Windows 8.1 is interesting, it has a great frame work of operating principles and it performs very well. However it has been made to function in a touch screen world not so much on a desktop. Microsoft tried to made the 8.1 version to rectify the user interface and bring back the tried and proven, not to mention widely appreciated Windows 7 experience, but failed. If you want to change to a new not so interesting user interface you may like Windows 8.1 as it is. However if your a huge fan of Windows 7 and know that system well than get ready for a challenge in customizing Windows 8.1. There’s a lot to investigate and many tweaks you can implement to bring back the Windows 7 feel and comfort. Once you’re completed and get Windows 8.1 where you want it to be you’ll have a really nice ... Read moreWindows 8.1 is interesting, it has a great frame work of operating principles and it performs very well. However it has been made to function in a touch screen world not so much on a desktop. Microsoft tried to made the 8.1 version to rectify the user interface and bring back the tried and proven, not to mention widely appreciated Windows 7 experience, but failed. If you want to change to a new not so interesting user interface you may like Windows 8.1 as it is. However if your a huge fan of Windows 7 and know that system well than get ready for a challenge in customizing Windows 8.1. There’s a lot to investigate and many tweaks you can implement to bring back the Windows 7 feel and comfort. Once you’re completed and get Windows 8.1 where you want it to be you’ll have a really nice system. Why did Microsoft mess with a great OS like Windows 7? To make it better I suppose, but that could have been done under the hood and they could have left the interface mostly alone except for minor tweaks. I read that Microsoft regrets screwing this one up and do they are trying to make up for it in Windows 10. However the 10 is too intrusive into your life. It wants to track your doings and make you passively linked to Microsoft as if you were internet browsing. Like having big brother watch your every move. What’s next, no OS but you log into the cloud for all your software! We may as well give them a camera too so the can see how we live. Don’t laugh, cameras are watching us. Read less

very great and buetiful

Perfect for those serious professionals who wish to have control of their OS. Once you instal Classic Shell, you get your Start Menu which behaves natively & is further customisable & allows to hide all "metro" things. You don't have to interact with it, unless you wish. Most, as in 97 percent of software for DAW music production works beautifully. It has many feature advantages & disadvantages. If you know the Windows OS, you can make it look, perform, play nice & get 3 additional years of support. There is an official Aero Glass 3rd party developer who nailed it, but better. The OS is stable, seemingly reliable, once customised, immediately familiar. You can theme it to your hearts content. Use a 3rd party image backup utility as I'm not sure 8.1 has it, like 7 does. Better to go 3rd ... Read morePerfect for those serious professionals who wish to have control of their OS. Once you instal Classic Shell, you get your Start Menu which behaves natively & is further customisable & allows to hide all "metro" things. You don't have to interact with it, unless you wish. Most, as in 97 percent of software for DAW music production works beautifully. It has many feature advantages & disadvantages. If you know the Windows OS, you can make it look, perform, play nice & get 3 additional years of support. There is an official Aero Glass 3rd party developer who nailed it, but better. The OS is stable, seemingly reliable, once customised, immediately familiar. You can theme it to your hearts content. Use a 3rd party image backup utility as I'm not sure 8.1 has it, like 7 does. Better to go 3rd party anyways. Shadow Protect is superior to any ptoduct for imaging purposes. Some programs: Sound Forge e.g. needs a registry tweak. All should run as expected as long as you know what you're doing. The All Apps list of the Start Screen could possibly be useful as an alternative way of interacting with & finding your files. Enjoy control -- while you still can 😉Read Less

This product has great features

Windows 8.1 is interesting, it has a great frame work of operating principles and it performs very well. However it has been made to function in a touch screen world not so much on a desktop. Microsoft tried to made the 8.1 version to rectify the user interface and bring back the tried and proven, not to mention widely appreciated Windows 7 experience, but failed. If you want to change to a new not so interesting user interface you may like Windows 8.1 as it is. However if your a huge fan of Windows 7 and know that system well than get ready for a challenge in customizing Windows 8.1. \nThere’s a lot to investigate and many tweaks you can implement to bring back the Windows 7 feel and comfort. Once you’re completed and get Windows 8.1 where you want it to be you’ll have a really nice system. Why did Microsoft mess with a great OS like Windows 7? To make it better I suppose, but that could have been done under the hood and they could have left the interface mostly alone except for minor tweaks. I read that Microsoft regrets screwing this one up and do they are trying to make up for it in Windows 10. However the 10 is too intrusive into your life. It wants to track your doings and make you passively linked to Microsoft as if you were internet browsing. Like having big brother watch your every move. What’s next, no OS but you log into the cloud for all your software! We may as well give them a camera too so the can see how we live. Don’t laugh, cameras are watching us.

