Download Windows 8.1 Update 1 Early, If You Dare

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I returned back to Windows 7 after a year of dealing with Windows 8 and 8.1. Windows 8.1 has great performance but just terrible UI which makes OS unusable. Looks too flat and ugly, messes up my eyes. After going back to Windows 7 what a fresh nice look that is and plus looks more modern than Windows 8. Also had problems with games under Windows 8.1. Skyrim suffered from lag unless runs in compatibility mode which was no no to me. Overall, hopefully Windows 9 follows where MS stopped with Windows 7 otherwise i don't see myself upgrading to future Windows releases.
 
I returned back to Windows 7 after a year of dealing with Windows 8 and 8.1. Windows 8.1 has great performance but just terrible UI which makes OS unusable. Looks too flat and ugly, messes up my eyes. After going back to Windows 7 what a fresh nice look that is and plus looks more modern than Windows 8. Also had problems with games under Windows 8.1. Skyrim suffered from lag unless runs in compatibility mode which was no no to me. Overall, hopefully Windows 9 follows where MS stopped with Windows 7 otherwise i don't see myself upgrading to future Windows releases.
 
Red Star, the changes to the UI in Windows 8.1 was done so it would work on tablets and phones. In other words, they dumbed it down. Microsoft is insisting on having one operating system for phones, tablets, and full computers, which means it will work on all those devices, but not very well on any of them. There are just too many compromises involved. Sadly, Windows 7 is probably the last really great Microsoft OS for full computers. From here out, users of real computers will have to deal with the compromises and flat, ugly UI required for phones.
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I know what you are saying, i am developer and i just couldn't deal with Windows 8. I can pin so much on taskbar to avoid Start Screen but every time i have to search for something it just hits me with that Start Screen, completely unproductive. I did use windows key + s which brings sidebar search but it is still annoying and it is not same as with Windows 7 and searching in start menu. I did try Start8, paid for it but had lags in some games which work fine under Windows 7 and flat looking Windows 8 was just killing my eyes. Aero is the best thing MS came up with and they just removed it!!!
 


What you are telling us is that 8.1 has great performance but you ditched that for the eye candy of the Windows 7`s interface.
 
Quote:" Sadly, Windows 7 is probably the last really great Microsoft OS for full computers. "Personally, I think DOS 6.22 was the last great Microsoft OS for computers. Everything else has just been clunky bloat.I find it interesting that with any articles dealing with Windows 8.x, no matter what the content of the articles, people feel compelled to comment about how they don't like the interface of Windows 8.x. How about commenting on the actual article for a change?Has anyone tried these updates? Do they enhance the Windows 8.1 experience, or are they just going to be normal updates we are used to? Is it worth jumping ahead of the line to get?
 
What you are telling us is that 8.1 has great performance but you ditched that for the eye candy of the Windows 7`s interface.
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Windows 7 performs as good as Windows 8, also i managed to setup Windows 7 to boot under UEFI making same boot time as with Windows 8. I wanted to give some credit to Windows 8 but compared to Windows 7 there is not any performance improvement that i noticed.
 
Quote:" Sadly, Windows 7 is probably the last really great Microsoft OS for full computers. "Personally, I think DOS 6.22 was the last great Microsoft OS for computers. Everything else has just been clunky bloat.I find it interesting that with any articles dealing with Windows 8.x, no matter what the content of the articles, people feel compelled to comment about how they don't like the interface of Windows 8.x. How about commenting on the actual article for a change?Has anyone tried these updates? Do they enhance the Windows 8.1 experience, or are they just going to be normal updates we are used to? Is it worth jumping ahead of the line to get?
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I tried it and there is nothing significant there. You get Metro version of disk utility. Things they did on Start Screen is that you get context menu on right click which is out of place and also power option in top right corner for quick shutdown or reboot. Overall, nothing special. I believe more changes are done under hood to bring Windows Phone and Windows platform together and supposedly Windows 8.1 Update 1 has smaller 'memory and disk print' which will enable OS to run on devices with 1GB of RAM and slow CPU which i doubt. Windows 8 is too heavy for mobile world.
 
*presses win-key and types in a phrase on windows 7 box**sees list of programs and files with phrase in the name**presses win-key and types in a phrase on windows 8 box**sees list of programs and files with phrase in the name... and documents, and tagged photos, and other potentially related programs*Ya, the process is just so different, and the newer search results are just simply not as comprehensive or as useful red77star. I COMPLETELY see why a an intelligent human being would be completely offended by this.
 
I recently bought an 8.1 machine and agree with all the posters above. I also recently installed Start8. I would HIGHLY recommend this little program to anyone. Hard to even call it a program, its only 7 megabytes! This lil' guy made all the difference in the world to me. It honestly would make or would break my decision to keep 8.1 on this machine or find a windows 7 install disc. Worth a look! Especially if you are like me and the other posters that struggle with 8.1's interface. It's light, and you can try it out for 30 days for free. Like it that much? Only 5 bucks to purchase! I call that a bargain to get to use my OS again.Websitehttp://www.stardock.com/products/start8/Reviewhttp://blog.laptopmag.com/make-windows-8-like-windows-7
 
Is there a download to upgrade from windows 8.0 to 8.1? I cannot update through the ModernUI store, I would like a standalone upgrade package. Then I can upgrade to 8.1 update 1.
 

Beside video editing i also like to play games , Counter Strike GO / Battlefield 3/4 and few others, for me Windows 8 was a step up in gaming performance than 7.

