Windows 8.1 update 1

degsie

Anybody seeing the 8.1 update 1 coming through yet? It supposed to be released today (Tue 8th Apr) but I see no sign of it yet.

Jay Hatchell

I'm waiting anxiously here for it, i just finished a new build and want to start tweaking it for Audio production but im going to hold off till i get this update then she's going off line for good(well hopefully lol)

newbie13

I would say because Win 8.1 is worse OS so far, dont be expecting too much from an update..

they should have put an option to this Side Charm Slide bar. I hate it.

testicle

Patch Tuesday updates are released at 10:00 PST, 18:00 Irish time.

Jay Hatchell

newbie13 wrote: »

I would say because Win 8.1 is worse OS so far, dont be expecting too much from an update..

they should have put an option to this Side Charm Slide bar. I hate it.

Its the user interface that people don't like the OS is still the same as windows 7 but with many tweaks and updates making it faster and more secure.

If you install Start8 or Classic Shell its will look/act like a new shiny version of windows 7 with all the extras that come with 8/8.1 and the new update 1 (hurry up Microsoft) when it get released.

wildefalcon

I'm kinda liking it. I use it on an 8 inch tablet and I see what they are trying to do. It is a bit weird when using the desktop, but the touch interface works well enough, the ribbon on office makes sense on a tablet.

Jay Hatchell

testicle wrote: »

Patch Tuesday updates are released at 10:00 PST, 18:00 Irish time.

Nice one where did you find this info ive been looking but couldn't find anything

Jay Hatchell

Well its 18:14 now and still no sign of this update anyone got it yet ?

ricimaki

I got a few updates around 6, but none of them were the update. Still don't have it yet

wildefalcon

ricimaki wrote: »

I got a few updates around 6, but none of them were the update. Still don't have it yet

Likewise

itoro

its there now for me "Windows 8.1 Update 887MB download", after installing the updates released earlier today and then restarting.

ricimaki

itoro wrote: »

its there now for me "Windows 8.1 Update 887MB download", after installing the updates released earlier today and then restarting.

Same here. Downloading now

wildefalcon

Optional update 427MB now available!

Jay Hatchell

itoro wrote: »

its there now for me "Windows 8.1 Update 887MB download", after installing the updates released earlier today and then restarting.

Just downloading this now aswell

Jay Hatchell

Installed i love it finally it feels like a proper desktop

_Kaiser_

Installed there now here too.

testicle

Jay Hatchell wrote: »

Nice one where did you find this info ive been looking but couldn't find anything

Because it's the same every month.

legrand

Anyone notice display changes to the desktop - icons got larger in task bar and desktop (easily solved).

Font in Chrome has gone fuzzy as if slightly out of focus (other apps/progs are fine) and font appears 'bold'

I've a yoga 2 pro with a 3200 x 1800 screen (might be related to some scaling issue)

wildefalcon

I can't see anything major, running on a miix 2 8. A search button, useful, the apps are now categorised 0,A,B...Z

The store is on the taskbar.

I'm still running the cleanup, so more improvements may present themselves as time goes by.

Hopefully the real changes are under the hood, and will mean a slicker experience.

Overheal

I'll look for it in a minute, it's the first time I've booted up my Desktop in over a week I'm catching up

8.1 is OK, it just did 2 really annoying things: the search index that was working peachy in 7, ok in 8, just feels broken in 8.1. And, they integrated onedrive into the OS which means I don't have as much direct access to which files are synced and when they sync.

edit: though I'm guessing it's this 876MB ****er I'm downloading right now. Good thing I'm on Campus ethernet, this line caps out at 100Mbps the way God intended.

wildefalcon

It looks like I've gained 1GB after the cleanup, worth having on a device with only 30GB on board.

