Windows 8 upgrade news

If all this is true looks like if you have xp or newer you can upgrade to windows 8 for around 40 bucks.

Windows 8 Upgrade Offer: $40, Even if Upgrading From Win XP | PCWorld

 

Yes, I'm already going to buy it immediately after it's final release
Very good OS and the price.

 

Hmmm, I think I'll buy one, but it will take some time before I install it. I want to be sure everything plays nice with my workhorse!

 

Hey, this is a great deal! Started working with 8 in beta thru the pre-release. Love the way it works on my 19 MK IV, which is a tablet! I want to know what the Ultimate price will be? I hat "Pro" anything cause it does not give the best functionality for networking, Remote Desktop, etc......

 

You've got that backwards, the Pro and Enterprise version was always the version MS sold to business; it had the best developed driver base and the best networking infrastructure. It was the "Home", "Ultimate" and "Premium" versions which were always reduced functionality in some fashion.

I'll try it at that price. IF it's released with a "Classic" mode that works like Win7. Boy, MS REALLY wants to put a stake through XP's heart to offer 8 at that price... or maybe they realized it's being received as the "Meh." Update... after EVERYBODY told them "Meh."

mnem
I'd buy that for a dollar!

 

and who will "certify" our various model Toughbooks with Win8 first?

 

Does Panasonic even still make Toughbooks? Anyway, W8 is hideous. Is there anyway to get rid of all those pastels? Please tell me it will have extensive customization ala Firefox this go-round?

 

I dunno... does HP still make tvrds with monolithic mainboards that don't survive the warranty period? I know they do - I fix 'em for a living.

Like I said... if Win8 ships with "Classic" mode so it works like Win7 - kewlies; nice & cheap. Otherwise - meh.

mnem
Kindof getting tired of the bloat in FF too, actually...

 

I won't be swapping everything I have over, but I do have 2 or three units that I would like to put 7 on, if 8 is close enough I will just upgrade them for that price. The girlfriend want's 7 back on her CF-19 so I may test out 8 on the spare CF-19 to see if she would want it on there.

As far as XP going anywhere I still see it going for a while. Personally I have started a data base of sp2/sp3 disks and hot fix downloads that are all offline installed. Although if they do keep the price down a lot of people would most likely upgrade. Driver backups too like complete collection of the omega drivers and chipset drivers.

 

X2 on that! I'm trying Chrome, a lot faster but my main gripe is there is no Google Toolbar in Chrome, at least not the full version that I have used for years in FF. I can understand why Google stopped supporting FF when they went to the every 5 minute update model but why not Chrome? As for 8, I'll have to buy a couple of copies at that price but every thing I've seen so far seems to indicate that it is designed for social networking, doesn't anyone use computers for work any more?
CAP

 

Who needs google spys recording my every mouse click. As far as I'm concerned, any lack of g support is a benefit.

 

FF has kind of bloated out some. I still go in and tweak it though. You can turn off just about about anything it has in it including auto page refresh. That with a few choice plugins. You could always try chromium. It's google chrome with with out google.

 

Try Tip #2 here at Toms Hardware ...

 

Not exactly what I had in mind but it is a step in the right direction.

Am I the only one here that feels he just stepped into the kiddy section at the book store? I half expect the icons to start dancing across the screen.

 

In 1980, Xerox had Tiles:



5 years later, Windoze added color:



A couple years after that, Winsurfer added Widgets to the Tiles:



25 years later, Windoze 8 added:



Umm yeah. What an improvement 32 years of evolution makes.


mnem
There is nothing new under the sun.

 

I think there is a way you can keep it off metro and on "desktop" mode. Have to play with it when I get home. I haven't even tested a download yet.

 

It's impossible to disable Metro, and it's even better to have it
System boots into Metro interface and you can press 1 button to switch to classic desktop.
Also I have to say I use both desktop and Metro interfaces, and both are comfortable enough and both complement each other. Windows 8 has very usable menus and many operations have keyboard shortcuts.
I can recommend to get used to it.
When I sometimes have to return to Windows 7 (other PCs) I already feel lack of Windows 8 features

 

Been doing more reading and got more mixed feeling. I got to where I like to dual boot my machines, seems that Microsoft is working on a secure boot feature for windows 8. On some models it might be possible to lock out Linux totally, others say it can be disabled. Just have to wait and see.

 

Well when you consider that Linux is definitely a security exploit for any version I have seen of Windows so far, it is pretty easy to understand.

 

I blame the hair.

mnem
I always blame the hair. You'd be amazed how often I'm right.

 

At that price I will upgrade all of my desktop computers. Don't think it will run on my trusty cf-28 so I will keep XP on that.

 

I am just waiting on the day that they Student version becomes available! If I miss it, someonne please post the lin k when it can be ordered at $40, or less.

