Windows 8 Windows Users In England WON'T Be Able To Buy Windows 8.1 In High street Stores.

[Andrea Borman]

For the past 3 weeks now I have been trying to buy a windows 8.1 installation DVD so that I can install Windows 8.1 on one of my netbook. So i phoned up PC worls which is the main computer store here in England where I am. The customer services adviser told me they only sell Windows 8 but not Windows 8.1,but maybe they will have it in 2 weeks time. So now 3 weeks later I telephoned PC worlds again yesterday and they told me they won't be getting Windows 8.1 in their high street stores at al,only Windows 8.

So if you have the misfortune of living in England as I do, you either have to download Windows 8.1 though the apps store or buy it direct from Microsoft. Either online from their website or by phoning up Microsoft and ordering over the telephone with a debit or credit card.

First of all because I am running Windows 8 on a netbook,it won't run Metro apps. so updating though the apps store not an option for me. So the only other way is to either buy it online or by phone from Microsoft. At least Microsoft do have the option of ordering over the telephone and the install DVD is then sent to you buy post. Or you can download the Windows 8.1 ISO from the Microsoft website after you have paid for it of course. But it still would be better if we could go out and buy Windows 8.1 in the high street stores but we can't in England I think it's silly.

 

[badrobot]

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[Andrea Borman]

Well I have installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise build which is the trial version.You can use that for three months. I installed it on the other netbook,which is an HP Mini 210. On the MSI wind netbook I have got Windows 8 Pro. To be honest I actually prfer Windows 8 as Windows 8.1 seems to try to push you to use Metro apps. Also I see little point in upgrading to 8.1 if you have already got Windows 8.

One problem is that Microsoft will only support Windows 8 until 2015 then we will have to upgrade to Windows 8.1. But the problem is how can we upgrade when we can't buy it in the shops here? From what I read the end of support for Windows 8 is the same as with Windows XP in april 2014. That is we can still use it after support ends but we won't get any new updates. Although I use Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 and I still get updates. So I don't know quite what they mean. You can buy Windows 8.1 from Microsoft here-
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.288532900
What happens is that once you have put in your payment details on the Microsoft website you are then given both the ISO and product key to download. Which you have to burn to a DVD.
As for the high street stores in England they won't be getting Windows 8.1 at all.

 

[badrobot]

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[Andrea Borman]

Well to make a long story short, there are no high street stores in England that are selling Windows 8.1. They only sell Windows 8. So if you want Windows 8.1 here you have to buy it direct from Microsoft.

 

[badrobot]

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[jerryg50]

For the past 3 weeks now I have been trying to buy a windows 8.1 installation DVD so that I can install Windows 8.1 on one of my netbook. So i phoned up PC worls which is the main computer store here in England where I am. The customer services adviser told me they only sell Windows 8 but not Windows 8.1,but maybe they will have it in 2 weeks time. So now 3 weeks later I telephoned PC worlds again yesterday and they told me they won't be getting Windows 8.1 in their high street stores at al,only Windows 8.

So if you have the misfortune of living in England as I do, you either have to download Windows 8.1 though the apps store or buy it direct from Microsoft. Either online from their website or by phoning up Microsoft and ordering over the telephone with a debit or credit card.

First of all because I am running Windows 8 on a netbook,it won't run Metro apps. so updating though the apps store not an option for me. So the only other way is to either buy it online or by phone from Microsoft. At least Microsoft do have the option of ordering over the telephone and the install DVD is then sent to you buy post. Or you can download the Windows 8.1 ISO from the Microsoft website after you have paid for it of course. But it still would be better if we could go out and buy Windows 8.1 in the high street stores but we can't in England I think it's silly.

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I found with a lot of software, it's best to purchase directly from the manufacture. The process is fairly simple. You only need to use a credit card. With MS it should be extremely safe, and besides with most financial institutions your credit card is protected.

With the upgrade from Win8, to Win8.1, I would believe it is only a simple update download. I have no idea about the cost.

As an IT support professional I would think it would be wise to update to the latest version, because in Win8.1 from what I have been reading there are many bug fixes. They also added stronger security for protection.

As for myself, I am staying with Win7 for a long time. I will be soon building a new server. This one will be running on Win 2008 Server OS. The clients to this one will be using Win7 Pro.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I don't think you really need to buy Windows 8.1.
Unless I'm wrong once you install Windows 8 you can just update through the Windows store for free no matter when you got Windows 8.

That should be pretty simple on a computer that has just had Windows 8 installed.

Personally after trying 8.1 I'm sticking with Windows 8 for a least 6 months, until all the drivers etc catch up.

