[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Windows 8 Pro Upgrade: Your FAQs Answered here

[DLMcLaughlin]

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

[xyberviri]

I'm still not seeing anything about a start button or old interface......

Also what is 0x73 and 0x74 going to be used for on my keyboard now that there is no start button.

[AndyLong]

"But if you are interested in features such as BitLocker encryption, booting from a virtual hard disk, and Hyper-V, then upgrading to Windows 8 Pro will make all the difference." - and the fact that you can join a domain, surely the main reason anyone would use Pro over Home.

[BulldogXX]

DLMcLaughlin, on 03 July 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

The Consumer Preview cannot be upgraded.

[Murkalael]

A Brazillian magazine said upgrade would cost about R$ 39,90, what in my calculations would be around 19-20 US$

[Midnite1]

I have no intentions of "downgrading" to windows 8, as 7 suits my needs quite nicely!

Microsoft is practically giving away Windows8, as it knows that very few users will pay full pop for it and it just might suffer the same demise as Vista!

[dcolley]

They should give it away for free in light of all the buggy OS software that they have issued in the past.

[richeemxx]

DLMcLaughlin, on 03 July 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

Uh the cost is the same, you don't get a discount for testing the free beta and you'll have to do a fresh install no matter what. Typically beta/consumer previews don't offer an upgrade path.

PCW - you offer a FAQ but hardly any answers here. Will we be able to clean install? Release info? This is more of a what we know now rather than answers to any of the majority of the FAQ's I'm seeing.

This post has been edited by richeemxx: 03 July 2012 - 09:48 AM

[compnovo]

richeemxx, on 03 July 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

DLMcLaughlin, on 03 July 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

Uh the cost is the same, you don't get a discount for testing the free beta and you'll have to do a fresh install no matter what. Typically beta/consumer previews don't offer an upgrade path.

PCW - you offer a FAQ but hardly any answers here. Will we be able to clean install? Release info? This is more of a what we know now rather than answers to any of the majority of the FAQ's I'm seeing.

From the article:
"Can I Start Fresh?
Yes. You can choose to take none of your personal information with you during the upgrade process, or you can create bootable media such as USB thumb drive or DVD to format your hard drive."

[Cuffy10]

compnovo, on 03 July 2012 - 09:53 AM, said:

richeemxx, on 03 July 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

DLMcLaughlin, on 03 July 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

Uh the cost is the same, you don't get a discount for testing the free beta and you'll have to do a fresh install no matter what. Typically beta/consumer previews don't offer an upgrade path.

PCW - you offer a FAQ but hardly any answers here. Will we be able to clean install? Release info? This is more of a what we know now rather than answers to any of the majority of the FAQ's I'm seeing.

From the article:
"Can I Start Fresh?
Yes. You can choose to take none of your personal information with you during the upgrade process, or you can create bootable media such as USB thumb drive or DVD to format your hard drive."

[Cuffy10]

Cuffy10, on 03 July 2012 - 12:38 PM, said:

compnovo, on 03 July 2012 - 09:53 AM, said:

richeemxx, on 03 July 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

DLMcLaughlin, on 03 July 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

Uh the cost is the same, you don't get a discount for testing the free beta and you'll have to do a fresh install no matter what. Typically beta/consumer previews don't offer an upgrade path.

PCW - you offer a FAQ but hardly any answers here. Will we be able to clean install? Release info? This is more of a what we know now rather than answers to any of the majority of the FAQ's I'm seeing.

From the article:
"Can I Start Fresh?
Yes. You can choose to take none of your personal information with you during the upgrade process, or you can create bootable media such as USB thumb drive or DVD to format your hard drive."

I would like to warp the start fresh question a little.
What kind of proof will MS accept that I'm upgrading an XP Pro machine? Will I have to login and connect to MS with an XP machine to get the $40
download? I don't like dual boot systems so I pull the root drive for Win7 64 and replace it with a drive containing Win 8 Preview when I want to play. I could upgrade the Win 8 Preview version I guess but I have two other machines running XP Pro 32 and the disc for XP Pro 64 sitting here with no home. I also have a machine on the bench that's torn down for rebuild. I doubt if that machine has the horsepower to even run Win 7.
So, my question is: if I download the $40 upgrade over the Win 8 Preview can I move it to one of those other machines when I get the hardware to run it? Without a CD or DVD with the OS it seems I'm screwed when it comes moving day. At 79 I have no need for any of these five machines but I tend to talk to myself a great deal and with four machines on a network I get most of my exercise by running from machine to machine replying to things I posted from another machine in another room!
I have several copies of NT, both 3.51 and 4.0, a couple copies of Win 2K, several copies of XP Pro 32 and one copy of XP Pro 64, all on disc and all registerable. I've run the two released versions of Win 8 and I'm not particularly impressed in either case. I wasn't impressed with DOS either until DOSShell came along and then I decided that maybe computers might catch on!
And so it goes with Win 8.......... it might catch on?
My problem...... moving OSs from the oldest machine to the newest as they come along or the machine dies requires a hard copy of each OS. I'm assuming that $40 downloadable upgrade is going to mess up my system and I won't be able to move it. Somebody please tell me I'm wrong!

