Win 8.1 - a few questions

[Muckster]

I've really had no experience with windows 8 and I'm happy with windows 7, but I think for my next gaming PC I'm going with windows 8. I've read a few reviews and watched videos comparing 7 & 8 and overall it sounds like I might as well go with 8. In particular, I'd be looking for Windows 8.1 Home Premium 64 bit OEM.

Q. If I buy windows 8 OEM home premium 64bit, I can just upgrade to 8.1 for free, right?

Q. Sometimes I see windows listed as including certain service packs. Does this really matter? Regardless of what win 8 oem I get, I can still get all the service packs, right?

Q. Any last minute attempts to argue against windows 8 in favor of 7? Seems .1 got over most of the major gripes.

Q. I'm just an internet user/gamer doing occasional LAN play with the family, maybe 3 players, and I like to sometimes run a "projector" (2nd tv). I can do everything I want with windows 7. Going form 7 to 8, has anything significant been left out besides Shadow Copy? Is home premium the best choice for me?

Thanks. I'm really just looking to make sure I didn't miss some obvious problems/handicaps/etc.

 

[USAFRet]

1. Yes, you can upgrade to 8.1 for free

2. Yes.

3. Not from me. I like 8/8.1

4. Nothing really has been left out. And there is no Home Premium anymore. Win 8, or Win 8 Pro. The non-Pro will work just fine.

 

[Muckster]

Q. (forgot to ask). I heard Win 8 comes with a lot of bloatware. Is it easy to prevent or cleanly uninstall the bloatware? Also, what are the privacy concerns? Is win 8, in any way, more invasive on your privacy? Does it collect more information about your use, use any kind of DRM, etc?

I've been looking for a good review/walkthrough that will help me anticipate the kind of information windows will ask during the install. What can I skip and/or what must I install for full functions, etc. That sort of thing. Generally, I run a bare bones OS usually using 3rd party software for audio, video, web browsing, email, etc.

 

[Muckster]

1. Yes, you can upgrade to 8.1 for free

2. Yes.

3. Not from me. I like 8/8.1

4. Nothing really has been left out. And there is no Home Premium anymore. Win 8, or Win 8 Pro. The non-Pro will work just fine.

Thanks for the reply. Okay, so it looks like Windows 8 OEM 64bit is all I need to know when making a purchase. I'll do a little homework on the difference between the regular and pro versions. As you say, I expect the standard version will do me fine. I threw in another question on this thread that perhaps you could have a go at? Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

Q. (forgot to ask). I heard Win 8 comes with a lot of bloatware. Is it easy to prevent or cleanly uninstall the bloatware? Also, what are the privacy concerns? Is win 8, in any way, more invasive on your privacy? Does it collect more information about your use, use any kind of DRM, etc?

I've been looking for a good review/walkthrough that will help me anticipate the kind of information windows will ask during the install. What can I skip and/or what must I install for full functions, etc. That sort of thing. Generally, I run a bare bones OS usually using 3rd party software for audio, video, web browsing, email, etc.

No, there really isn't bloatware with a vanilla Win8 install. Not like you'd get with a prebuilt machine, and whatever junk the manufacturer wants you to have.

Also, when you install, you do NOT have to sign up for a Microsoft account. You can, as I do, just use a local account. It kind of guides you into making/using a Microsoft account, but that is absolutely not required if you do not want to.

 

[Muckster]

Q. (forgot to ask). I heard Win 8 comes with a lot of bloatware. Is it easy to prevent or cleanly uninstall the bloatware? Also, what are the privacy concerns? Is win 8, in any way, more invasive on your privacy? Does it collect more information about your use, use any kind of DRM, etc?

I've been looking for a good review/walkthrough that will help me anticipate the kind of information windows will ask during the install. What can I skip and/or what must I install for full functions, etc. That sort of thing. Generally, I run a bare bones OS usually using 3rd party software for audio, video, web browsing, email, etc.

No, there really isn't bloatware with a vanilla Win8 install. Not like you'd get with a prebuilt machine, and whatever junk the manufacturer wants you to have.

