New Laptop Full HD Touchscreen Win 8.1

[TrevorS]

So I just took delivery of a 1080p touchscreen laptop and updated it to Win 8.1.

I have to say I am overall very impressed.

There are definitely menus and navigation that are confusing and somewhat haphazard which may or may not become easier with use and / or further upgrades.

But my overall impression is that the core concept behind apps and tiles and web integration is very well executed as are some of the apps themselves.

By including high quality apps for news, weather, travel they've also demonstrated what this operating system can do.

I don't think I need to go to any other news site based on the functionality of the News App. It does things I haven't seen anywhere before and it does them so well. As with the OS as a whole, I think the left to right scrolling is a revolution.

The weather app gives me access to info I usually search for across several sites and the travel app lets you look at all the major travel websites in one place. The finance app is very good as well. The bringing together of content in a format far superior than websites is a huge plus for me.

We have Windows XP, Windows 7, an iPad, an iPhone and a Nexus 7 already in our home. So I'm very used to working with different systems. I'm actually thinking that Windows 8.1 on a regular laptop sized screen could well be my favorite. And I'm also excited at the idea of it syncing across different devices so that I could buy a smaller tablet or phone for casual portable use.

 

[Burt]

I have just spent 20 hours upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 8.1 only to be told "oh didn't we tell you all your archived emails and contacts from outlook express aren't transferrable?" Supposedly there are third party programs out there that will convert, but good luck with that, particularly if you have a 64 bit machine.

And you have to first install windows 8, then a bunch of upgrades, then finally 8.1. You would think you could do load 8.1 in one process, but no.

Personally I think that MS is playing catch up, trying to force fit tablet touch based software on PC's and that this is the beginning of the end for MS. I'm going Mac next time.

You sound like a commercial for MS.

End of rant.

 

[TrevorS]

LOL

It took me a while to give up my Blackberry for an iPhone and once I did I understood what the fuss was about though I still miss a few features.

I do think that the iOS 7 update is on balance a step back. It's less intuitive.

There are certain things in Win8.1 that are intuitive and fresh new ways of doing things. So many websites are slow and badly organized. It was great to see these new apps displaying content in an intuitive and beautiful way.

Of course, there are classic Microsoft touches everywhere. I do hope they put resources into continuous improvement and are willing to get the details right.

 

[eljefino]

I got a sweet deal on a win 8 computer, more money off than the OS was worth. (That's how you move some silicon!)

So I put Ubuntu on as a dual boot and still came out ahead.

I heard about 8.1 fixing some interface issues, so upgraded that side of the computer.

My dual-boot setup has me turning off/ bypassing a "secure boot" portion of the BIOS and Win 8.1 is thanking me by putting a nag screen on my desktop, similar to the one you get when your windows license is suspect.

This is like buying a brand new car with the "Check Engine" light already on.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Burt
Personally I think that MS is playing catch up, trying to force fit tablet touch based software on PC's and that this is the beginning of the end for MS. I'm going Mac next time.


I just went the other way in our house. I was a Windows guy forever, and bought a used iMac from my brother a year or two ago. It's somewhat current, a 24" Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz model with 4 GB of DDR2. I started with Snow Leopard, then went to Mountain Lion, and now Lion. It's been okay, but my wife and I have just never gotten used to the Mac OS; we're both so much more proficient with Windows. A potential hard drive failure in the iMac spelled the end of it for me. I'm not interested in taking the 3 hours to replace it, only to have a machine that I still can't upgrade.

We bought a Windows 8 desktop a few weeks ago, and frankly, I'm blown away at how far Microsoft has come with their OS and cloud software integration. Apple's was always pretty silly. You have to have iCloud-enabled applications to be able to use iCloud. We don't, so in the end, we had to rely on Google Drive or Microsoft SkyDrive anyway.

Microsoft has EXCELLENT Office functionality on SkyDrive; the web version of Office offers probably 75% of the functionality of the desktop version...all for free with your free Microsoft account. The integration of SkyDrive in 8.1 is fantastic; SkyDrive is integrated in with the OS, so there are no synchronization apps to download or have running all the time.

I moved to Apple to try something different a few years ago, and have come to realize that while it works fine, I don't gain anything from it, and in fact lose a lot of cloud functionality with the Apple ecosystem. As cloud-enabled as they purport themselves to be, you can't use much of it unless you invest completely in their OS and productivity software.

As they say, "the grass is always greener..."

 

[webfors]

You can go straight to Windows 8.1, as long as you're using the 8.1 ISO. I performed an install this weekend on a new PC I built for my wife. It was the easiest install ever.

I would never recommend an upgrade in place. Always a new install from scratch. It's annoying to reinstall your programs and restore your documents, but almost always easier than the issues you run into with an upgrade.