Windows 8 Users Can Upgrade to Windows 9 For Free - Update

[Th37thTrump3t]

Microsoft not being a money grabbing whore? I'm astonished. This really is a good development. But I guess Windows 8 users deserve this for all of their suffering.

A lot of the stupid decision Microsoft has pulled for the past 10 years have been because of Steve Balmer. Now that he's gone and Nadella is running the show, Microsoft has been turning around.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

**snip**

Actually, you know what - not worth it.

Don't call people liars. If you want to politely point out that a feature is actually possible to turn back on, then do so, and be polite, then fine, do so. I actually appreciate that you showed me how to get check boxes back.

But don't call people liars. It's impolite, and more often than not, you're the one who's in the wrong when you do so.

 

[ailurus]

But I like the metro start menu. Hopefully it's still an option for desktops or they at least make the old start menu less shit. Being able to pin everything in place and quickly open shortcuts via muscle memory beats out a great big list any day.

Yeah, I have to agree. Although the Start Screen shares faults with the Start Menu (mainly in making it a PITA to find your newly-installed programs), I love the way I can put all my commonly-used programs on it, plus get my news and email sent to the Live tiles.

Hopefully there will be a manual override option for the desktop users that want to keep the Start Screen, but if not, it's no huge thing. I used the Start Menu for fifteen or twenty years. It won't be that tough to go back to it.

OT: Hope this news turns out to be true. Even though I'll probably snag a stand-alone copy at some point, updating my current systems for free would be a sweet deal.

I really think you two are in the minority. I hate it so much that I prefer just going through the folders one at the time to find what I need. I've also manually erased every tile because their existence offended my sensibilities.

Anyhow, my biggest gripe with 8 was the permissions lock. It is so annoying that you are working as Admin and have to figure out how to bypass extra locks to make changes to things as simple as the Program Files directory. Literally, to mod games you have to fight the system. Now I know how to do it so it's easy, but I was so upset by that change and the presumption that I'm an idiot who can't take care of my own computer.

I agree with them too. It took maybe a couple hrs, maybe a day or so, to get used to the new UI, but in the end Metro is much, MUCH better than the start menu. Sure, I scrapped all of MS's silly live tile things, but that took maybe 5 minutes? (And that's something that previews suggest that MS is keeping in 9 even though they're bringing the start menu back)

Though, I do second your gripe about the inability to disable UAC. Sure, the average user does pretty much need UAC to be at the annoying level it is, but having an option buried somewhere to turn it off completely would be nice (like I could do in Vista). If for no other reason than I've yet to see one case where UAC protected me and multiple times a day I need to deal with "Program X wants to make changes to your computer. Allow or Deny?" screen. Yeah, it only takes a few seconds to click past it but its still a waste of time.

And I'm also not a fan of how insistent MS is that you set up the OS so it automatically connects your Microsoft account. While the offline account is perfectly functional, the "connect an MS account" option shows up again from time to time. And, frankly, why the bleep would I ever possibly want to set my computer to automatically log me into a Microsoft account? Why must every computer company keep insisting on always online?

After using Windows 8 I wonder if all the complaints were knee jerk reactions. The start menu worked no different from window 7,seeing how I pinned stuff to the start menu. The only issue I had was figuring out why a program had use the minimum screen resolution my moniter couldn't support. Took a hour to realize it was a app for the tablet, something a friend of mine claimed took him all day to figure out which is why he hates Windows 8. Most of the time it sounded like not knowing how to use the new UI, if so then I wonder how. All in all after the not steep learning curve it works like 7 for me. Like 8 I'll wait a year for 9 to have issues resolved. Seeing how I don't wanna use my pi as a main driver.

Even knee jerk is too kind for some of the reactions, because the same 2-year-old complaints which have been repeatedly been proven false keep getting repeated. Heck, just go back to the spring when support for XP was coming to an end and look at the comments on any article about whether people should upgrade to 7 or 8.1. You'd think 8 was going around shooting people's dogs and then sleeping with their sisters or something.

Many of the complaints against Vista were quite legit, especially early when it was horribly slow on lower end machines. But the only confirmed technical advantage I've ever seen 7 have over 8 was better graphics card performance for the first few months of release, and that was only due to the 7 drivers having had much more mature drivers. Any report which actually includes numbers, benchmarks or studies (so anything which actually comes with some evidence rather than just bloggers ranting) puts 8.1 ahead of 7, or at absolute worst equal.

