchasing an upgrade license for use as a full license falls short of being 'legal' as you're circumventing checks and others — which in short is a way of piracy. This puts it in the same categories as keygens and others; which negates the first point of buying it.
This.
I'm not sure though, Bruce, between a keygen cracked and an upgrade purchased, I do believe that the latter would be more formally recognised and have longer lifetime.
The 'recognised' and 'lifetime' is purely about how you approach the DRM, and has nothing to do with the moral/ethical side.
I am personally against DRM and have no issue with bypassing it. But I also am against not buying a proper licence.
I understand everyones point here especially Bruce's.
Is it legal for me to do the method TheMatrix posted if I wanted a clean install of Windows 8?
My laptop came with an oem Win7.. but prefer a clean install. Just don't trust microsoft still in that area as a result of annoyances dating back to upgrading from Win3.11
As far as I know, as long as you own a LEGAL copy of the previous version of Windows, you are entitle to purchase Windows 8 upgrade, and from Windows 8, you can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for FREE.
Ref: http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-8-pricing-update
Thank you for clarifying Bruce's point.
However, you are NOT "circumventing" anything if you satisfied MS upgrade criteria, ie, as long as you own a previous version of Windows you are entitle you buy the upgrade version. So if you want to install it on iMac, as long as you own a previous version of Windows that is not currently install on any other machine, you can use that as basis for upgrade to Windows 8 and install it on your Mac.
…how do I delete my own post? (Sorry)
i feel like making the remark the since people have been doing this for years…….they maybe upgrading from upgrade 7 to upgrade 8 lol. Still counts as win 7 license to win 8!?!?
I'm curious- why 8 & not 7??
7 didn't have nearly the compatibility issues of 8 & will be supported for long enough you'd change hardware before then anyway?
Unless you like the, "ooh, ahh" of touch screens + the Playskool look of the tiles.
Imho- I know some just gush over it… :)
Cheers!
There's that too, however - I'm also interested in checking out MSFT's latest OS offering and see what's it about Thanks @scrimshaw - will look around and take that in mind
Well I don't play any PC games, so I've had no issue in terms of compatibility for Windows 8. It's quick and snappy for me, and boots amazingly quick.
I don't really like the default apps that W8 provides but isn't too much of an issue for me since I use alternatives (browser/media player/image viewer etc.)
One other downside is that they've dumbed it down a bit. If you're trying to get into the settings of anything, it's much more confusing to get some advanced options.
W8 still has all the old programs i.e. photo viewer, IE in desktop mode, etc. You just have to change the default programs associated with file types. I do like it more and never found myself using windows button except to get control panel anyway (which is also the reason I don't need to look at the tile screen/charms bar). I kind of wish they just put the tiles as the background in desktop mode.
Ditto to BlizinPost for me.
Tl;dr Win 8 runs faster and smoother than Win7
I've got a 5 year old laptop which was a bit sluggish on Win7. I dont use it for much so it definately want filling up or anything.
Anywho, I decided to put Win8 on there before I tried it on my PC, and the laptop is amazingly fast.
Win8 seems to be snappy, and you can download programs to make the Metro screen go away, and just uninstall all the apps you dont want. Personally, I use the Metro screen as a large Start menu. It's not so bad having all your program shortcuts in thumbnail size, as long as you dont let it get too messy.
No matter how you look at it, Windows 7 is now a product that is almost 5 years old. With regards to how quickly technology changes, you wouldn't want to be stuck using a product that is really reaching the end of its lifecycle.
To its credit, Windows 7 was a highly stable and refined OS which served MS well, but its days are numbered now.
I know that there is a massive bandwagon out there which just detests Windows 8 (or Windows 8.1) and would never listen to rational arguments as to the benefits of Windows 8, so I've just stopped arguing with them altogether. Funnily enough, most of these Windows 8 haters have either:
1) Never actually tried Windows 8 properly
2) Installed it, used it for a few days and swapped back
I.e. people who haven't really had a chance to see its benefits yet.
Personally, the main benefits I've found with Windows 8 are:
1) Faster. It's faster than Windows 7, period. General day-to-day usage shows it, benchmarks show it, memory consumption shows it…etc. It's just an all round better architecture than Windows 7 that's more refined and clean.
2) Better file copy dialog. Displays much more useful information than Windows 7, in fact, for someone who works a lot with files like me, it's actually highly useful.
3) Integration with Microsoft Account. It preserves your settings! I have three computers (work computer, "play" computer and my laptop) and it keeps all the settings in sync between all of them. It also re-syncs settings when I reinstall Windows (which is super convenient).