[ntaguitar2]

Cuffy10, on 03 July 2012 - 01:29 PM, said:

Cuffy10, on 03 July 2012 - 12:38 PM, said:

compnovo, on 03 July 2012 - 09:53 AM, said:

richeemxx, on 03 July 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

DLMcLaughlin, on 03 July 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I can find no information on the cost of an upgrade for Win7 users who upgraded to the Win8 Consumer Preview. Any information on that front?

Uh the cost is the same, you don't get a discount for testing the free beta and you'll have to do a fresh install no matter what. Typically beta/consumer previews don't offer an upgrade path.

PCW - you offer a FAQ but hardly any answers here. Will we be able to clean install? Release info? This is more of a what we know now rather than answers to any of the majority of the FAQ's I'm seeing.

From the article:
"Can I Start Fresh?
Yes. You can choose to take none of your personal information with you during the upgrade process, or you can create bootable media such as USB thumb drive or DVD to format your hard drive."

I would like to warp the start fresh question a little.
What kind of proof will MS accept that I'm upgrading an XP Pro machine? Will I have to login and connect to MS with an XP machine to get the $40
download? I don't like dual boot systems so I pull the root drive for Win7 64 and replace it with a drive containing Win 8 Preview when I want to play. I could upgrade the Win 8 Preview version I guess but I have two other machines running XP Pro 32 and the disc for XP Pro 64 sitting here with no home. I also have a machine on the bench that's torn down for rebuild. I doubt if that machine has the horsepower to even run Win 7.
So, my question is: if I download the $40 upgrade over the Win 8 Preview can I move it to one of those other machines when I get the hardware to run it? Without a CD or DVD with the OS it seems I'm screwed when it comes moving day. At 79 I have no need for any of these five machines but I tend to talk to myself a great deal and with four machines on a network I get most of my exercise by running from machine to machine replying to things I posted from another machine in another room!
I have several copies of NT, both 3.51 and 4.0, a couple copies of Win 2K, several copies of XP Pro 32 and one copy of XP Pro 64, all on disc and all registerable. I've run the two released versions of Win 8 and I'm not particularly impressed in either case. I wasn't impressed with DOS either until DOSShell came along and then I decided that maybe computers might catch on!
And so it goes with Win 8.......... it might catch on?
My problem...... moving OSs from the oldest machine to the newest as they come along or the machine dies requires a hard copy of each OS. I'm assuming that $40 downloadable upgrade is going to mess up my system and I won't be able to move it. Somebody please tell me I'm wrong!

pay the 70 bucks for a disk and spare the headache. I format my personal machine frequently, I work troubleshooting pc's and when it comes to my own computer, i'd rather throw in a disk and go watch a movie than spend my free time troubleshooting on my day off.

[compnovo]

Quote

pay the 70 bucks for a disk and spare the headache. I format my personal machine frequently, I work troubleshooting pc's and when it comes to my own computer, i'd rather throw in a disk and go watch a movie than spend my free time troubleshooting on my day off.

If I understand correctly you'll be able to burn a disc from the download, which tells me it an ISO.

[Cuffy10]

compnovo, on 03 July 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

Quote

pay the 70 bucks for a disk and spare the headache. I format my personal machine frequently, I work troubleshooting pc's and when it comes to my own computer, i'd rather throw in a disk and go watch a movie than spend my free time troubleshooting on my day off.

If I understand correctly you'll be able to burn a disc from the download, which tells me it an ISO.

That's what I wanted to hear. If it's presented as a downloadable ISO for $40 and it's the Pro version, I'll continue following the development. I surely don't need it, I really didn't care for the Consumer Preview version, although I didn't give it much of a chance, but it's a new toy and I like new toys! At $40 for the Pro version on an ISO I'll probably reluctantly pop for it. At $70 it will have to wait until Win 7 runs it's course.
Thanks for the info. I'll stay tuned!

[compnovo]

Cuffy10, on 03 July 2012 - 08:18 PM, said:

compnovo, on 03 July 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

Quote

pay the 70 bucks for a disk and spare the headache. I format my personal machine frequently, I work troubleshooting pc's and when it comes to my own computer, i'd rather throw in a disk and go watch a movie than spend my free time troubleshooting on my day off.

If I understand correctly you'll be able to burn a disc from the download, which tells me it an ISO.

