back to article There she blows! Mid-October release date for Windows 8.1 sighted

Microsoft will unleash Windows 8.1 for world+dog to download in October, it's claimed, a year after it released the touchscreen-friendly, tile-tastic Windows 8. The software giant is preparing to release version 8.1 of its operating system to computer makers later this month, but it has been reported the public will get the …

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  1. Tom 35

    No early copies

    It's like a bad movie with no review showing in advance maybe.

    They hope to sell a few the first week before everyone posts that it still blows.

    1. Spoonsinger

      Re: It's like a bad movie with no review showing in advance

      Actually, having noted over many year, bad movies adverts are always spammed on telestial TV in the UK. If it's being spammed you know it's bad, (but cheap advertising to the mass from the film makers point of view).

      1. frank ly

        @Spoonsinger Re: It's like a bad movie with no review showing in advance

        "... telestial TV ..."

        Is that like a joint venture between terrestrial and celestial TV? Oh, the rapture!

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: No early copies

      Anyone who cares already has the preview though.

      1. GotThumbs
        Boffin

        Re: No early copies

        Running the preview now for over a month. I like the tweaks and feel very comfortable with it.

        Bottom line, I think only individuals with some level of aptitude/desire will transition to 8. The fact that one losses WMC by the move to 8 is a bummer IMO and thus makes less of a need to upgrade. It's not a failure as far as I'm concerned. Just that people have a hard time seeing the value it brings. especially when you are forced to have an account to load apps. I don't like the idea of following Apples closed ecosystem and will avoid that altogether.

        Overtime, I believe more people with transition, but it will be slow going IMO.

    3. LarsG

      Ahhhh!

      They appear to be trying to offset the anticipated release the of new iOS and OSX.

      I wonder who will win the media battle?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great

    I look forward to not putting it on anything.

  3. Lusty

    Well that's good, the refuseniks will have just over a year to complete their testing and upgrade projects before Windows 7 mainstream support ends :)

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      I agree. Those OSX migration trials are absolutely stellar!

  4. Petrossa

    Yep, me too looking forward to not installing it. Since XP is still holding on i guess w7 will last me my lifetime and if not i'll switch to something else. Anything but that crappy mess.

  5. Spoonsinger

    If they haven't removed anything it's a service patch...

    however if they have removed some things it's actually a new release, (i.e. front end to image backup removal, plus probably other stuff). Not entirely sure what they are up to, but stop it!!!!!!!!!!

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: If they haven't removed anything it's a service patch...

      Sounds like it would have been called Win 8 SP 1 under the old way of working.

      1. Yet Another Commentard

        Re: If they haven't removed anything it's a service patch...

        @graeme leggett

        It may well be that they are trying to catch the "don't buy until SP1" crowd, and trying to make it sound bigger than it is with ridiculous Apple-esque secrecy/hype.

        The thing is, at least I think, is that MS is stuck in this October-or-bust mode to tie in with corporate accounting and budgeting, while trying to say this is all about consumers who in the main have no such constraints. The secrecy/non-technet rubbish is so they can continue to code the release up until release day, as it's likely most upgraders will download (no physical media to press) and those who haven't bought it yet will wait and see if it's going to be good enough for their needs.

        Remember, it's only new sales Balmer cares about. Upgrades, no revenue stream there.

    2. erikj

      Re: If they haven't removed anything it's a service patch...

      But they have removed things (at least in the preview edition) -- like supporting Facebook/Flickr sources in the Photo app.

      http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1_pr-pictures/photos-app-in-81-loses-most-of-its-best-features/24ae3087-e627-4813-a887-49333a0d12dc

      Very annoying.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The old days

    Ah yes I remember the old days of going to Start > Programs if I wanted to run something and installing service packs from Windows update. Now Microsoft have 'apps' and .1 releases and are trying to go to a windowless windows world. Sounds so much more modern and sexier doesn't it?

  7. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    The beatings will continue

    Until morale improves?

    It's an interesting conundrum: they can neither persuade people to use W8 nor can they (for internal political reasons) actually deliver something people want.

  8. bigfoot780

    fill in the blanks

    You can't polish a _ _ _ _

    Re arranging the deck chairs on the _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    Vista _ . 1

    Wont be deploying. Hopefully Windows 9 will have the start menu. Even if its only in the enterprise version.

