do I want 8.1?

[stuck]

The Win 8.0 laptop I'm configuring seems to have at last finished installing all 'Important' updates that are on offer at the moment.

So now the crunch. Do I install 8.1 and set about fully updating that? Or do I stay with Win 8.0?

This laptop is for my elderly mother. Her limited PC experience is with XP so I want this laptop to be as mouse friendly and look as close to XP as it possibly can be without resorting to third party stuff. As far as I can make out you can't get 8.0 to got straight to the desktop but you can do that in 8.1 so that's one vote for install 8.1.

On the other hand Win 8.1 still seems to be in a state of flux, with a second sizeable update due in August. That sounds like a vote for 8.0. Especially when I explain that although my mother lives reasonably close by, she's not so close I can nip round and fix anything in a matter of minutes. Also for other reasons, it is rarely practical for me to do 'PC stuff' when I visit. Thus if the laptop requires major attention at any time (e.g. to apply a significant update) she will be left without it for a few days while tinker with it at home.

DaveA has already mentioned another thread that he's updated several 8.0 systems to 8.1 without problems. He also pointed out that many of the horror stories about the recent update to 8.1 are associated with machines that had been already been upgraded from 7 to 8.0. This laptop is is box fresh. A shiney new OEM istallation. All I've done is apply updates, during which process I had to choose a browser and that installed Firefox 29. That sound like a second vote for 8.1

Any one care to add an opinion?

I know that in the end I just have to make a choice.

Ken

[BenCasey]

[quote=Any one care to add an opinion?
I know that in the end I just have to make a choice.
Ken[/quote]

Probably won't be of much help but I had a new PC with 8.0 installed and upgraded to 8.1 without any problems.

[stuck]

Thanks Ben, the more good experiences the better.

Meanwhile, another vote for 8.1 perhaps?...

If you browse to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/wind ... =windows-8 despite the URL ending '=windows-8' the help is for 8.1 or RT 8.1. I must be missing something or does the MS website really not give help for 8.0?

Ken

[John Gray]

Why don't you want third party programs like StartIsBack or Classic Shell? That will bring Windows 8 back to as close to XP as you'll get.

But you'll need to upgrade to 8.1 then 8.1.1...

[Rudi]

I've been running Win 8.1 for a few months now and have zero issues with it!
I see no reason why you should not upgrade.
If anything, the bugs of Win 8.0 are resolved.

[PaulB]

For what it's worth, I went from Win 7 to Win 8, 8.1 and now Win 8.1 Update with no issues at all. Of course, YMMV. As an experienced and conscientious computer user, you will no doubt take comprehensive backups along the way in case things go wrong. So, where is the risk?

[DaveA]

Yes, get 8.1, as MS will not be providing update for it after December 2014.

Get the Classic Shell at http://www.classicshell.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JoeP]

IIRC, if you upgrade using the Windows Store you now get Windows 8.1 Update not just 8.1. There will be a few patches to apply afterward. I recommend you go to 8.1 with the Update. I've been running it on three machines since you could get it manually without problems.

If your mom is just using the PC for email and web browsing just pin those shortcuts to the task bar plus any others that are frequently used. You can configure the PC to boot straight to the desktop if you choose.

Joe

[BenCasey]

you will no doubt take comprehensive backups along the way in case things go wrong.

Here is what I have recently found and used. Seems to work ok but the proof is in the restoring - but I am not brave enough to try it as a test.
Oh, and its FREE. http://www.backup-utility.com/?adb

[Cah]

I'm sticking with 8.0 and have no intention of moving to 8.1. I don't like the changes to search nor the further cloud integration and spying (search results sent to Microsoft by default). In your situation I'd definitely look at Classic Shell. I wish Windows 8 came without all that extra Microsoft Account guff to wade out of.

[BenCasey]

I'd definitely look at Classic Shell

Yes, I am running Classic Shell. I think the Metro look would be fine for a normal user or Silver Citizen who would never want to "look under the hood", but for the likes of us (if I may presume) then it is a distraction.

[stuck]

...(search results sent to Microsoft by default)...

I don't follow. You mean MS tracks every search you do on your own PC, e.g. I'm looking for all my photos with file names 'IMG_11*' and I find 80 files, MS records that sort of info???

Or are you saying MS tracks your Internet searching? Surely they will always done that if you use Bing? Google tracks people using their search engine. Or is it that MS track Internet searching even if your default browser is Firefox and your default search engine in Google? But if you're not signed in to your PC with an MS account, i.e. you are using a local account, how can they track you at that level?

Ken

[Cah]

Lost the links to the first articles I saw mentioning this; but see this Technodify page and this PureInfoTech page.

If smart search isn't switched off then data of your internal PC searches are sent to Microsoft. Not sure how that works if you are not using a Microsoft account or not connected to the internet. I wouldn't be surprised if it kept the data until such time as it could be sent.

Anyway, I really dislike the way Windows 8 keeps trying to push the user into using a Microsoft Account and the loss of privacy that entails. I won't be getting further editions of Windows unless there is a significant change of direction.

[stuck]

Thanks for the heads up about this 'interesting' behaviour'. I might have missed it otherwise.

Thankfully the article at Technodify says:

You can disable the Smart Search feature by just going to “PC Settings” and then on “Search and Apps menu,” from there you have to set the “Get search suggestions and Web results from Bing” option to the “Off” Position and you are done.

That sounds like a plan to me.

Ken

[Cah]

What's the betting that the option to switch it off will disappear in the next version?

[HansV]

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

[stuck]

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

have you been reading this article:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley ... ventually/

Ken

[HansV]

No, I hadn't read that...

[BenCasey]

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

or it could say:
"Your wife will assimilate you. Romance is futile" :

[stuck]

A couple of you have asked why don't I want a third party tool to make 8 behave like XP.

The Forbes article I linked to above when Hans joked about 'resistance is futile' covers it. Like it or not 8 style thinking is here to stay so I may as well get used to it. Much the same as years on I still don't like the Ribbon in Office but I have got used to it.

Ken