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Win 8 upgrade

pbf98 said:
So if Microsoft is "Forcing" XP users to upgrade will they get an "equivalent" copy of 8? I mean like XP Pro upgraded to windows 8 pro? at no extra cost from the 40$?

Just curious although that is still 2 years away. I can see where this may bring up some very unhappy windows users, I know many people that are still using XP and have no plans at all of getting a new computer or upgrading.

And what about PCs that are not able to support Windows 8? I ask this because I volunteer at my church for fixing issues with the computers there, and I recently refurbished an old computer by adding more ram and a new hard drive and upgrading from 98 to XP.. its only at 768Mb which is just over the 512 needed to run XP and is not quite to the 1gig required with windows 8, also to add the processor is only an 850MHz single core. That PC has no windows 8 in its future.

I understand why they will stop supporting XP but I do see there being problems with customers when they do.
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The $40 Win8 IS pro version with a free media center download.

Also I am guessing you don't have a 64 bit processor, so can't run Win8.
 
kevincott said:
The $40 Win8 IS pro version with a free media center download.

Also I am guessing you don't have a 64 bit processor, so can't run Win8.
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On the PC i was referring to that is correct, 32 bit Durron haha theres a flash back.

But all my personal PCs are windows 7
 
pbf98 said:
And what about PCs that are not able to support Windows 8? I ask this because I volunteer at my church for fixing issues with the computers there, and I recently refurbished an old computer by adding more ram and a new hard drive and upgrading from 98 to XP.. its only at 768Mb which is just over the 512 needed to run XP and is not quite to the 1gig required with windows 8, also to add the processor is only an 850MHz single core. That PC has no windows 8 in its future.
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Machines like that are prime candidates for Linux. Because Linux uses the same modular architecture that was pioneered by the UNIX operating system, you can pick and choose components that will make the best use of the resources at hand. You don't even have to use one of those "tiny" distributions in many cases.

Another idea is to donate the machines to a local charity that will refurbish or recycle the machine. Some like Goodwill sell refurbs at their thrift shops. Others give away refurbs to nonprofit organizations that need IT support.
 
BTW, my mom is using an old 32-bit Athlon machine at 2GHz with 1 GiB of RAM. A couple years ago she hit her 512GiB RAM limit, so I added another stick. This year her Windows 2000 has been dropped from newer versions of all the things she needs to do Internet stuff, from Mozilla Firefox/Thunderbird, Adobe Flash, Java, VLC2 etc.

She's happy with the performance of the computer, but as the exploit risk mounts, I can't add more RAM to fix this problem. Her next PC is going to have Core2, 2GiB RAM and a much more capacious HD. (She's at 30GB now, and I use half for daily backups.) This new machine will get Windows 7 because I'm not going to start with XP and then be forced to upgrade when critical software makes Vista the bare minimum. This will probably be the last PC for her, so I might as well build it to last as long as needed.
 
johnlgalt said:
I will upgrade to Win8 when I need to, via my Technet account - but it will be a clean install, not upgrading 7 --> 8.

I hate upgrades.
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Tech Net - a program that MS have declared war on. From what I read they want to limit the life of each product key to just 12 months and 2 uses.
 
pbf98 said:
MS wants to limit their product key to 12 months? or am I reading this wrong?
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MS are looking to limit the life of Technet keys to 12 months to ensure those of us that use it subscribe every year instead of getting a 12 month subscription and installing all the windows software we will ever need on multiple machines (for testing purposes only!!) and then not renewing the subscription.
 
Speed Daemon said:
Greetings, fellow SuSE user! :wavey: :tee:

As good as Linux has become, there isalways some product that comes with software that only runs on Windows or OSX. Considering that disk space is so cheap these days, I'd hold on to my Windows 7 install for those inevitable cases. IJS
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I'm running Win2000, XP, w7 and w8 in VM, think I've got most bases covered :)
 
nigsy said:
I have an old Emachine with ME
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I'm sorry to hear that. ME was the biggest pile of junk since Windows 3.0.

:D

Even though I have an MSDN license and Win8 will probably be available there, I seriously doubt I'll upgrade to 8..
 
