Last month, I saw several posted articles mentioning MS selling upgrades for Windows 8 Pro for $40 ($39.99, actually). I bit. Why? Because it was a good price for an upgrade and if I found I didn't like Windows 8, I could always go back to Windows 7 with little money spent.
The install wasn't bad and wasn't the best either. Since this was an upgrade and it is typically best to use a fresh install, I opted to restore my system back to factory configuration. I did not want any issues with programs that I'd installed in Windows 7 not working in Windows 8. The factory configuration wouldn't negate this but the factory configuration doesn't have as much installed either. So, I whipped out my special flash drive with the copy of the factory image and installed. I then immediately installed Windows 8 from flash drive as well (to speed up the install). It was rather cumbersome and long, even via flash drive, but it installed flawlessly.
Afterward, I checked to see what wasn't running against the listing of what Windows 8 had flagged that might not work. Alien Respawn wasn't working. I'll have to get a Win8-specific copy of that and install it. Everything else worked.
I then installed my free copy of Windows 8 Media Center. When I entered the product key, it conflicted with the product key for Windows 8 Pro, which I thought was odd. Many people were complaining of the same issue and there were some solutions but none worked for me. Apparently, the system didn't like being upgraded then immediately having Media Center added. So, I had to call the automated Microsoft number listed in System Information (I believe...I'll check that and correct myself if I'm wrong). I called the number and followed the instructions. I had to key in 8 or 9 five-digit codes via phone keypad, then the automated system read back 8 or 9 five-digit codes that I keyed into the config window. After I did that, the system properly registered!
I did NOT like Metro. I know there's a way to remove it, but I'm now getting used to it and I think it is oddly intuitive. I'll keep using it for now. What I also like is the Windows 7 shell...I can fall back to that when I feel the need. Chrome only works within the Windows 7 shell, which I don't like, but it's not a huge deal.
The system appears to be quite a deal quicker, but I've never benchmarked Windows 7 on this system and haven't benchmarked Windows 8 either. Note that I'm not using an SSD (I'm running two 750GB drives in RAID0). SSD will not help me all that much...it's not going to make my gameplay any faster (only upload faster, but really, that's nota huge deal for me). One day, I'll go the SSD route, but I want lots of drive space and SSDs aren't cutting it in that department yet.
So, I'm keeping Windows 8 for now. I may even reinstall it just to get a pristine image of it captured onto flash drive (backup copy).
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