You can find more on the internet, I'm not going to list them.
The problem is anybody who "hates" Windows 8 just hasn't tried it properly, give it a chance and learn how to use it properly and you might like it.
"The problem is anybody who "hates" Windows 8 just hasn't tried it properly, give it a chance and learn how to use it properly and you might like it."
Well, that's a sweeping generalization Paul, and the comparisons you give are all user-specific, as-in depending on what is being used. The differences in speed are measured as a few seconds, and with most systems coming with 8- 16GB RAM now, the RAM argument doesn't really carry a lot of weight. The sync aspect assumes you just love a MS account & all things MS— I've had so many people with issues surrounding that it could fill another whole topic/post.
I do training on most platforms & while I can see your point in gravitating towards the newest- it isn't always the best way to go. As I say, very user-specific. On a tablet, it might be wonderful but, on the desktop, users I deal with consider the back & forth between keyboard & mouse use to be time-wasting. Likewise, the apps taking over a HD monitor on launch. Supposedly, some of that is being addressed in 8.1.
Back to the original post though- 7 does better with a lot of games than 8. You might want to have a look around & see what you find at some of the gaming sites.
Good luck, with whatever you choose!
It might be a bit of a sweeping generalisation, but it's not completely untrue.
I can understand why you might not like Windows 8, but the point that I was trying to get across was that it's one thing to hate something because it's a bad product, but it's another thing to hate something because it's just different and you're not used to it.
I'll give you one game that is not compatible (without stuffing around with third party mods) IL2:Cliffs of Dover…..Still have yet to play it because of that(I'll eventually download the mod i guess) This however can be attributed to laziness by the developer. :(
Which is why everyone should have moved to Windows Vista when it came out. XP was 5 years old, Vista was better at handling RAM, more secure… I could go on, but you get the idea.
For the record I'm not advocating either Win7 or Win8. People should weigh up the pros and cons of Win 7 vs Win 8 and decide for themselves. I'd probably go with Win8 now. But I wouldn't use integration and I'd probably install Classic Shell or the like. But that's just my preference.
The problem with Vista was that it was just too bloated for the hardware at the time. When it was released, most people were still running their Pentium 4 systems with 512MB of RAM and integrated graphics.
Vista was just power hungry and required way too much power at the time it was released. It implemented heaps of features and graphics enhancements over Windows XP and I don't think that the hardware side of things was quite ready for it just yet.
On top of that Vista came with a whole host of driver issues that hadn't been rectified.
Although MS often gets a lot of credit for "fixing up" Vista with Windows 7, a lot of the credit is actually owed to the hardware side and Intel.
With its Conroe (Core 2 Duo…etc.) and later on its Nehalem(i7…etc.) microarchitecture, Intel pretty much changed the game with CPUs for good. Like Conroe trounced Intel's previous top-end chips and Nehalem did likewise with Conroe, these were generational improvements.
When Windows 7 launched, just two years later, it launched to a much different landscape. Most people were now on at least a Core 2 Duo. Enthusiasts were all using Core 2 Quads or i7s. Everyone had like 2GB or 4GB of RAM, device manufacturers had time to clean up their driver issues and of course MS made tweaks to the system.
But it is not all just MS's doing. The problems that Vista faced are significantly different to the problems that Windows 8 faces now. Vista's problems were mostly technical. People didn't HATE Vista, it just didn't work well and once it was refined and Intel ramped up the hardware side of things, things got better. The problem with Windows 8 is not a technical one, it is simply users being hostile, hatred of Metro and generally bad "hearsay" in the tech industry.
I used vista up until I changed to my new win 8 laptop, after the first service pack I never had any real problems.
A mature vista contributed alot to the development to 7 and vise versa(in service packs if you don't get my point)
Windows 7 extended lifecycle is 2020 so its days aren't exactly numbered just yet..
Tell that to all the IT people who complain about it.
Yes it is new and refined. But its not a good user experience. That's the clincer there.
Making new versions of software, you don't just make what is best, you take into account how users used your previous version.
A real peculiarity I find with each Windows update, is the control panel, every version they relabel/change the names of the files… WHY? It just confuses people.
Are you telling me forcing people into the tablet format screen make it a good software? The person who made that decision should be sacked.
New games will be made for windows 8 and will therefore perform better on windows 8. An example would be battlefield 4.