Also, when you install, you do NOT have to sign up for a Microsoft account. You can, as I do, just use a local account. It kind of guides you into making/using a Microsoft account, but that is absolutely not required if you do not want to.

Can you explain a little more what you mean by "use local account"? Do you still have to supply an email address or anything? Does electing NOT to get a MS account cause you to lose any significant features?

 

[Muckster]

Q. Is there any way I can LEGALLY try windows 8? I know windows 7 you could run on trial for a while without the key. I did this before eventually buying a win 7 home premium OEM license. I did this by borrowing a friend's windows install DVD. Can I do something similar with win 8, or better yet, can I download a legal image from MS or some other legitimate website?

 

[USAFRet]

Can you explain a little more what you mean by "use local account"? Do you still have to supply an email address or anything? Does electing NOT to get a MS account cause you to lose any significant features?

During and after the install, it's going to ask you to create an account. The default concept is to create or use an existing microsoft account.
This is not required. You can just create a local user account and password.
Recommendation....create a local account with a strong password. This will be the Admin account. Maybe MucksterAdmin.
After that, create a regular user account for everyday operations. MucksterNormalGuy.
When you need to do anything that required admin priv, you enter the password you created for MucksterAdmin.

I've not seen any deficits by using just a local account vs a Microsoft account.

 

[USAFRet]

Q. Is there any way I can LEGALLY try windows 8? I know windows 7 you could run on trial for a while without the key. I did this before eventually buying a win 7 home premium OEM license. I did this by borrowing a friend's windows install DVD. Can I do something similar with win 8, or better yet, can I download a legal image from MS or some other legitimate website?

The only legal trial I've seen is Windows 8 Enterprise.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/windows-8/default.aspx

If you do, be prepared for a full reinstall when you decide to buy regular Win 8.

 

[USAFRet]

In reality, though...when you go to Win 8.1, the visual differences between that and 7 are very little. If you want them to be.
You can tell 8.1 to boot directly into the desktop as opposed to Metro. So you get a regular desktop looking screen, instead of the tiles interface.

And even with just Win8, I rarely see the Metro interface. Dual screen....the primary boots into Metro, the secondary monitor shows the desktop. A single click on the desktop screen and Metro is banished until I call it up for some reason.

 

[Muckster]

Can you explain a little more what you mean by "use local account"? Do you still have to supply an email address or anything? Does electing NOT to get a MS account cause you to lose any significant features?

During and after the install, it's going to ask you to create an account. The default concept is to create or use an existing microsoft account.
This is not required. You can just create a local user account and password.
Recommendation....create a local account with a strong password. This will be the Admin account. Maybe MucksterAdmin.
After that, create a regular user account for everyday operations. MucksterNormalGuy.
When you need to do anything that required admin priv, you enter the password you created for MucksterAdmin.

I've not seen any deficits by using just a local account vs a Microsoft account.

Okay, so the user account is just the user accounts like Windows 7 had? Technically I could just create MucksterAdmin as the sole user account and use the PC from that login, so to speak? Your suggestion that I create a second MucksterNormalGuy is simply a matter of option security, right?

The M$ account would be the only way to access the cloud based functions, right?

 

[USAFRet]

Okay, so the user account is just the user accounts like Windows 7 had? Technically I could just create MucksterAdmin as the sole user account and use the PC from that login, so to speak? Your suggestion that I create a second MucksterNormalGuy is simply a matter of option security, right?

The M$ account would be the only way to access the cloud based functions, right?

Right. that second account would be just my personal preference

As far as the cloud apps, I've not seen any issue with only having a local account. I just installed a free game from the Store (Toy Story something) and it did not ask, it just did it.

 

[Muckster]

Compared to Win 7, how does Win 8 fair for privacy and personal information? Is there monitoring or data collecting software? Is "the cloud" like Steam for gaming with an option to store your data for a price? Either way there must be some kind of login process for that. Also, does Win 8 have some kind of built in backup imaging software?