Other than that, meh.

foggy_lad

Downloaded and installed this update earlier and since then the laptop is taking a long time to shut down and even longer to start up, taking over two minutes to get started now. Can this be uninstalled?

degsie

foggy_lad wrote: »

Downloaded and installed this update earlier and since then the laptop is taking a long time to shut down and even longer to start up, taking over two minutes to get started now. Can this be uninstalled?

go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > View installed updates

uninstall the following updates:

• KB2949621
• KB2938439
• KB2937592
• KB2932046
• KB2919355

reboot and you're done

200motels

It's a pleasure to have Windows 7 as everything is where it should be. 8 is a total disaster, it should be called Vista part 2.

wildefalcon

200motels wrote: »

It's a pleasure to have Windows 7 as everything is where it should be. 8 is a total disaster, it should be called Vista part 2.

I don't fully agree with you.

I agree - It's a disaster for keyboard/mouse users. I'd probably not install it on the laptop. I'd hate to manage a server or work machine with it.

But for a tablet, well, it does actually work, once you get used to it. I like it.

I'm now even thinking of getting a phone with windows - once there's a pureview, with an microSD card, that fits in my pocket!

degsie

I find that win 8.1 with update runs very smoothly, dare I say even better than win 7! I generally just stay in the desktop. You forget very quickly that you are not using win 7 as it's all very familiar but that much better.

CiniO

I must say I'm really impressed with Windows 8 and 8.1.
It's really stable and fast.

Last time I really used Windows was in mid 90's. First it was Windows 3.1 and then Windows 95.
By the time Windows 98 was released, I pretty much was sick of lack of stability and how slow it was, and started using Linux.
Only recently I switched back to Windows on my personal PC to Windows 8.
So change in user interface compared to Win7 was not visible to me, as over the years I used various environments, like KDE, Gnome, XFCE, etc...

Windows 8.1 is my main system now, and I'm really happy with it.

And I think only people who complain about Win 8 user interface, are those who are so much used to Win 7, Vista, XP, 2000, Me, 98, 95 interface.

nc6000

I applied the update earlier. I'm more than happy with Win 8\8.1 so far especially considering how little it cost.

This update seems to be a service pack in all but name. There's even updated installation ISOs on MSDN which already contain it. I like it; the addition of the shut down button on the Start screen is a nice touch.

PropJoe10

200motels wrote: »

It's a pleasure to have Windows 7 as everything is where it should be. 8 is a total disaster, it should be called Vista part 2.

Windows 7 is slower to boot, slower to shut down and slower to do pretty much everything than Windows 8 is. Its amazing how blinkered people seem to get regarding Windows 8/8.1 and the Metro interface. If you actually take the time to bypass this and use the actual underlying OS, Windows 8 is superior to 7 in pretty much every way.

madfcuker

200motels wrote: »

It's a pleasure to have Windows 7 as everything is where it should be. 8 is a total disaster, it should be called Vista part 2.

This is the biggest load of nonsense ever. My friend you seem to be reluctant to change. I was like you, didn't want to move to windows 8, had to buy a laptop, all sold pre-installed windows 8. Looked at getting windows 7. In the end bought one that was pre-installed windows 8.

Took me about a day to play round with it to get things the way I wanted. Boots straight into desktop mode. No metro used. No third party add ons installed.

I currently run Windows 8.1 and I love it. I have no third party software with it. Boots faster. Much faster at getting stuff done. Once 8.1 came out I even liked the operating system more.

And if you look at market research, windows 8.1 has been success.

Lastly, I still know people that run Vista and love it. Each to their own I suppose.

wildefalcon

Sometimes it's hard to change a good thing.

Win 7 is a damn fine OS.

Win 8 is also very good - better if you have a tablet.

200motels

madfcuker wrote: »

This is the biggest load of nonsense ever. My friend you seem to be reluctant to change. I was like you, didn't want to move to windows 8, had to buy a laptop, all sold pre-installed windows 8. Looked at getting windows 7. In the end bought one that was pre-installed windows 8.

Took me about a day to play round with it to get things the way I wanted. Boots straight into desktop mode. No metro used. No third party add ons installed.

I currently run Windows 8.1 and I love it. I have no third party software with it. Boots faster. Much faster at getting stuff done. Once 8.1 came out I even liked the operating system more.

And if you look at market research, windows 8.1 has been success.