Let me tell you. When I got my new laptop with windows 8 pre-installed, I tried to live with it for almost 5 months. So many incompatibility issues, especially with games!!! When it failed to work with the new printer I bought, that was the last straw. Went back to Windows 7, best decision I've ever made. Everything works so smoothly now, no problems with any of the games or software I've had before.
Im tempted for my new build to use both OS's for both Win 7 and 8….. But for the most part I havent had many games come to mind that aren't compatible. I keep win 8 on my laptop tho. :)
If you're a student and you have a subscription to DreamSpark, it's free. You'll have to check with your institution though. There are different "tiers" of DreamSpark as well, like at my uni, it's free for me because I'm an IT faculty student, but not for others from the other faculties.
I had a subscription in TAFE last year and managed to lose all the license keys!!!!!!! also cannot now get back in to my account (I'm guessing my login has expired).
Thanks for all the replies.
@paulsterio - My uni and course isn't listed on DreamSpark unfortunately. Though I might wanna poke around the school to see if anyone can lend me theirs ;)
Officeworks' $68 offer is in-stores only and all the stores in NSW are sold out (I called a few of them, and they all said that they're all cleared out) - and they said they won't be restocking it again.
I stumbled upon MSFT's own website offering it for $70 for eligible students - but it's Download only? Not sure if the trick of having a /windows/ will work for that.. I'll still wait around for some other options I guess.
Question: Anyone have any idea how many machines can the 8.1 pro upgrade pack upgrade?
Are you a student? If you are you can buy Win 8 Pro Full version (i believe) from http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/pdp/productI…
It is a digital product, but the important thing is that you get the product key.
The Windows 8 ISO can be downloaded via MS's Win 8 Upgrade Advisor and you have to run this on a PC. If you don't have a PC… use your Google-kung fu and find an ISO on the internet :)
Once you have the ISO file you're ready to make your own installation media.
I bought this, seems like a full version - thanks. Now I'll wait till Monday comes and have a go at downloading it (wifi :p)
Thanks for all the replies mate; have a good weekend
Would this work with a non legit 64 bit Windows 7 already running?
What's the point of it 'working' it still isn't valid, either buy a valid copy or don't.
I know. I want to buy this legit edition of windows 8, would it work or not?
If you are doing it not as an upgrade, then the existing copy of Windows isn't relevant.
I want to do a clean install but can I purchase this upgrade pack and would it allow me to do a clean install?
Poking around the school to see if anyone will lend you theirs is the same as like torrenting it :P So you might as well just pirate if you're going down that route :P
But yeah, I reckon the $70 deal from Microsoft is your best bet. It's download only, but you'll be able to burn it to disc or a USB flash drive and use that to install.
Haha, point noted. Negates all the 'legit' business eh, but it's hard to sometimes distinguish between a steal and a steal.
I recently bought a copy of Windows 8 from Reddit for $30 USD. There's a bunch of people selling Microsoft keys on /r/softwareswap and /r/hardwareswap. I have no idea as to the legality or authenticity of the products, and I'm sure they vary greatly, but I bought my copy without any problems. I messaged the seller over Reddit for prices, confirmed the product I wanted and sent my PayPal details. He sent a PayPal payment request, and after the payment was processed, he sent me a product key and link for either x86 or x64 version. I downloaded the .iso, put in my 'legit Win 8 key', and installed without any issues.
Edit: I just read that you bought it elsewhere just over an hour ago. I'll leave this up, in case someone else finds it useful.
yeah I did. But knowing that subreddit is great - i'll look there the next time I need some software heh. Thanks diaso.
Thanks for the link. Are those keys/prices legit? And HOW are they legit?
Keen, but wary as I use my personal laptop for work and cant risk pirated software in a corporate environment…
EDIT
Does this post explain those sales?:
http://www.reddit.com/r/softwareswap/comments/1pe2tx/meta_be…
thanks didnt know about this subreddit.
So after some thorough reading it seems they are all selling MSDN license keys, which in our general usage terms is no better than a crack or KeyGen:
Was mentioned in the first comment.
was looking for windows 8 pro upgrade. checked few officeworks none had stock. only had stock in country areas.
so i bought win 8 pro upgrade, key only from http://softwaresite.com.au/ . paid $75. genuine seller with abn and an ebay store.
ROFL, mac gaming. Delusional indeed.
Im running 8.1. It seem smoother than 8, and with startisback installed I never have to see that metro garbage.