  9. btrower

    More efficient this way

    They did not get it even close to right *with* customer feedback. Without customer feedback it is probably hopeless.

    I guess this way makes it faster and easier to ignore their customers and what they asked for while they work on something nobody asked for.

    Please enter your comments in the line provided (64 character limit).

    1. Asok Asus
      Holmes

      Re: More efficient this way

      "They did not get it even close to right *with* customer feedback"

      So, if customers give feedback to Microsoft in the woods but Microsoft isn't listening, did they make a sound?

  10. flobadob

    Fail!

    I didn't buy a windows 8 tablet because it had Windows 8 on it.

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: Fail!

      I did buy a Windows 8 tablet...but I put Cyanogenmod on it.

  11. JDX Gold badge

    WinRT

    If they hadn't done a Pro version, maybe this would have had a chance. Hell, releasing Windows PHONE 8 for tablets might have had a better chance and would be a bit less confusing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: WinRT - hahahhahhhahahhhahhahahahahhaha

      Windows RT is a complete failure. It may have had potential if 1) there were enough suitable and useful programs for it on launch, rather than about 10 dodgy versions of media player, 2) the version of Office was Metro only* - and the silly restriction about it not being allowed to be used for commercial purposes was revoked.

      That and there are Intel Atom machines that cost more or less the same which will run more or less the full range of Windows software within reason. I remember when Microsoft fans kept bashing Linux on netbooks with the claim of unpopularity with consumers (as opposed to XP being desperately wheeled back out by Microsoft to try and kill them off), as they couldn't run their Windows programs on it, and yet now Microsoft has effectively done exactly that.

      * No fan of Metro but just as Metro is a bane on the desktop, a crippled desktop with absolutely no other applications are permitted (no idea if simple windows programs like paint / notepad are on there) other than a restricted version of Office is equally useless on a tablet.

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  13. Tony Paulazzo

    Microsoft won't post the release-to-manufacturers (RTM) build on either MSDN or TechNet

    So just like Barrack Obama's review on global spying, Microsoft are saying a massive fuck you to, well pretty much everyone...

    Well, not their Xbox fans obviously.

    1. Asok Asus
      Holmes

      "Well, not their Xbox fans obviously."

      No, they did that too.

      1. Law
        Unhappy

        "No, they did that too"

        Yes, but in a repentant abusive husband sort of way. Totally different. Changed even.

  14. Paul Shirley

    one last chance to hack more legacy support out?

    Remembering that MS were yanking out desktop code just a week before Win8 RTM, it's hard not to wonder what last minute monkey wrenching they have planned this time.

    Luckily, by installing into a 32Gb partition it looks like I can't actually apply this update without wasting a whole day resizing partitions. So no temptation to waste time on it.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Windows RT, a complete disaster. Never mind in 15 years time it will have the same hilarious nostalgia value as Microsoft Bob or the Sinclair C5.

  16. Paul Anderson

    There there

    Stop crying on your keyboards, luddites. I manage with Win8 just fine and using it's not exactly rocket science.

    1. druck Silver badge
      Linux

      Re: There there

      Even if you are managing with the UI, how are you getting with bugs such user profiles becoming corrupted (no fix apart from creating new) ones or RDP tunnelled through SSH dropping every few seconds (no fix at all)? I think you can guess which OS upgrade I installed.

  17. Tristan Young

    Microsoft isn't really fixing all the problems users are having, only making some concessions.

    The problem is more than what Microsoft is fixing.

    I won't be switching to Windows 8.1 because it's too ugly for me. It lacks any sort of draw to me, aside from kernel-level stuff. If Microsoft were to include the kernel improvements, and security enhancements into Windows 7, I'd be far more happy with Microsoft.

    It hasn't grown on me. It has made me bitter towards Microsoft and their designers. Bitter is not even a strong-enough word.

  18. Xyra

    I might be in the minority here, but I rather like Windows 8, even the start screen (from what I've seem in the comments, I might be the only person on the planet who likes it :).

    Plus my Win8 laptop is lot more stable than any of the Macs and Win 7 systems where I work.

    Yes there are a few minor issues, but in general I'm a fan (and I'm on a "traditional" laptop, no fancy rotating touch screens). Quite looking forward to seeing the end result of the "consolidation" in 8.1.

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