I have worked in Information Tech for 20 years. 8 years as technician and the last 12 years as a self employed programmer and engineer. I thought I would never move away from Windows 7 Pro or Enterprise due to the stability and low resource requirements. I finished building my main workstation for my business (Intel i7 3.8GHz, 64GB Ram, Raid 0 SSD hard drives, and 3 NVIDIA GTX 770's, and 3 Ultra High Def 28in Monitors). Anyways, I originally installed Win 7 Pro, but decided to check out windows 8.1 as a learning tool and to review for my small group of residential clients. \r\n\r\nI AM NOW HOOKED!\r\n\r\nThis operating system uses very little resources and RUNS MUCH FASTER AND STABLE than its predecessors. I found it very easy to get used to, but I worry my clients might get lost between the graphical touch interface and the regular desktop windows interface.\r\n\r\nSecurity and system utilities such as virus & malware protection run in the background in addition to system and disk health mentoring ALL using less than 1% of your available hardware/system resources. \r\n\r\nIts a great operating system for both Touchscreen and non touch systems. If you do decide to upgrade and fall in love like I did, I would recommend looking into a Surface Pro 2. Just make sure that you have at least 128GB of storage, the Intel I5, and 8GB RAM if your a workaholic like me. Nothing like using a tablet for Post Production work on HD video!

Perfect for those serious professionals who wish to have control of their OS.\nOnce you instal Classic Shell, you get your Start Menu which behaves natively & is further customisable & allows to hide all "metro" things. You don't have to interact with it, unless you wish. Most, as in 97 percent of software for DAW music production works beautifully. It has many feature advantages & disadvantages. If you know the Windows OS, you can make it look, perform, play nice & get 3 additional years of support. There is an official Aero Glass 3rd party developer who nailed it, but better.\n\nThe OS is stable, seemingly reliable, once customised, immediately familiar.\nYou can theme it to your hearts content.\n\nUse a 3rd party image backup utility as I'm not sure 8.1 has it, like 7 does. Better to go 3rd party anyways. Shadow Protect is superior to any ptoduct for imaging purposes. Some programs: Sound Forge e.g. needs a registry tweak. All should run as expected as long as you know what you're doing.\n\nThe All Apps list of the Start Screen could possibly be useful as an alternative way of interacting with & finding your files.\n\nEnjoy control -- while you still can 😉

I upgraded from XP pro to 8.1 pro. The product has a short learning curve. Overall, it's a reliable upgrade and no problems except with the constant resetting of the network adapter. I'm not positive that the upgrade caused this but there was no resetting the network adapter with XP. I will wait awhile before going to windows 10 since it needs to be operational for at least 3 years to fine tune the coding and eliminate some of the programming bugs.I upgraded from XP pro to 8.1 pro. The product has a short learning curve. Overall, it's a reliable upgrade and no problems except with the constant resetting of the network adapter. I'm not positive that the upgrade caused this but there was no resetting the network adapter with XP. I will wait awhile before going to windows 10 since it needs to be operational for at least 3 years to fine tune the coding and eliminate some of the programming bugs.

Windows 8.1 has been helpful in extending the life of my older (Windows 7) computers. I chose to go with 8.1 when drivers from HP were not available to put an 8200 Elite desktop on Windows 10. Going to Windows 10 with an older computer may result in some functions not working, especially when you have to depend on Microsoft to provide all the new drivers.Windows 8.1 has been helpful in extending the life of my older (Windows 7) computers. I chose to go with 8.1 when drivers from HP were not available to put an 8200 Elite desktop on Windows 10. Going to Windows 10 with an older computer may result in some functions not working, especially when you have to depend on Microsoft to provide all the new drivers.

Not just hype to say this is their best OS since Windows 7. Sure, you may have to currently run a script to get it back to a classic windows desktop but on my Surface Pro and desktop computer, Windows 8.1 has been Fast, Reliable and I like that you can use a MS Domain with this version. With Windows 10 in public Beta the best news if you can get the Windows 10 Pro upgrade for free when released. Something to keep in mind with this purchase as well is Windows 10 will have bugs so this will be the more stable option for the first 6 months-1year. Having this in your physical media collection is essential for IT Pros who support windows at work or home.

