Microsoft® Windows 8 Pro

Comments about Microsoft� Windows 8 Pro:

I wanted my own copy of Windows 8 after using the copy I got from MSDN through my school for a couple months. The copy from MSDN was either an OEM copy, or developers copy because my installation today took a surprise turn.

While shopping today for this product I specifically asked the EasyTech guy if this was a full retail product at this price. I was told that it was in fact a full retail version, and that I would not need to "upgrade" a Windows 7 machine - rather I could perform a "clean" install with this disk.

While it was true, yes, I could install from a fresh hard drive - what I couldn't do was activate after installation. The installation process took the product key in the packaging just fine, but once inside Windows 8, activation failed and I was told my product key was not valid for clean installations by the error window. I also had an annoying watermark on the bottom right hand of my screen.

I ended up calling the Microsoft Support number at microsoft.com/support and they told me that the retail version of Windows is not eligible for clean installing, only upgrading..where you will be given the option to wipe all data and do a clean install. (meaning, a copy of Windows XP, Vista or 7 must have been present on the hard dirve before installation began.)

The tech support woman at Microsoft lead me through a few actions, gave me a "code" to enter in(not the typical box A, box B, etc, etc), had me reboot and when it came back up, my product was activated.

Seems like this is something they should know at the store, as well as something that should be written on the product box somewhere. I have read a lot about Windows 8 over the last month or so, and until today hadn't come across anything remotely related to these issues.

All in all, I'm very happy with Win8, but know in advance, clean installs are "interesting" to say the least. OEM disks, from what I've read will still clean install however.

Comments about Microsoft� Windows 8 Pro:

It is nice to be able to get new versions of Windows without having to bleed through Beta testing, yet not have to pay full retail.

Don't know how Quill managed to offer it so much lower than my favorite discount vendors are charging.

Comments about Microsoft� Windows 8 Pro:

May be great for some. I have an all in one touchscreen 23" HP that is only about a year old with Windows 7. I tried three times to install this with no luck.

Comments about Microsoft� Windows 8 Pro:

Quickest Windows setup ever, boots rapidly. Otherwise a very poor choice for business. The "Full Screen" versions of programs have no real options for power users - IE in Win8 native mode is buggy, doesn't do tabs any more, and you can't get at the real IE settings unless you plow through to control panel - and even then they only affect IE if run from the neutered "desktop" they throw in.

Want to get at your files? Good luck with that! They do everything they can to hide your own computer from you. Fine on a phone, NOT fine for a work computer.

The "Metro" interface is eye candy, distracting, and impossible to get around. Sure you can "pin" things to it, but this doesn't work well, and I don't want to spend my time re-arranging my workspace all the time. Want to change it? Nope, you're stuck with their colors, shapes, and stupid animations.

Calendar STILL doesn't support open standards like Caldav, so that's worthless if you're trying to sync with anything non-microsoft (Google? Yahoo? Nope.)

In short it is a gimmicky waste of time.

Avoid using it for work computers.

Comments about Microsoft� Windows 8 Pro:

This is the new wave of Windows operating systems. First, let me say that I've been using this since the release. I did use the Release Preview for a while but decided to go back to Windows 7.

I love everything about Windows 8. You can too, if you give a chance. The new start menu interface is such a breath of fresh air. Long gone is the start menu we've all grown accustom to. However, the new interface is very efficent, fast, and easy to use once you learn how to.

I love the App store, its like having a tablet built into my PC as far as the store goes. Games, apps are being added everyday. Its just like the app store on Apple or Android, just not as many yet since its still brand new.

All of my old programs still work in Windows 8. The ability to switch to the classic desktop view with the press of a button is nice, however I don't really need it much anymore since I can control everything from the new start interface.

The customization of the new start screen is very nice and I am always changing my colors/wallpaper.

The startup time is considerablly faster in Windows 8. I can boot from the POST screen within 15 seconds. The refresh / reinstall option is nice if you ever need to format. No longer will you need a disc to reinstall, you can do it within the settings menu.

Overall its a dramatic change from what we are all used to, but if you can give the new interface a chance, you'll love it.

I use this with a regular desktop, not a touch screen and have no problems at all navigating.

For the price, you can't beat it!

Comments about Microsoft� Windows 8 Pro:

I installed Windows 8 on my laptop and desktop. I have high end Dell XPS computers and they are currently worthless since installing the Windows 8. There is very little support out there and the drivers are not available to make things work with the new operating system. I have spent days trying to make everything work. I finally gave up this morning and attempted to restore. This made it even worse. I had to contact Dell (more hours) and they are sending out a disk for me to revert back to Windows 7. Even the Quill site will not interact with Windws 8 and the IE version for Windows 8. I had to go to a laptop that is still using Windows 7 to do this review. When I contacted Quill they would not refund the 2 used Windws 8 disks, only the other 2 that had not been installed yet. I have not tried Windows 8 on a machine that came factory with it but I can tell you not to "upgrade" to Windws 8. Save your energy and dont get frusterated as I have. Windows 8 is nothing like previous versions of Windows. It is very hard to find things that I have known where to locate them for years.