Mike

 

[BurrWalnut]

Well to make a long story short, there are no high street stores in England that are selling it online. They only sell Windows 8. So if you want Windows 8.1 here you have to buy it direct from Microsoft.

Ebuyer, for example, in England are selling it online, scroll down here http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Software/cat/Microsoft-Windows

 

[Andrea Borman]

Hi

I don't think you really need to buy Windows 8.1.
Unless I'm wrong once you install Windows 8 you can just update through the Windows store for free no matter when you got Windows 8.

That should be pretty simple on a computer that has just had Windows 8 installed.

Personally after trying 8.1 I'm sticking with Windows 8 for a least 6 months, until all the drivers etc catch up.

Mike

That's just it-I can't upgrade though the Apps store because my netbook won't run Metro apps. Also my Windows 8 crashed yesterday night and I had to reinstall Windows 8 again because it would not boot-Blue Screen Of Death. So because Windows 8 is only an upgrade install,I had to first install Windows 7 again then install Windows 8 over it.

Yes I have noticed that Windows 8.1 on my other netbook seems to be a bit more stable than Windows 8, but Windows 8 is slower than Windows 7 and sometimes crashes. But maybe that's because I am running Windows 8 on a netbook. I have installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise Build on the other netbook which is the trial version. That at least gives me an idea of what Windows 8.1 is like. Though if we want to upgrade to the permanent version of Windows 8.1, it looks like we are going to have to buy and install it online from Microsoft As that's the only way we can get it because it's not in any of the shops here.

 

[kemical]

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949)
£106.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-164-MS

 

[jerryg50]

Hi

I don't think you really need to buy Windows 8.1.
Unless I'm wrong once you install Windows 8 you can just update through the Windows store for free no matter when you got Windows 8.

That should be pretty simple on a computer that has just had Windows 8 installed.

Personally after trying 8.1 I'm sticking with Windows 8 for a least 6 months, until all the drivers etc catch up.

Mike

I think you have a valid point there. I know of some cases where some people installed programs that did not qualify for upgrades included, but this is an MS update for Win8 and normally these are free..

Apparently, from what I read MS fixed some security issues. They also added the equivalent to the start button as like with previous versions of Win.

What I would do is make a full backup image of the computer on to an external hard disk (I do this for all my computers) and the also make a restore point. Then I'd install the fill update. With a backup image the computer can be brought back within about 40 minutes or less.

I keep backup images on external drives for our computers. Believe me, I've had to use that backup on a number of occasions because of a drive failure or a bad install.

Jerry Greenberg

 

[Jimbo22]

IMO....the moral of this thread is: Don't buy netbooks....they don't have the necessary core components to run sophisticated software, are not designed for core component upgrades and are not designed for OS upgrades.

 

[strollin]

I don't agree that you shouldn't buy netbooks, I have 2 netbooks, one running 64-bit Win 7 Home Premium and the other running Windows 8.1 Pro. They both run great.

The one with 8.1 is 5 years old and originally came with XP, I think it runs better with 8.1 then it ever did with XP. It can run Metro apps (required 1 minor registry tweak to be able to override the default screen resolution) without issue.

There may be some high end graphics/video editing type stuff that you can't do with a netbook but for everyday use a netbook is more than adequate.

 

[Andrea Borman]

IMO....the moral of this thread is: Don't buy netbooks....they don't have the necessary core components to run sophisticated software, are not designed for core component upgrades and are not designed for OS upgrades.

Yes you are right in that sense. I have been advised on other forums that they don't recommend Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 on a netbook as it cannot run some features,such as Metro apps. If you have netbooks as I have Windows 7 is better as it's more suited to netbooks and older or lighter hardware. That's probably why I am having issues on Windows 8 and am finding it slower than Windows 7 and Windows XP.

Though it's not that you can't run Windows 8 on a netbook such as mine,that was designed for Windows 7 Starter,you can. But you won't be able to run Metro apps,also Windows Vista is another one not recommended for netbooks. As I said I have had to re-install Windows 8 on my MSI Wind netbook because it was running slow yesterday and stopped working after an update. So I have been up all night doing that-Re-instaling everything including the 100 updates from Windows Update.

The irony is that, the regedit to make the screen resolution, does not work on my MSI Wind netbook,yet it works on my other netbook,the HP Mini 210, but I have installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise version on that one. You can use the Enterprise version for 3 months then it deactivates and you have to uninstall. You can buy Windows 8.1 as a download from the Microsoft website but it's £189,see here Microsoft-
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.288532900
But the advantage is that you can do a clean install and install it on any computer that had Windows 7 or Windows XP.