Had to buy a new op sys when my hard drive with the built-in op sys tanked. Got this. Was a little pricey, but I had to. It was different getting used to the "apps" and moving your mouse to the corners to get features to pop up. I didn't like the fact that I paid for Pro, and I have to pay another $9.99 to get the Media Center, which was included in my last version of Windows. Whatevs, though. It works, it's better, has more features. In this world nowadays, you gotta keep up. Sad to lose my previous version, but I had to suck it up. And, so far, I'm happy. Change is good.

Thankyou! Wow. Brand new. It loaded beautifully and worked great on my Lenovo computer! Lenovo deleted ALL their drivers (under win10), however, so no wireless adapter or printing is possible. All other programs installed and working great. Love the privacy of NO updates!!! Thankyou! Wow. Brand new. It loaded beautifully and worked great on my Lenovo computer! Lenovo deleted ALL their drivers (under win10), however, so no wireless adapter or printing is possible. All other programs installed and working great. Love the privacy of NO updates!!!

Installed and worked with no problems once I put the new hard drive in. Had installed it on the original hard drive that I had tried to keep going but it failed even though my scan of it came up with no errors. The motor was what gave out sporadically so sometimes it would work and not work. This Windows installed easy on both hard drives with no problem though and activated. You do have to install the games from microsoft that comes with the computer from factory and stuff like java, adobe, silverlight and other software.

I upgraded from XP pro to 8.1 pro. The product has a short learning curve. Overall, it's\na reliable upgrade and no problems except with the constant resetting of the network adapter.\nI'm not positive that the upgrade caused this but there was no resetting the network adapter\nwith XP. I will wait awhile before going to windows 10 since it needs to be operational for at\nleast 3 years to fine tune the coding and eliminate some of the programming bugs.

I've had Combi Microwaves for years and this one is very up to date and very safety conscious. A child lock for instance for when my younger grand children are around. I steadily started to cook using the various functions and in no time at all the penny had dropped. How clever am I. A wonderful machine. Lots of inside space and nice and hot for fast cooking. Loads of automatic functions. Even ready to cook pop corn would you believe. Whatever next. I love it.

When I first tried windows 8, I was not a fan. Maybe I'm getting old and dislike change more. But maybe windows 8.1 has fixed some of the things that just didn't seem right before, because it seems to make more sense than when I was first playing with win 8. I will say this, win 8.1 does seem much quicker than any previous versions of windows.

Worth every penny, Windows 10 was released before it was debugged by Microsoft. This is very reliable operating system and my 3 year old laptop now works great. The installation was easy. I formatted the old Windows 10 and installed it as if I had just bought the laptop. Many updates but that was expected. If I get another 3 years out of the laptop I will be happy.

I tried this product after failing to get the standard 8.1 installed. This one also did not install with no reson as to why. Both programs when through the entire upgrade until the computer restarted. Then back to Windows 7.

Thankyou! Wow. Brand new. It loaded beautifully and worked great on my Lenovo computer! Lenovo deleted ALL their drivers (under win10), however, so no wireless adapter or printing is possible. All other programs installed and working great. Love the privacy of NO updates!!!

I like Windows 8.1 Pro. It,s a little bit different from what I was using it will take a little time getting around using it, It is a little hard finding every thing but quite easy to learn using it, Remembering where every thing is what it is all about.

From what I've seen, so far, Windows 8 is not as user friendly as Windows 7, in my opinion. It's almost too busy, which tends to make a user feel overwhelmed. I opted to have a program installed to make it look and work much like Windows 7. Windows 10 upgrade is supposed to be more like 7. So, I had Windows 8.1 installed on my new computer mainly to be up to date on my new computer and to qualify for free Windows 10 upgrade. I decided to just deal with it for a while. I'm sure it has some good features, but I haven't used it enough yet to offer anything about that. I have read some things about some compatibility issues with things. I'm waiting to see how it interacts with all my accessories and hardware. Only reason I would recommend is to get to to date and ready for Windows 10 upgrade which is supposed to be more like Windows 7.

This item works great. And I had to reinstall it because the original hard drive quit after I installed the program. And I work great. No problems

I beleve the problems are mineI beleve the problems are mine

Great product. My old computer feels and runs smooth and fast. I enjoy the new interface, easy to use and productivity is improved.

Went right through on the windows 8.1 pro installer, and my system info says windows is activated, so its a good key.

I beleve the problems are mine

I was able to use it , so far so good. Will buy again if i need again in the future.