Best price Windows 8 and strategy

[videobread]

I have multiple XP machines that I want to upgrade to Windows 8. Where can I get my best price? I am willing to upgrade most and move my data and programs but, want to be able to install from a wiped drive on all machines down the road. If I buy one OEM copy with discs and the rest upgrade packages, just to get product keys from MS, will that work? What strategy are people using to upgrade for as little money as possible? Links to where to actually buy?

[jagabo]

Downloadable upgrades directly from Microsoft, $40. But I believe they require an earlier Windows already installed.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/home

I believe the upgrade from XP will be a fresh install.

[jman98]

I'd suggest you start small with 1 or 2 computers and see what you think. I read a review yesterday of Win 8 that called it "a Christmas present for someone you hate". From what I read it sounded like a half-assed mismatch of the worst features of tablets and desktops combined in a way to emphasize the deficiencies of each rather than taking the best of both worlds.

[jagabo]

From what I read it sounded like a half-assed mismatch of the worst features of tablets and desktops combined in a way to emphasize the deficiencies of each rather than taking the best of both worlds.

That's about right.

[usually_quiet]

$40 per PC from Microsoft (available until January 13?) for a download upgrade is the best pricing I've seen. Next best is $70 for a retail copy on a disc (available until January 13?).

Windows 8 takes some getting used to. You will probably like Windows 8 a little better if you install Classic Shell or another 3rd party program to add a Start button and Start menu back to the desktop and to allow skipping the Start Screen to go directly to the desktop after logging in.

[Constant Gardener]

$40 each online, for the first five, is the best price I've seen advertised. Be aware that if you download it from a 32-bit OS you will get a 32-bit upgrade, which may not be what you want.

[videobread]

So far I've found that my Office XP Professional won't work on Windows 8 and that my HP XW workstations' BIOS don't give me an option to enable NX processor support and HP is not coming up with an updated BIOS. I may be sticking with XP for a while. I can't blieve I have to keep paying for a platform over an over again. Maybe I will find some fix?????

[jman98]

So far I've found that my Office XP Professional won't work on Windows 8 and that my HP XW workstations' BIOS don't give me an option to enable NX processor support and HP is not coming up with an updated BIOS. I may be sticking with XP for a while. I can't blieve I have to keep paying for a platform over an over again. Maybe I will find some fix?????

Nobody but YOU is putting that upgrade gun to your head, buddy. Strictly speaking you don't HAVE to upgrade to Win 8. You can continue to use XP or install Linux (free). I cannot personally confirm this, but supposedly Win 8 cannot be installed without NX support so keep that in mind.

[Constant Gardener]

So far I've found that my Office XP Professional won't work on Windows 8

Mine does; after reading conflicting information on the web, I tried a clean install, Office XP Pro into Windows 8 Pro (64-bit). No issues installing, and the three main applications open without error.

[jagabo]

Windows 8 64 bit full version OEM $69.99 with promo code: EMCJHJJ87
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416550
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Dec-0-2012/UltiHolidaysale11/index-landing.html

Also in the second like, the Pro version for $120.

[videobread]

Follow Up: Forget Windows 8 for me. Videohelp posters and the WSJ convinced me. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323936804578229682529360570.html

[jman98]

Since you originally asked, I have had the chance to experience it first hand in trying to help a non-technical person with a software installation issue on a new laptop. I absolutely hated it. It's completely non-intuitive. If you have any technical skills at all with previous Windows versions, you'll keep having to do searches on Google to find websites explaining how to do almost everything of a technical nature on the system because everything is now different. If you are not a techie and you just want to send email and surf the web, you can do that easily enough. But it will make you go crazy if you are a technically advanced user.

[videobread]

I think Windows 8 killed the PC.

[vhelp]

it took me years to upgrade from w98 to xp, mainly because of the activation feature and also because i could no longer back it up in the same unique sort of way i used to do it on the w98 machines, not to mention far less files to keep track of in w98 but xp changed all that and made it very difficult from that point on. anyway, w98 came in 98 and i upgraded it from w95, and xp came in 2003 and i upgraded to xp in 2008 or 2009 i think. i haven't upgraded to anything else since, except for my newest laptop that came with windows 7 64bit.

now, the closest i've come to windows 8 was when i was in best buy. there were lots of people around those machines, and i did try it out several times and on different machines. skipping the installation, my experience was from already win8 installed pc's and it was not exciting to me at all. it was just plain nerve racking to operate. i kept looking around for older OS's, but they (all stores) installed win8 and that was all you were going to see. however, in the last three weeks, i've seen no customers in any of the pc/laptop isles, like a ghost time there, but all machines had win8 on them still.

so, i'm wondering when we shall see those same machines back to win7 or at least a few select machines back to win7 on them, to at least keep customers in those isles. or, will they fudge win8 to the simulated win7 look that i heard others talk about here--that you can remove a lot of the 8' stuff to look/feel, win7'ish. and how fast we might see m$ with a win9 if not win8-B or something. word must have traveled pretty fast about win8 and i'm just not seeing anyone in those isles anymore. still....i'm just guessing about all this based on my visual experience in stores lately.

[jagabo]

Well, Microsoft plans on yearly updates now so Win9 shouldn't be too far away.

Of course, what that really means is what used to be service packs will now be called new versions of Windows. So you'll have to pay.

[deadrats]

i wouldn't put to much stock in that WSJ "review"; the author blasts Win 8 for taking up too much space by use of the Windows.old folder but he completely ignores (or is unaware of) the fact that said folder has existed since the advent of Vista. basically what microsoft did was add a fail-safe to windows installs, if an upgrade (or even a fresh install on a partition with an existing windows installation) fails the install routine rolls back the existing windows install which it backs up to Windows.old.

WSJ really needs to hire someone that knows OSes to write Os reviews.

[Noahtuck]

From what I read it sounded like a half-assed mismatch of the worst features of tablets and desktops combined in a way to emphasize the deficiencies of each rather than taking the best of both worlds.

That's about right.

Yep!!

Since you originally asked, I have had the chance to experience it first hand in trying to help a non-technical person with a software installation issue on a new laptop. I absolutely hated it. It's completely non-intuitive. If you have any technical skills at all with previous Windows versions, you'll keep having to do searches on Google to find websites explaining how to do almost everything of a technical nature on the system because everything is now different. If you are not a techie and you just want to send email and surf the web, you can do that easily enough. But it will make you go crazy if you are a technically advanced user.

Again, YEP!!!!!

I made a comment in passing last week in a post I made,

P.S.
And I thought I hated M$ before, but I worked on my first retail W8 PC 2 days ago!!!
LOL!!

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/352419-How-to-open-hlp-files-on-W7-64bit

It was also a laptop, but it's the W8 crap......
I mean, HTF can they NOT include a start button/menu ?!?!?!

And I also had to google a ton to figure out how to do this or that, install this, change that, do this other thing....
Hey, let's take out all this stuff that has been in windows for 14 years!!!!!

The first thing I bitched about to someone was that I felt like I was on a macbook except it was not a touch screen and I had to use the stupid little touchpad until I plugged in a USB mouse and it still sucked!!!!!!!!

[vhelp]

i picked up a 32gig stick at walmart for $19 bucks, while a visit to best buy it was $49, also, fwiw, i saw a lot of empty shelves where the laptops were, also saw win7 on some units. the isles were not full or anything but while browsing them had a chance to overhear a customer complaining about win8 and if it were possible to switch to win7. the sales staff did his best to stear the customer into the new changes. m$ 's newest selling strategy is called "gestures", where you have to set up icons and other things in a gesture-ick sort of way.