Windows 8.1, Start Menu return

Because just like Vista, MS realized they screwed up by bringing out an inferior OS. So they hurried up and develeped windows 7. Except this time they realized they made a bad mistake by not having the start button included with it. They also realized that sales were bad due to not having the start button included.

Frankly, I don't understand why they made a desktop version of this when its designed more toward touch screens and tablets. There a lot of people in this world that can't adapt to the new way without driving you crazy. I have a few clients that wouldn't be able to navigate windows 8 and would throw the pc out the window, literally.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
No. Windows 8.1 (AKA Windows Blue) is the next version of Windows.
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I don't think that's right. I think it's like what Salvage said, just a few updates for 8. Surely if it were a new OS altogether, it'd be called 'Windows 9'? I think of 8.1 as like a service pack for 8.

Leaked beta builds of 8.1/Blue don't have the start menu, but they were leaked before this was published I suppose.
 
I think microsoft realized they had actually done a good job developing windows 8 and wanted to launch asap. I work in retail and microsoft partnered to offer all sorts of promotions for windows 8. It was at a time when retail pc sales were in decline due to the overwhelming popularity of tablets and smartphones (and users). Windows 8 caught the people that will buy anything new, and the people who had something so old they were waiting for some outrageous promotion to finally upgrade. Plus it caught the people that knew they needed a new pc, and windows 8 "looked cooler" and "more like a tablet or smartphone" than previous versions.
 
johnb35 said:
Because just like Vista, MS realized they screwed up by bringing out an inferior OS. So they hurried up and develeped windows 7. Except this time they realized they made a bad mistake by not having the start button included with it. They also realized that sales were bad due to not having the start button included.

Frankly, I don't understand why they made a desktop version of this when its designed more toward touch screens and tablets. There a lot of people in this world that can't adapt to the new way without driving you crazy. I have a few clients that wouldn't be able to navigate windows 8 and would throw the pc out the window, literally.
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I think you'll see every laptop with a touchscreen within a year. It will probably be cheaper for manufacturing to have one process rather than 2.
 
spirit said:
I don't think that's right. I think it's like what Salvage said, just a few updates for 8. Surely if it were a new OS altogether, it'd be called 'Windows 9'? I think of 8.1 as like a service pack for 8.

Leaked beta builds of 8.1/Blue don't have the start menu, but they were leaked before this was published I suppose.
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I was hoping that it would be a service pack but looking into it more it looks like it will be a new version. The good thing is that it looks like it will be sold at a lower price.
 
salvage-this said:
I was hoping that it would be a service pack but looking into it more it looks like it will be a new version. The good thing is that it looks like it will be sold at a lower price.
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How much lower can they go lol they offered 8 at $69US for quite a while.
 
salvage-this said:
I was hoping that it would be a service pack but looking into it more it looks like it will be a new version. The good thing is that it looks like it will be sold at a lower price.
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That's an annoyance. That's also not what I was hearing a few weeks ago. :(

There's meant to be a public beta out soon apparently http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/27/4152168/windows-blue-public-preview-build-developer-conference

I'm wondering whether to go back to 8 once AMD have got their drivers sorted out, or just to wait for 8.1 to be released...
 
I think it could be a good thing depending on how MS does it. If they hold out on releasing updates till new versions come out then it will be a bad thing. If they release new versions at lower prices more frequently (for the full OS not upgrade) I can see there being less pirating and lower costs for system builders.

EDIT: I didn't realize that you went back to 7. I thought you really enjoyed using 8?
 
salvage-this said:
I didn't realize that you went back to 7. I thought you really enjoyed using 8?
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Yeah I'm on 7 Ultimate at the moment. I did like 8, yeah, it was quite nice (better than Vista, certainly), but sadly AMD drivers and Photoshop weren't playing nice on 8 for me (or anyone, looking online).

