Windows 8.1

So, who else is busy downloading the update ?

Let the lemmings do it first.

Fair enough.

At 3.62GB it does seem to be rather... small... for what was needed to upgrade Windows 8.

It's also odd that it is being done through the Store - I suppose to stop those with "invalid" copies...

I can't remember exactly what size Windows 8 was, but that sounds to be much the same.

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

It's also odd that it is being done through the Store - I suppose to stop those with "invalid" copies...

Perhaps so, but don't be too quick to judge, because I am logged in with a local account (not a microsoft account etc) and it is letting me download Windows 8.1. I think the back-end transfer technologies in the store are similiar to that used by Windows Update so it is the logical place to put it. Also, if it was done via Windows Update it would cause a problem for corporate customers who use WSUS (especially if they had it on auto-approve!)

The size is roughly the same as Windows 8 was...

Quite possible there.

It takes a loooong time to install (half an hour on my machine) and so far 45 minutes on my Dad's...

Microsoft seem to have gotten rid of the Windows Experience Index which is a shame - but then I suppose few people actually used it.

The default Windows theme (of various shades of orange) is a bit garish - and they have removed the default backgrounds too, which is a shame.

The new look charms will take a bit of getting used to but they do look better.

Mail is still limited (cant request read receipts).

Overall, its rather nice

Hint:

When you install 8.1 it will try to insist that you sign on with an e-mail account. Just put a dummy, but valid, e-mail address in with any old password and continue. It will then say something like "there is an error with that e-mail address" and asks if you want to continue without using one - i.e. using a local account.

I now remember having to do it with the pre-release, but it stumped me for a couple of minutes just now.

the official reason for ditching the WEI is they feel its not relevant, people dont use it etc.

I suspect its more to do with them focusing on touch devices tho and WEI on a tablet/phone is likely to get horrible scores. Especially on the underpowered microsoft surface

True - but I might as well use my Microsoft account, otherwise I would have wasted time creating it

In reply to a post by idb:

Hint:

When you install 8.1 it will try to insist that you sign on with an e-mail account. Just put a dummy, but valid, e-mail address in with any old password and continue. It will then say something like "there is an error with that e-mail address" and asks if you want to continue without using one - i.e. using a local account.

I now remember having to do it with the pre-release, but it stumped me for a couple of minutes just now.

Hmm. This didn't happen to me, but then I already created a local account...

Took ages to install on my oldish PC (over 1 hour), but its up and running now and working perfectly.

Edited by Pipexer (Thu 17-Oct-13 16:19:01)