Mayhem said:
I'm sorry to hear that. ME was the biggest pile of junk since Windows 3.0.

:D

Even though I have an MSDN license and Win8 will probably be available there, I seriously doubt I'll upgrade to 8..
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I'd second that. I have always been one to stay current and have a collection of several Windows 7 PC's and 2008 R2 servers (Inc. 1 running Sql Server 2012).

That all said the new lineup of products coming out of Redmond do not excite me. The new Visual Studio is a drab almost colorless version on its former self, office has the new MENUS in all caps and flat GUIs and Windows 8 seems to be a massive step backwards on ease of use.

I'll be happy to stick to my current setup for now until I can find a good alternative for AD and SharePoint on Linux.
 
Rachel_Ambler said:
Tech Net - a program that MS have declared war on. From what I read they want to limit the life of each product key to just 12 months and 2 uses.
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Ah...considering that Microsoft Technet is a Microsoft product, I don't think that "war" is accurate.

I've had a Technet subscription from time to time. The EULA for Technet Windows discs is that they're only to be used for testing and training. They can't be used for production (or personal) use. The license to use the installed OS ends when the Technet subscription expires.

If you keep your Technet subscription current, you shouldn't have a problem.

If you want to use subscription discs for production, get a MSDN subscription.

Remember that neither Technet nor MSDN are intended for consumer or hobbyist use.
 
I get a free copy of win8 in october through my school, even then I probably won't install it. Tried the consumer preview and I think it's ugly. Metro is messy and annoying. If they offered the ability to enable the start button for navigation and disabling metro, maybe.
 
TBH I am a bit surprised. I knew Win8 was not popular but to see it on the level of ME especially with XP being discontinued speaks volumes.
 
Speed Daemon said:
What? No Vista?

Vista crashed on you too, didn't it? :trytofly: :D

What about ReactOS?
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I've always found ReactOS interesting. They're doing a Windows compatible alternative OS, and that's not Linux. It's been around for a very long time, however AFAICT it's never been really usable in a production environment. Maybe it will get more development and traction, with people looking towards an alternative to Win8 on a new PCs?

BTW it was the thought of Windows Vista on a new PC that compelled me buy a Mac in 2008. LOL.
 
mikedt said:
I've always found ReactOS interesting. They're doing a Windows compatible alternative OS, and that's not Linux. It's been around for a very long time, however AFAICT it's never been really usable in a production environment. Maybe it will get more development and traction, with people looking towards an alternative to Win8 on a new PCs?
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I hope so. I'm sure that Microsoft works hard to be a moving target, which makes the progress made on ReactOS even more impressive. The last time I checked it out, it was suitable for installing on an old PC that I want to donate to a place that will not accept Linux. It'll probably never be able to replace Windows on the fancy multimedia programs that I use, but it's enough for 99% of what most computer users do.


BTW it was the thought of Windows Vista on a new PC that compelled me buy a Mac in 2008. LOL.
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LOL...I quit supporting new Windows installs in my consulting business when Vista came out. I lost some customers and I still don't regret the decision. Windows 7 is better, but has so many new bells and whistles that I'm sick of working so hard to keep up with the pace of all of the 99% unused new functions. Fewer pesky office visits too, as most of my Linux users have their hardware colocated. :pcguru: :D
 
I plan to give it a chance for 2 reason's

1. Small foot print this thing is suppose to use far fewer resources. I have even heard rumors people have gotten the beta to run on a 300mhz machine.

2. They caved and gave us the start button we wanted
 
I tried using W8 but to me it seemed less functional then any other OS I have used. I think that Windows will suffer in sales like they did with Vista. I guess the only thing I do not understand is W8 looks like Windows phone 7 which is the worst selling mobile OS on the market so why would they make there main OS to look like it.
 
I think a while after shipping, people who aren't going to be re-installing windows may actually help boost Windows Phone 7 sales... If its still around.
 
Doing a clean install of Win8. I'm still on Win7 Home Basic that came with the laptop that I bought, and I think the Metro UI is nice. :D
 
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