 

[Remus]

If only Microsoft had a former corporate owner with time on his hands, who, wanting nothing to do with the company, could infiltrate the headquarters, copy the software from their home servers, and..... I've GOT IT!

Spoiler

 

[Brennan]

Gonna agree with Mr.Tea: that really sounds like an OEM issue, not a Win8 issue. I've been using Win8 for almost 2 years, and it has never done any of that stuff you're describing. The only explanation is either A) your comp has a broken install, in which case the OS should be all kinds of malfunctioning rather than just missing features, so it's probably not this, or B) your OEM brand "customized" the OS for their computers.

Either way, a clean OS reinstall is the fix. Honestly, OEM OS's are just terrible investments for a number of reasons. No matter what OS you have or want, a clean, stand-alone copy is always the right way to go.

Mr.Tea is also right about the larger effects of spreading bad info. Plus this:

But don't call people liars. It's impolite, and more often than not, you're the one who's in the wrong when you do so.

...kinda comes off a little ironic, given the "flaws" you're raging so hard against are at best not native to the OS, and at worst native to your own ignorance/misunderstanding.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

But don't call people liars. It's impolite, and more often than not, you're the one who's in the wrong when you do so.

...kinda comes off a little ironic, given the "flaws" you're raging so hard against are at best not native to the OS, and at worst native to your own ignorance/misunderstanding.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: Being wrong is NOT the same as lying. I could not figure out how to get those checkboxes back until he posted that image (which is why I deleted my initial angry reply and replaced it with a concession on that - and only that - point).

And he only disproved ONE complaint. The larger issue (no Start Menu) was not addressed. He pointed out a number of other ways to do what the start menu used to do (which I already use) but none of them are the same as having a fucking Start Menu.

Edit: For example, being able to pin often used files to the task bar icons (as he suggested) is all well and good, it requires that I pin ALL of my frequently used programs to the taskbar so I can reach them. Before, they were all nicely sorted in the Start Menu - now I have to clutter up my Task Bar with a pinned NOTEPAD if I want to be able to use it quickly, making my Taskbar look like an absolute mess.

Yes, the idiotic arrangement in Windows 8 has the same info, but it forces you to clutter up your taskbar to get to it. The Start Menu was one button with everything I wanted/needed in one organized place. There is no option to turn the Start Menu back on. Thus everything I said other than the checkboxes was entirely valid.

As for Windows Update, I turned it off. And yet, I will open my Task Manager and look at the System and see that, yes, Windows Update still runs in the background sometimes. It doesn't pop anything up to bother me, and it doesn't restart my computer, but it DOES slow down my harddrive while it's checking my system to see if I need updates that I don't want.

 

[Strazdas]

I'm still looking to upgrade to windows 7 from XP, wouldn't touch 8 because I don't believe the user should have to manually fix something like removing that interface designed for tablets. I hope 9 is just a more resource efficient 7.

you rteally should. i was reluctant at first because XP looked and felt better to me, but win really beats XP in performance and usability even if it has a few things i will eternally hate microsoft for (uncontrollable UAC. no, i WANT to be an administrator, no i dont want to be a silent user, and administrator i said!) win 7 is really an improvement. as far as win 8 goes, under the hood its kernel is superior to that of win 7, but the rest is enough for me to stay away.

Great news, assuming that Europe will also get the free update. Even though i don't really hate my windows 8.1, i only used the old start menu for search and i do the same with this one and everything else works better for me than with win7 since i had some annoying driver issues with 7.

I wouldnt hold my breath. when there was a free update from VIsta premium to premium in US, europeans didnt got it. I was one of those unlucky users stuck with Vista then because hardware manufacturers decided that making drivers for XP was no longer necessary and Vista will be fine....

 

[SilverUchiha]

Awesome. I'll check back 6 months or so after launch to see if the worst bugs are removed before I consider upgrading from 7.

 

[Lilani]

Could someone explain to me why we aren't writing this off as a huge scam, since we know for a fact Microsoft is not calling it Windows 9?