That's what I wanted to hear. If it's presented as a downloadable ISO for $40 and it's the Pro version, I'll continue following the development. I surely don't need it, I really didn't care for the Consumer Preview version, although I didn't give it much of a chance, but it's a new toy and I like new toys! At $40 for the Pro version on an ISO I'll probably reluctantly pop for it. At $70 it will have to wait until Win 7 runs it's course.
Thanks for the info. I'll stay tuned!

Here's the info I'm basing my opinion on:
After your download finishes, you can choose to proceed with the upgrade (“Install now”) or install later either from your desktop or by creating your own media. If you choose to create your own media, you will be able to create your own bootable USB or .ISO file which can be burned onto a DVD for upgrade and backup purposes. If you prefer, you also have the option of purchasing a backup DVD for $15 plus shipping and handling.
and the link:
http://windowsteambl...-for-39-99.aspx

This post has been edited by compnovo: 03 July 2012 - 09:50 PM

[soultransfer]

xyberviri, on 03 July 2012 - 06:39 AM, said:

I'm still not seeing anything about a start button or old interface......

Also what is 0x73 and 0x74 going to be used for on my keyboard now that there is no start button.

Old desktop is still available in Windows 8, only the start menu is replaced by the Metro UI (which is way better than Start Menu in terms of features and usability).
You can pin applications to Metro or Desktop or Desktop Task bar, so not going to lose any productivity as such.

[soultransfer]

Midnite1, on 03 July 2012 - 08:46 AM, said:

I have no intentions of "downgrading" to windows 8, as 7 suits my needs quite nicely!

Microsoft is practically giving away Windows8, as it knows that very few users will pay full pop for it and it just might suffer the same demise as Vista!

So we have to believe Windows predictions from a Linux fanboi.. lol.. Your ignorance is clear when you compare Windows 8 with Vista.

Say whatever, Windows 8 has success written all over it and you dont have to wait long to see it.
Basically all new PC's will have it by default, plus with this new $40 incentive many of the XP, Vista and & folks will upgrade. Even 20% of upgrades will shoot the number over 100 million in just few months.

Try whichever way to spin this, Microsoft rules desktop and will continue to do so in near future.

[Extremist]

Midnite1, on 03 July 2012 - 08:46 AM, said:

I have no intentions of "downgrading" to windows 8, as 7 suits my needs quite nicely!

Microsoft is practically giving away Windows8, as it knows that very few users will pay full pop for it and it just might suffer the same demise as Vista!

Windows 8 has better cloud integration, better security, and it's cheaper. Like it or not, Windows 8 is the future of computing - where everything from multi monitor workstations to 7-inch ARM tablets is a unified experience. When you move between devices, everything from a slideshow celebrating your first wedding anniversary or a SuP3r 31337 MySQL configuration file to the layout of your tiles or arrangement of desktop icons will be the same, if you so desire. Syncing music, videos, photos and documents will be a breeze.

As well, Windows 8 is more secure than 7. It has pre-boot malware scanning, secure boot, Windows Defender (now a full AV) built-in, SmartScreen Filter across the whole OS, and app security. Assuming you get most of your software from the Windows Store, you can be sure than it's been checked for malware, digitally signed, and that it runs with low privileges and isn't able to access the core OS. All tabs and processes in IE10 are isolated, and full ASLR is baked in to the browser.

You know you on a desktop/laptop, you don't need to use Metro for everything, right? You could choose not to use Metro at all and just use traditional Windows software. And for all this talk about "downgrading", Windows 8 only leaves out a few "features" from Windows 7:

- Media Center

- DVD Playback

Removing Windows Media Center from the default installation is a smart decision by Microsoft. The average user doesn't want to playback movies on their PC or hook up a huge tower to their TV to serve as a DVR. People already have DVRs with their cable subscription, and they don't want to watch DVDs on a 13-inch laptop screen. These days, most TVs and Blu-Ray/DVD players sold are web-enabled. When Joe Sixpack gets Netflix, he doesn't need to go out and buy a new PC to run Media Center - his Blu-Ray player or Xbox already has a Netflix "app" built-in.

The days of Media Center PCs are over, and Microsoft knows that. Their goal is to make Xbox more of a media hub in addition to a gaming system now - with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Crackle, Last.fm, YouTube, and the icing on the cake, live ESPN. And yes, it plays DVDs.

I don't see any reason why Windows 8 is a "downgrade" from Windows 7. Plus, it's only 40 bucks.

This post has been edited by Extremist: 04 July 2012 - 05:40 AM

[GetReal]

If it is still up, then read the original blog on Microsoft. To take advantage of this offer, you will either need Xp, Vista, W7 already installed, or, a valid key from that OS, either should work.

Now my question. I have a 4 year old system that only has 512 Mb of memory, so since the W8 preview is out, can someone tell me if my machine is adequate or will I need to spend another $60 for more memory?
If so, then its unlikely as the old computer is simply not worth $100 total to run something I know so little about.
Anyway, we all wait a while and then get some correct answers.