JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Microsoft Announces $39.99 Upgrade To Windows 8 Offer

repost from Engadget website......

Microsoft just announced it will allow users of Windows XP and other versions to download an upgrade to their new Windows 8 operating system.....this limited time offer will end in January 2013..For those of you who have been wanting an upgrade-there will never be a better price than this........

here is the link to the story

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/02/microsoft-announces-39-99-windows-8-pro-upgrade-offer-for-most/


Tom

That would be January 31st of 2013.

duh-right

so I forgot a year-lucky I remember any damn thing nowadays

thanks DAK

Tom

One thing that always puzzled me is that when I buy a new PC or laptop I have to pay AGAIN for an O/S that I already had on the PC I just scrapped. I asked a retailer this question and was told that as the O/S was already pre-installed there was no way I could avoid this. There must be a built in charge and I wonder what they would say if I asked them to blow away the pre-installed version and deduct this cost as I already own a copy.

our American retail clerks dont make enough money to even answer that question-they would just go cross-eyed at you and walk anyway-they arent paid on commission

Tom

Microsoft makes more than enough money to offer folk a reduction if they already have a copy of their O/S and want to install that on their new machine. I remember the day when you bought a PC then had to choose and buy and install an O/S. That all changed the day they sold licences to manufacturers to pre-install. I grudge having to pay twice for the same thing. I once HAD to buy a PC with Vista already installed and they refused to install XP I had to blow it away and pay extra to buy an XP licence.

Like Big Jim, I have an XP disc that I bought legally maybe four years ago. It wasn't cheap. This crap goes on all the time.

For example,you have to upgrade your cell phone after a couple of years because they say so. Nothing stays the same for any length of time. I have to install Google Chrome because Google doesn't support Internet Explorer any more.

I know that technology changes almost daily, but for God's sake, let me be content with what I have for awhile. I don't like to be forced to change at Microsoft's will and desire to squeeze more money from me.

Hi Guys:

Don't get me started on Microsoft. Let's see, how many versions of Windows have these brain surgeons pawned off on the General Public? Does anyone remember "Vista" and how quickly it went away?

I'm not going to upgrade... even for free. Overpriced, invasive, quirky and never able to deliver on the promises of the past. No wonder Apple is eating these guys lunch.

Thanks for letting us know, Tom.

Happy July 4th to everyone... even the Chief Justice of our extreme court.

I agree with Ben..... if it ain't broke then why fix it. Why buy a new operating system and have to go through all the hassle of backing up your files and reinstalling ALL your programs?....when what you have already works fine? I did when changing XP to Vista and experienced huge hassles as most of the hardware and software I had was not Vista compatible. I spent weeks trying to find drivers and eventually had to blow it all away and go back to XP......Once bitten comes to mind.

Note that if you upgrade, your files will work, but probably not most of the software you own.

That is the problem......no point in having a file if your program cannot open it....or the PC does not run the program or recognise the hard drive the file is stored on or the interface you are using....I do not think I will risk it after my Vista experience. The companies who made the hardware got no support from Microsoft when their products would not work. Some even pulled the product and discontinued support whilst others had to produce their own drivers to get the stuff operating. Meanwhile I had a host of uselss hardware including printers and various memory sticks plus many other external devices that worked perfect on XP but crashed and burned the second I connected them to Vista. I will wait till all the bugs are sorted and my PC and laptops give up the ghost before considering an upgrade. Perhaps DAK has a point about why he prefers Linux.

Vista works just fine for me and always has. I have windows 7 on a laptop, but I haven't used it too much. I expect software manufacturers to continuously improve/re-invent their product offerings. 1/2 of windows 8 (metro) is designed to work with tablets and portable devices, the other 1/2 (desktop) is just an improvement on windows 7 (I hope).

Someone has to pay for this development and that would be us. I don't think Apple is eating MS's lunch, at least not yet.

That, at one time was an option. I don't know if it still is but you should still be able to order a clean PC without an OS installed. Probably not from a big box outlet though.

Yes Dak. It was at one time an option. The big outlets now have the market sewn up price wise. You buy it with the O/S installed or not at all. It is now virtually impossible to buy a clean PC or one with customised specs....or to have a choice of O/S without having to pay a whole lot extra. I recently bought a pretty good spec laptop and it was cheaper to buy it from a huge retailer in a shopping mall than direct from the manufacturer. I also had to import an i7 8gig ram laptop with 1tb hard drive from USA simply because the specs I needed for music production was generally not available off the shelf in the UK....and a customised was so expensive it was cheaper to import. Even with the shipping and import duty I save a few hundred. Believe it or not I have 4 laptops and a PC tower. One is used at home and is for general purpose.
One laptop is strictly for music production and used for nothing else. Handy to have a very high spec portable. One is solely set up for gigging and used for nothing else. it is set up to work my sound and lights. I have also another duplicate the exact same as a backup in case of crashes during a gig. The tower is hooked up to my home studio and used for nothing else. You should have heard the argument with my wife explaining why I needed 5 computers.....and why they cost so much more compared to the bog standsrd £399 off the shelf laptops. LOL

valid points made by all my friends about this.......

however as stated-the upgrade is mandatory-not optional if you have XP-which I do........cause everyone else in the computer biz is also ending support/compatability for XP....And/Or the NEW Internet Explorer browser which will no longer recognize XP

and double woe is me cause I gotta double my RAM just to qualify to be upgraded......which-on my old horse and buggy pretty much means its new computer time anyway.....when I checked the upgrade specs I found that out.......just when I was about to throw away my cookbook-100 Recipes For Ramen Noodles......oh well as they say-it just gets better...

Tom

Sounds like a good deal but like a lot of folks I have software and hardware that won't work on anything but XP.
I tried Vista and my recording hardware simply won't work on it. The recordings were terrible.
After about a dozen phone calls to Mackie they finally recommended I go back to XP because the Hardware was written for that system.

My recording hardware cost $1400.00
Last I checked Mackie has no plans to upgrade the firmware for the "older" Mixers and recording gear. If I want to use windows 8 I guess I have to buy all new gear.
No thanks.

Thanks again for reminding us, Tom:

I'm still gonna pass. I like XP just as it is. When it will no longer work on the net, I'll find something more productive to do with my spare time... and I have lots of spare time... LOL!

well just solved my own problem

bought a new (to me) computer..all kinds of good specs and performance-I mean its really a smokin machine.oh well I was long overdue for treating myself anyway.

ps. yes Brian-I bought it on Craigslist

Tom