Lastly, I still know people that run Vista and love it. Each to their own I suppose.

I beg to differ, I had 8 and 8.1 and had enough of it just before the New Year and went back to 7 and to me it's a better system, 8.1 hasn't been a success, it has already had two service pack updates in a year and a half, where as 7 has had just one in 5 and a half years, even Vista hadn't it's second service pack until well into it's third year.

PropJoe10

200motels wrote: »

I beg to differ, I had 8 and 8.1 and had enough of it just before the New Year and went back to 7 and to me it's a better system, 8.1 hasn't been a success, it has already had two service pack updates in a year and a half, where as 7 has had just one in 5 and a half years, even Vista hadn't it's second service pack until well into it's third year.

You're more than entitled to your opinion, but what is it that you dont like about Windows 8/8.1 exactly? Is your dislike of it just based on your dislike of the Metro interface or is there something else that you feel makes it inferior to Windows 7?

Fysh

200motels wrote: »

I beg to differ, I had 8 and 8.1 and had enough of it just before the New Year and went back to 7 and to me it's a better system, 8.1 hasn't been a success, it has already had two service pack updates in a year and a half, where as 7 has had just one in 5 and a half years, even Vista hadn't it's second service pack until well into it's third year.

Service Packs are mostly rollups of existing updates, and tbh not since Windows XP SP2 have there been particularly significant under-the-hood changes. 8.1 and 8.1u1 have brought some UI changes but they are frankly minor tweaks. Having new operating systems released on a 3-year cycle argues against the idea of using service packs for anything much more than rolling up security fixes, because new functionality development efforts will be going into whatever the latest OS is.

The number of service packs rolled out to an OS isn't actually an indication of the technical underpinnings, and the treatment conferred on 8.1 and 8.1u1 by Microsoft is more about marketing than technology.

Windows 7 was and is a very decent OS - but it's worth remembering that it reintroduced the world to the ping of death in its first year or so. Windows 8 and 8.1 build on the core of Windows 7, as can be seen by checking the full release version number (Vista was NT 6, 7 was NT 6.1, 8 was NT 6.2, 8.1 is NT 6.3)

degsie

Fyi. Windows 7 support ends January 14, 2020, Windows 8 support ends January 10, 2023.

Capt'n Midnight

degsie wrote: »

Fyi. Windows 7 support ends January 14, 2020, Windows 8 support ends January 10, 2023.

How many times did they extend XP support ?

PropJoe10

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How many times did they extend XP support ?

About a zillion. 7 will be the new XP I'd say.

Where I work, we've completely migrated the desktops to Windows 8.1. However we're still rolling out new Windows 7 machines on request for some clients.

I have to agree with Fysh; beneath the UI changes, 8.1 is a fine system. Although I resisted it initially, I'm now using vanilla 8.1 without any shell hacks or Start menus. It take a bit of getting used to, but not that much. The thing which helped me most was to unpin any unnecessary apps from the Start screen and pin my own. For the rest, I can either use the search or All Apps view, which is easier to get to in 8.1 than it was in 8.

oneerc

legrand wrote: »

Anyone notice display changes to the desktop - icons got larger in task bar and desktop (easily solved).

Font in Chrome has gone fuzzy as if slightly out of focus (other apps/progs are fine) and font appears 'bold'

I've a yoga 2 pro with a 3200 x 1800 screen (might be related to some scaling issue)

I have the same laptop and have the same complaint. At first I thought I did something wrong and did a system restore, but as soon as I did the 8.1 update the problem was back.

I Also notice utorrent has the same problem

This to do with the way Windows 8.1 handles DPI scaling. On applications that don't have the "high DPI aware" flag set, Windows will simply render the application at 96 DPI and upscale it, so it looks blurred. You can go into the Compatibility tab for the application and disable this, but then it is rendered at 96 DPI and may be very hard to read.

Personally I think that Windows looks terrible on high DPI screens, I have a laptop with a 15.6" 1920x1080 panel and regret it. I just run the screen at 1600x900, despite the interpolation, so I can read everything without the high DPI scaling problems.