 

Wow! I just installed 32 bit W8 Release Preview on my CF-30 MK2. Only 5 devices did not work "out of the box". After using the Vista drivers for Hotkey, Panasonic Misc, etm, and Gobi1000 (from extracted CSA), and installing the latest Panasonic Verizon Access Manager just about everything works. I also installed the Panasonic Common Components, and mouse driver. I am so surprised!! Touchscreen, bluetooth, WIFI, DVD, touchpad, some hotkeys (screen brightness & volume), PC Card slot, ethernet all work.

So far SDHC card reader is the only thing I have found not working. I copied the driver into the system32/sda folder, but still cannot read SD cards or SDHC. A temporary workaround is to use a PC Card SD reader.

 

Tried booting the 32 bit rc on my cf-28 just for fun, would not boot and gave me a bunch of error messages which did not surprise me.

 

Video performance is disappointing. Went to Intel's web site and downloaded GMA 965 driver for Windows 7 32 bit. That did not really improve anything. Compared to XP or Win7, Win8 seems stripped down. Kind of like it is competing with Android, not a complete OS. I'm sure that there are utilities and features that are incomplete or buried in some obscure place, but I already want to go back to Vista! (I didn't think I would ever say that!)

 

It's strange. How do you see it?
My windows graphics index is 2.9 of 9.9 and there are no any slowdowns at all.
It's impossible to use Win7 video drivers in Win8.

 

If you get a new computer you can upgrade for only $14.99 . I just got it for my CF-53 that I just bought .

http://windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US

 

Did they tell you when the product will actually be delivered? Or did they just direct you to the Tech Republic hosting of the latest prerelease?

mnem
L8er, they told me.

 

This is part of the email I got back from them

 

Just to let everyone know, Canon started a drop down for Win 8 on there support/driver/Software page. Nothing is there yet, but hey, maybe Panasonic will get on board soon and start posting drivers for everyone. I have Win 8 Pro (full). Beside a few hotkeys not working, everything else does. Still have XP in 1 caddy, Win 7 64 Bit on 1, and Win 8 on the other. So far, me likey. Want to transfer my Win 8 to SSD soon and see how well it works. I'll update you when I get the drive in a couple of weeks.

 

Not true!

Okay, I have Ultimate in the 64Bit version and it lets me do Remote Desktop and a lot of other stuff the other versions don't. These are the 3 consumer versions off of MS's site:


Windows 7 Home Premium
The best entertainment experience on your PC.

Starting at $119.99

Learn more

Windows 7 Professional
Work from anywhere more easily.

Starting at $199.99

Learn more

Windows 7 Ultimate
More computing power.


Starting at $219.99

Windows 7 Enterprise is offered, but not in the regular page for Win 7 Products. Windows 7 Ultimate is the full blown product with a solid platform of drivers. Enterprise is business oriented, period. Ultimate is the best one for home/office use..... Look at the MS website to verify what I tell you..... Trust, but verify.....

 

For those who really miss the Start button in Windows 8, this 3rd party app works very well to give back the good old Start button:

Welcome to Classic Shell

 

I'm running windows 8 on a CF-19 mk5 after I've finnaly got a second caddy (so I can change quick back to work) and Ihave 6 devices that are unkown. My FW5521G and some ACPI stuff and my hotkeys don't work.

Looking for drivers on the Panasonic site, I found this panasonic driver site
this gives all kinds of drivers for the mk6. Released today, might be handy for some mk5 or perhaps even mk4's
It also has a pdf of what to uninstall before installing win 8 and how and what to install then!

So far Win 8 is driving me mad, I can't find anything anywhere and it's sort of messed up all the way
I'm sure I will get used to it, but the first impression? Nah, no big deal to me. I just keep using win 7 for a while I guess.

 

I started to download 8 and test run it, but the more I read the more I don't think I will be happy with it. I have seen where they said you would be able to stream play you xbox 360 games on it but not much written on that to know for sure.

 

I installed it on my son's desktop computer, in that application i was impressed by it's hardware detection I had network capability and access to the internet without having to install the motherboard drivers, which has never happened to me in a windows installation before.

 

KLonsdale, I installed it on a Thinkpad T61 without needing any drivers!!

But the CF-30 MK2 is another story. No drivers for ETM!! (yet)

 

Just an update to those who signed up for the $12.99 upgrade. Just got my email and promo code. Windows for 12.99, whoo! going to try it on a cf-19 mk2 see how it goes. gonna try to dual boot it.
You will have to place your order then download it after it downloads and decrypts it will give you the option to make an iso, bootable usb or install from desktop.