The problem I was having with Photoshop was that the screen kept flickering (going black etc) due to the graphics drivers not having good enough support for GPU acceleration. If I disabled GPU acceleration in Photoshop, the problem went away, but it was so slow. I've been looking on AMD's site since about the middle of March for driver updates (not betas, mind you) and the latest driver (13.1) is the one I already have installed - and it was released in January.

I did read however that the 13.3 Beta drivers they've put up fix some OpenGL issues, so it may sort the problem, but I'm not one for beta driver software of any kind to be honest.

Although reading that a beta of 8.1 is around the corner kind of suggests that 8.1 will be here soon(ish), so hopefully by the time 8.1 comes out, AMD will have sorted the problem. 8.1 looks to be an improvement over 8, and if we're not going to have to wait too long for it, it makes sense to stick with 7 until 8.1 comes out and probably forget about 8 (for me at least).

Being into photography and all that, I use Photoshop a lot, so it was a pest that it kept playing up with 8.
 
That makes sense. It seems like there are a lot of driver problems with 8. I had a free licence that I couldn't even give to the girlfriend because I spent a week trying to get it to stop crashing. Eventually we just went out and bought 7 and it works perfectly now.
 
8's not had the best start I don't think. I had to update my motherboard BIOS before it would even recognise my 2TB hard drive. Not a biggie, but kind of annoying.

Though I do think a start button (even if it takes you to the tiles menu) and a 'boot to desktop' option is going to make 8.1 better than 8 for me at least. What I'd really like to see in 8.1 too is an easier way of shutting down. Since when was shutting down your computer a setting? That's one thing I really didn't like about 8.
 
Did you guys read the article? The Start button is there but it just takes you to the Start screen. Instead of moving the mouse to the corner to popup the icon for the Start screen you'll be able to click a button. Big deal.

Now the boot to desktop option is one that I would look forward to. Not sure I would pay for an upgrade to get it though.
 
strollin said:
Did you guys read the article? The Start button is there but it just takes you to the Start screen. Instead of moving the mouse to the corner to popup the icon for the Start screen you'll be able to click a button. Big deal.

Now the boot to desktop option is one that I would look forward to. Not sure I would pay for an upgrade to get it though.
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Yeah I did read it, hence why I said 'Though I do think a start button (even if it takes you to the tiles menu)'

I think it's a step in the right direction. I don't have a problem with the tiles replacing the start menu really. It was just the lack of a start button itself which was a bit weird to me. Maybe they could make it easier to shut down your PC too - and it make easier to exit metro apps (the whole 'drag the window down' thing doesn't work great with a mouse.) That'd be nice.
 
spirit said:
8's not had the best start I don't think. I had to update my motherboard BIOS before it would even recognise my 2TB hard drive. Not a biggie, but kind of annoying.

Though I do think a start button (even if it takes you to the tiles menu) and a 'boot to desktop' option is going to make 8.1 better than 8 for me at least. What I'd really like to see in 8.1 too is an easier way of shutting down. Since when was shutting down your computer a setting? That's one thing I really didn't like about 8.
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I used ALT F4 on the desktop or Windows Key + I to get to the settings menu. That was quite a bit faster for me when I used 8

You could also make a shortcut to run the command shutdown t/0 I think that also works.

strollin said:
Did you guys read the article? The Start button is there but it just takes you to the Start screen. Instead of moving the mouse to the corner to popup the icon for the Start screen you'll be able to click a button. Big deal.

Now the boot to desktop option is one that I would look forward to. Not sure I would pay for an upgrade to get it though.
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The start screen was not the problem for me. It was just that it was built with gestures in mind. So a mouse and keyboard seemed harder to use than if I had a tablet. Having the start menu icon and booting strait to desktop will help bring it back to something that desktop users might more familiar with.
 
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salvage-this said:
I used ALT F4 on the desktop or Windows Key + I to get to the settings menu. That was quite a bit faster for me when I used 8
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Yeah, most ordinary people won't figure that out though. I honestly think what Microsoft had in mind was that if you wanted to turn off your PC, you did it literally, by pressing the power button.
 
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