I don`t mind the "metro" start on the whole screen, people tend to say is not productive, well, tell me what`s the difference ? You have a full screen with all your apps in it vs a menu on the side with your apps, maybe even need to scroll to see some of them, all this while you can`t use your rest of the screen since your mouse is focused on the Start Menus after you click your desired app to start, both OS do the same thing , return to full desktop mode waiting to load the application, so , again, where`s the productive problem ? It looks different and not eye-candy, yes, is it counter-productive ? NO!
 
dan, if you have an oem version of win 8 then the answer is no. (unless you are into torrents.) if have a retail copy, then the answer is yes. http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57608376-285/how-to-download-the-official-microsoft-windows-8.1-iso/
 
My strongest advice....do not do it.I did it and I am very sorry as it messed up my Windows 8.1.I hate all Windows 8 series as they are all shit and junk.I will go back to 7 and for Microsoft's sake I hope that the new upcoming Windows 9 better be great otherwise Microsoft is going to lose majority of their Windows customers.
 
OK so I can upgrade from Windows 8.0 to 8.1 by downloading the 8.1 iso and installing, then I can upgrade to 8.1 update 1.Anybody try update1 with Start8 to see if there are any issues?
 
OK so I can upgrade from Windows 8.0 to 8.1 by downloading the 8.1 iso and installing, then I can upgrade to 8.1 update 1.Anybody try update1 with Start8 to see if there are any issues?
 
OK so I can upgrade from Windows 8.0 to 8.1 by downloading the 8.1 iso and installing, then I can upgrade to 8.1 update 1.Anybody try update1 with Start8 to see if there are any issues?
 
Beside video editing i also like to play games , Counter Strike GO / Battlefield 3/4 and few others, for me Windows 8 was a step up in gaming performance than 7. I don`t mind the "metro" start on the whole screen, people tend to say is not productive, well, tell me what`s the difference ? You have a full screen with all your apps in it vs a menu on the side with your apps, maybe even need to scroll to see some of them, all this while you can`t use your rest of the screen since your mouse is focused on the Start Menus after you click your desired app to start, both OS do the same thing , return to full desktop mode waiting to load the application, so , again, where`s the productive problem ? It looks different and not eye-candy, yes, is it counter-productive ? NO!
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Bringing full screen takes away a focus from what i was looking at, and in does in slow manner that over time it becomes unproductive and useless. It is terrible in form of workflow. Again that eye candy matters to me because i cannot stand flat ugly look of Windows 8. There is nothing modern about Windows 8. Metro apps are useless, whole eco system brings 0 value to PC and Windows in general. As far as Phone, Windows Phone Team did ok thing but bringing that mobile eco system to Desktop is out of mind.
 
Just want to say one more thing....Windows Weather Gadget in Windows 7 is worth more than whole Metro Screen along with Bing Weather on it? Why? Because it is useless and being on Desktop there is no way to look at weather unless i leave everything and go to Metro and take a look of Tile which might even require for me to scroll with the mouse since Start Screen is nothing but cluttered circus mess where without typing name of app good luck finding any shit there.
 


Most people who are in a highly productivity related field have two or more monitors. The way 8.1 works is the monitor you are focused on becomes the start screen. Now a easy way to do it would be to open up search and make it 1/4 of the screen on one screen that way you always have a search open and you can still focus on what is open.

Of course no one is forcing you to use 8.

Getting 7 to boot under UEFI is no big deal. It's the same as getting XP to boot with AHCI, it is possible. The main difference is that 8 was designed to natively take advantage of it. I have one for you to try here. Try and get 7 to load on a GPT partitioned drive. I tried and it is near impossible. Then do it with 8. It will work like a charm as it is the first Windows to support booting from GPT and as well has a new FS in place, just us end users can't really use it right now.

A lot of the improvements are in memory, for instance 8.1 uses less memory when it is a clean OS only install than 7.

I prefer 8.1 overall to 7. I didn't use the start menu at all so it doesn't affect me. Even without it I can navigate through a PC with a keyboard or a command prompt.

What I do find funny is how people call the Start Screen unorganized when in reality you can remove everything that is there and put what you want and organize it how you want it to be.
 
Most people who are in a highly productivity related field have two or more monitors. The way 8.1 works is the monitor you are focused on becomes the start screen. Now a easy way to do it would be to open up search and make it 1/4 of the screen on one screen that way you always have a search open and you can still focus on what is open.Of course no one is forcing you to use 8.Getting 7 to boot under UEFI is no big deal. It's the same as getting XP to boot with AHCI, it is possible. The main difference is that 8 was designed to natively take advantage of it. I have one for you to try here. Try and get 7 to load on a GPT partitioned drive. I tried and it is near impossible. Then do it with 8. It will work like a charm as it is the first Windows to support booting from GPT and as well has a new FS in place, just us end users can't really use it right now.A lot of the improvements are in memory, for instance 8.1 uses less memory when it is a clean OS only install than 7.I prefer 8.1 overall to 7. I didn't use the start menu at all so it doesn't affect me. Even without it I can navigate through a PC with a keyboard or a command prompt. What I do find funny is how people call the Start Screen unorganized when in reality you can remove everything that is there and put what you want and organize it how you want it to be.
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I have only one screen and having search pane opened all the time takes too much of the space but it doesn't matter. In nutshell Windows 8.1 offers nothing over Windows 7 for consumers let alone businesses. I have Windows 7 installed on a GPT partitioned drive, but i agree it is not easy process. About memory i don't know. I really didn't see any differences. Both Windows 8 and Windows 7 idles at 1.5Gb of RAM after clean install. No matter how you organized Start Screen it stays unorganized, as i said looks like cluttered circus. Out of box Windows 8 is a mess so you have to spend time to get that Start Screen meaningful which most people have no time for such crap.
 
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