Windows 8.1 on Hold

Just received a message from MS that they're having a problem with W 8.1 Downloads and there will be a Delay in availability. Neil.

 

Got 8.1 pro installed yesterday. I guess I just got lucky.

 

I'm assuming from the wording that the Servers got overloaded. Neil.

 

When 8.1 preview became available I had trouble getting any updates so I called MS. I was told there was an overload of downloads, installations and was told to try again later. This sounds similar.

 

That doesn't surprise me considering how large the 8.1 file is.

How long will it be before support stops for 8.0 ? My aunt's laptop is running version 8.0, and I need to advise her on the update.

 

Windows 8 OS


Service Packs - Not yet available



End of mainstream support - January 9, 2018


End of extended support - January 10, 2023


More info on other Win. OS here. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/lifecycle

 

I'm seeing a lot of complaints on the web about 8.1 and Windows Store as well.

 

Did it mention if they would be making ISO available or is it through Windows Store only ?

 

I have just Downloaded and installed 8.1 from the Store. This included a local power outage which lasted for nearly 2 hours just 11% into the Download.
The Download continued when the power resumed and completed without any hitches (I hope).
Apps and extra Things were installed and setup and my Classic Shell Start is still functioning OK.
I've just checked email operation and thought I would Post the news while I was at it. I'll report anything that differs from previous W8 operation. Neil.

 

Further use shows we're on IE 11 and my old Hotmail account shows in Mail. Neil.

 

Thanks MS. The customer can go to hell.

I am very happy that I didn't suggest upgrading to Win 8 from Win XP to any of my clients in the last 1 year. I just told them to upgrade to Win 7 & forget about Win 8. I would have been in a soup if my clients, many with 8-20 computers had to download the 4 GB Win 8.1 individually for each PC.

 

Anyways if object of MS was to protect Win 8.1 from pirates, they have failed. ISO's of Win 8.1 final with keys are popping up on many sites.

 

Go get one.

 

If everything else fails, I don't think I have any choice left. Do I ?

 

MrBill, am I missing something with W8.1? It starts without any musical noises - a bit unusual for MS OS's.
Do MS leave for user choice? Neil.

 

I absolutely agree with MrBill here:

If Microsoft are going to be... adamant in not providing an .iso then they are just inevitably driving more and more customers to piracy...

And with the amount of dodgy torrents out there, what are the chances that unscrupulous customers will end up getting scr€wed over even more?! *sigh*

I suppose no company with this broad a consumer base, can ever satisfyeveryone.

 

Thanks Pete, I thought there must be a reason. I'm still learning my way round W8.1 and it's much quieter when you start up without the logon and logoff MS sounds.
The card games make quite a brilliant graphics display and accompanying whistles and firework noises.
I'm busy trying to find out why my new HP printer (2450 Deskjet) works well in W8.1 with wireless and the same printer works with my Vista but won't use Printer Assistant in Vista. Neil.

 

Yep you are correct on both the counts, but what if I have 10 Win 8 computers ? I am wasting about 40 GB of my bandwidth just for upgrading to Win 8.1. *****.

I believe whoever made that decision [Ballmer ?], just wanted Win 8/8.1 to fail big time & they succeeded big time. Now no small/medium organisations are going to trust Win 8/MS again.

If taking hare brain decisions ,wringing your customers & then taking them out to dry is satisfying everyone, then guess what - MS succeeded.