So glad I brought it for $19 last year . I knew I should of brought more keys
Personally I went back to 7. I didn't like to feel 8
Yeah windows 7 to windows upgrade was 14.99 in last november when i bought it. Windows 8.1 prices are ridiculous since its a free upgrade from windows 8. and store pulling windows 8 stock on top of that. just to make more money from the update.
Its generally believe part of the reason for shortfall in PC sales this year was due to WINs 8.
Big enough that many laptops now come with the option to downgrade to win 7.
As the local 'amateur' tech head, I'm always recommended people choose the win 7 option. Have to see what win's 8.1 is like before I change my decision.
The fact that people like me and my real IT friends struggle/are frustrated with win 8, freaks me out how ordinary people will handle it.
What about Windows 8 frustrates you and makes you struggle?
You might not realise it, but it's this sort of attitude which makes adoption of Windows 8 slow. Power users, like I'm sure you and I are, use PCs in a very specific way. We have our way of doing things, our short-cuts, we know where everything is…etc. It's like driving a manual car. We love it that way.
The general public, however, don't use their computers for such complicated things and are often actually much more open minded than us "tech-heads" are. To them, if they can open MS Word and type up their resume, open Chrome and read the daily paper and watch movies, they'll be fine.
By going around and telling people to avoid Windows 8, you're negatively portraying an OS which was designed to be simple and a workable solution. Why do you think the general public tend to like Apple products despite tech-heads saying that it is locked down…etc.
Its people like me who are the early adopters…
That's why we can talk about it.
We all slammed Vista, we applauded win 7… now we slam win 8.
I am as I said "amateur" tech head. I understand how normal users use their computers.
People like me actually refer Apple for simple people despite not liking it.
Tell me how is forcing the tablet function and hiding everything more simple? Win 8 ignores its user base.
You haven't answered my question though, it's all well and good to say Windows 8 "forces the tablet function", but I don't use Metro…? I have the software that I need pinned to my taskbar and other things on the desktop. When I need to open up something I don't use on a regular basis, I press start and type the first few letters (e.g. "photo" for Photoshop) and it's usually just there, hit enter and it loads.
There is no "forcing the tablet function" on anything. There is no "hiding" anything. There is nothing that was there in W7 that was not there in W8.
I have addressed the issue with Vista before, people compare Vista to W8, but their problems are not similar. Vista's issues were not Vista itself, but more related to the hardware side of things where hardware at the time was not up to spec and driver manufacturers had not had time to properly implement their drivers prior to release.
That was the problem with Vista. Windows 7 was an incremental upgrade to Vista, it made it more stable and added a few features. The reason why W7 was applauded was because when it was released, hardware at the time was powerful enough to run it without being slow.
Back to the main point though, W8 doesn't suffer from any technical issues, e.g. stability issues or slowness, it's responsive, it's stable, it offers everything that Windows 7 does. In fact, you don't even have to see Metro if you hate it that much.
There is nothing wrong with W8 apart from the fact that people just don't like it and are being hostile about it, in my opinion anyway.
hmmm now you're talking win 8.1 benefits, I said that is to be seen, I haven't judged that yet.
Your solution to win 8, metro and the way you use it.
You assume normal people will know that?
Win 8 by default opens upto metro, you don't think that would be confronting to normal people? There are no instructions to jump to "norma" mode. Panels are hidden until you go over them.
You are talking how easy win 8 is from an experience factor, not a normal person.
Even when you are in normal mode, there are all sorts of things that make you jump back to metro.
As I said win 8 has ignored its user base. Normal people and IT literate people.
Vista also ignored its user base, I had a strong computer so I was fine, but everyone else was not. So like win 8, it was not recommended.
Can someone tell me why you would buy windows 8 when you can download it for free? Is there something I am missing with the paid version?
I don't mean any offence im just wondering as I am looking at buying Windows 8.1 Pro Full Version.
What is the best price for it
Is there something I am missing with the paid version?
Not breaking the law?
Agreed
I was just asking
So what is the best price for it?
The best price is $70 but with certain conditions. You need to be a student to be eligible.
If you are not a student then the best price is $100+ bucks from any computer shop. They usually sell for around the same price everywhere.
You may be tempted to try slightly risker and not-so-legit methods. Like buying a MSDNAA or OEM keys from Reddit's software swap subreddit. Do so at your own risk though — I have no idea what really goes on in there.
Win 8 costs $68 dollars from Officeworks. It is the upgrade version, but with a very simple trick you can make Windows install onto a completely blank hard drive with no issues.
Don't bother with rushing the Windows 8.1 update. It breaks a few things. I haven't been able to run Battlefield 3 ever since upgrading it.