 

[TheIceQueen]

But don't call people liars. It's impolite, and more often than not, you're the one who's in the wrong when you do so.

...kinda comes off a little ironic, given the "flaws" you're raging so hard against are at best not native to the OS, and at worst native to your own ignorance/misunderstanding.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: Being wrong is NOT the same as lying. I could not figure out how to get those checkboxes back until he posted that image (which is why I deleted my initial angry reply and replaced it with a concession on that - and only that - point).

And he only disproved ONE complaint. The larger issue (no Start Menu) was not addressed. He pointed out a number of other ways to do what the start menu used to do (which I already use) but none of them are the same as having a fucking Start Menu.

Edit: For example, being able to pin often used files to the task bar icons (as he suggested) is all well and good, it requires that I pin ALL of my frequently used programs to the taskbar so I can reach them. Before, they were all nicely sorted in the Start Menu - now I have to clutter up my Task Bar with a pinned NOTEPAD if I want to be able to use it quickly, making my Taskbar look like an absolute mess.

Yes, the idiotic arrangement in Windows 8 has the same info, but it forces you to clutter up your taskbar to get to it. The Start Menu was one button with everything I wanted/needed in one organized place. There is no option to turn the Start Menu back on. Thus everything I said other than the checkboxes was entirely valid.

As for Windows Update, I turned it off. And yet, I will open my Task Manager and look at the System and see that, yes, Windows Update still runs in the background sometimes. It doesn't pop anything up to bother me, and it doesn't restart my computer, but it DOES slow down my harddrive while it's checking my system to see if I need updates that I don't want.

You could use Pokki if you wanted a start menu. It was my one complaint between moving from Windows 7 to 8 as well, but I was shown Pokki and that complaint disappeared fast as it's an even better start menu than the normal start menu that, say, 7 has.

 

[dtgenshiken7]

All I want is a Windows OS that can handle a System Error by opening a Subroutine rather than restarting. why does that seem like too much to ask?

 

[Extragorey]

Windows 10, you mean. We don't talk about 9.

This seems like a nice gesture, though. I wonder which edition you'll get when upgrading.

 

[HadBabits]

Some people say to give them Linux/Mac as an alternative, and I honestly wonder how well that would go over, since 1) both enforce permissions just as strictly as Windows does, and 2) to elevate yourself above those permissions, you need to type in your password every time, not just click "yes".

Linux user here. I actually found that gets a positive response, if you have kids/teens in the household. My room-mate?s aunt seemed to appreciate that her nephew could now longer install a lot of junk on her computer (I found like 3 different programs installed prior to "speed up" her poor windows) as well as the speed and stability.

 

[thedarkfreak]

Some people say to give them Linux/Mac as an alternative, and I honestly wonder how well that would go over, since 1) both enforce permissions just as strictly as Windows does, and 2) to elevate yourself above those permissions, you need to type in your password every time, not just click "yes".

Linux user here. I actually found that gets a positive response, if you have kids/teens in the household. My room-mate?s aunt seemed to appreciate that her nephew could now longer install a lot of junk on her computer (I found like 3 different programs installed prior to "speed up" her poor windows) as well as the speed and stability.

Then I'm glad your roommate's aunt could see sense. I'd also like to point out that if they did still have any Windows computers, they could set up an account on the Windows machine for the kids, and have it be a standard account, not an administrator account. If the kids wanted to install/change anything, the administrator would need to specifically authorize it, with their password.

UAC can also be configured to require the password even if you're logged in as an administrator, although it's more annoying to set up with home editions of Windows, because it doesn't have the Local Group Policy/Local Security Policy editors, so you have to play with the registry directly. That is an issue I dislike Microsoft for doing. It thankfully doesn't affect me, though, as I got copies of Windows 8 Pro early on. Set up an Active Directory domain using Samba on a ubuntu server and I can control all the computers in my house automatically. (I could also use Windows Server as I can get a free copy of that for my own personal use through my school.)

 

[NoX 9]

Really hope so! My current machine died spectacularily last weekend, so I just bought parts to build a new one -or my friend will build it anyway...-, and I'm also moving to Win 8 at the same time, not having watched the news close enough to even know Win 9 is a thing already. I sort of expected Win 8 be the 'new OS' for a few years still.