 

I've bought one for USD 39.99, but I can't find where it is after download ))
Will download again and use serial they've sent me ))

 

Was running Release Preview sort-of-OK on a 29 Mk.5, bought the download today hoping for helpful updates. Chose "keep files" in upgrade assistant... after about an hour or so it tells me it wasn't able to install on this computer. Nothing else. No "because... "
Trying again now having chosen "keep nothing" this time, been on "10% complete" for about 20 minutes now.
Couldn't find any info from MS about just using the product key to activate the already-installed version...
Would I have found it if I'd looked hard enough?
Any advice?

Edit: It's just done the same thing again dammit. I've wasted so much time on this garbage I think I might try to learn Linux.
I want my money back.

 

Choose USB Flash installation or ISO download if you want.
I think Upgrade assistant has been made 25.10.12 23:59 )))
But finally it works.

 

Of course, it's a well-known, well-documented fact that both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs "stole" the GUI concept from Xerox PARC.

If you haven't already seen them, you really need to see The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires (1996) and Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999). The first is a documentary and the second is a "docudrama," and both are very informative and revealing films.

And as to upgrading Panasonic Toughbooks with Win8, consider this requirement from Windows.com:

1366 × 768 screen resolution

DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM driver

To use touch, you need a PC that supports multitouch

 

I believe your problem may be related to AHCI. Of course, the CF-29 doesn't support AHCI. I tried to upgrade to Win8 from Win7 on a CF-74 with the bios set to compatible. Win8 would go thru the motions but, could not install and no reason was given. The installation would roll back to Win7. After changing the bios to AHCI I never tried to install Win8 again.

 

Years ago I worked for a company chairman whose left-field invention distracted him for some time from the real business of the company.
He was an intelligent man but the excitement of his "eureka moment" may have affected his judgement.
I felt at the time that a six-year-old would have seen its flaws - it was an expensive, flashy device offering an unnecessarily complicated alternative to a minor function of an existing integrated system already in universal use. It offered no genuine benefit whatever and it deservedly sank without a trace. True story.

Downloaded the ebay app from the W8 store earlier today and understood why I've vaguely disliked Metro since I first saw Media Centre - which itself always struck me as flashy and pointless.

List view may be old-fashioned and boring but until computers respond intelligently to plain speech... list view seems to make the most sense in most circumstances. If tiles in Metro are stacked 4 high, say 3 screens in width, how do you use alphabetical order, date order - any order but random - without swiping right & left 4 times?

I have a little Asus Google Nexus 7 which lives in a jacket pocket, works as expected and hardly annoys me at all. Haven't used an ipad but people seem to like them.

Hard to find much positive about W8 yet. Wonder who'll be the big dogs in 5 years?

ps @ db04p71 thanks, sorted it earlier though. Minimal cursing, no shots fired.

 

That's one reason why I hate the unity platform on Ubuntu. When it came out it was said "you wanted it here it is" and then the question on the forums was. Who was it they asked, because everyone there wanted it back to normal. Originally it was marketed for netbooks, with the large icons being easier to see on small screen since the purpose of netbook was just that. Surfing the web. No real work going on. Having stuff like that as a option is fine, but when you are forced to use it as defaut. It makes me shy away from it.

I hate to see Ubuntu using it, but at least you can install other desktops easy.

 

1366x768 - only to see 2 Metro applications simultaneously.
I don't know which gpu is in CF-19, but it works very well.
About touch - strange logics. Of course it works well without multitouch.

Win8 works really well. Much better and more comfortable (touch-friendly) than Win7.
I'm going to try Microsoft Surface with both RT and desktop editions.

New Ubuntu interface is awful. And after Windows new price USD 40 I don't understand why someoone would want Ubuntu anymore

 

Will someone please tell me where one of the less then $40 deals is for a Win8 Pro upgrade? I have not purchased a new computer, so I can not take advantage of that deal. I have been able to qualify for the student discount in the past.

 

Download cost me £24.99, I believe in the US the price is $39.99 or so?

Windows Download and Shop - Microsoft Windows

I tried to buy another product key without downloading again but they wanted £49.99 - yeah, right..

 

Folks the Windows upgrade offer is available to anyone for up to 5 pcs. Just go to the upgrade link Windows Upgrade Offer - Landing Page and enter the brand of PC and where you bought it from. Where it asks for the date just enter a date for this year. I used July 2012. I spoke to a Micosoft rep on another forum they just want to get adoption rate up. The upgrade site does not check anything. You should immediately receive 2 emails one with the promo code.

Last thing make sure you enter your email here to receive the Windows Media Player Pack for free.

Add features - Microsoft Windows

these are both for a limited time so get going. Can't beat $16.23 for a copy of Windows 8 to tinker with.

 

My Win7 serials do not pass their verification.

 

I walked in to a Micro Center and walked out with the DVD retail pack.
So far I have not received my Key for Media Center though?