Windows 8 Pro for $39.99

[jon]

Blogging Windows
Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99
July 02, 2012
by Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft

We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8. Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.

When you use Windows.com to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant makes upgrading simple by walking you through the upgrade process step-by-step from purchase to download and then of course installation.

The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant will check to make sure your PC is ready for Windows 8. It will provide a detailed compatibility report that lets you know of anything you may have to address before or after the upgrade and outlines actions to take.

It will also inform you of any application or device compatibility issues. It will ask you what you want to keep from your current Windows installation. You will be able to upgrade from any consumer edition of Windows 7 to Windows 8 Pro and bring everything along which includes your Windows settings, personal files, and apps. If you are upgrading from Windows Vista, you will be able to bring along your Windows settings and personal files, and if you are upgrading from Windows XP you will only be able to bring along your personal files. Of course, if you want to start fresh, you can choose to bring nothing along. Or if you prefer to format your hard drive as part of your upgrade experience, you can do so as long as you boot from media and then format your hard drive from within the setup experience for installing Windows 8, not prior to it.

ref. - http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bl ... 39-99.aspx

Alternatively, if you buy/bought a Win 7 machine on or after June 2nd, the price drops to $14.99 for the upgrade:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... rade_en-us

Support ends for Windows XP in 2014.

[PMC]

Buy a Google Nexus for $200, it is a better deal... oops it seems they are all sold out, and the stores are begging for more

[jon]

For Canadians, the link is:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/wind ... e_FPP_Null

Though it probably won't work until after midnight tonight.

Before ordering the upgrade, you may want to be sure it will work by running the Upgrade Assisant, which identifies any incompatible hardware or software:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/wind ... -windows-8
Again, the link should work properly after midnight.

They also offer a copy on DVD for $69.99, but you can get it for that price at amazon.ca, too.

[albertaboy4life]

So far so good, for the most part, on my acer laptop.

It was a bit of a hassle figuring out where the non-Microsoft programmes had gone. Search must make sense to some folks. Not sure the term applies after I know that's where to find the non-Microsoft programmes. I could see the gui working well on a touch screen but don't I have that feature.

My laptop, a cheap and simple machine bought at Staples, was sold with Windows 7 using an AMD Athlon X2 processor M300 (2.0 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache) and 3 GB of memory. Performance wise it has not noticeably slowed down my machine.

Better integration with Office 2010 would have been nice. Windows Mail on my machine does not like TELUS e-mail and killed it entirely after the mail programme shutdown twice in a row.

[jon]

Still lots to figure out, but it did install correctly on my Dell desktop. Only program I had to uninstall was Microsoft's own Excel Viewer.

At first, I couldn't find Windows Live Mail, and ended up cancelling out of the Mail program that comes with Windows 8 after getting confused over what e-mail address it wanted. Then Windows Live Mail suddenly appeared in the Start area, and it started up just fine.

Be warned, Windows 8 Pro is a 2GB download.

[jon]

It was a bit of a hassle figuring out where the non-Microsoft programmes had gone. Search must make sense to some folks. Not sure the term applies after I know that's where to find the non-Microsoft programmes.

By accident, I found that hitting the Start button on your keyboard, then right mouse clicking anywhere on the screen, gives you an All Apps choice in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click on it and there are all your programs.

[albertaboy4life]

Nice! Thank you, jon. That's a very handy feature.

I've killed my mail and messenger tiles. They quit responding so I access mail and messengers individually using the quick find method you discovered.

[jon]

I access mail and messengers individually using the quick find method you discovered.

Just in case you (and anyone else using Win8) are not aware of it, you can put programs to the right of the "big tiles" by right mouse clicking it in All Apps and clicking on Pin to Start in the task bar at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, it does not seem to work for files.

Another thing it took me a while to figure out is how to get out of Start and All Apps and the task bar below them: keep hitting the Esc key until you get back to the Desktop or whatever you had maximized previously.

And, the fastest way to get to Start now is with with Start button on your keyboard. I haven't found an instant point and click method on the screen with the mouse, though many ways do work if you are patient and move your mouse just right.