Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $39.99!

[kedawa]

If I can do a clean install with this upgrade license, I may just bite.  I have dozens of XP Pro licenses.
I don't really like the Windows 8 interface at all, but neither do a lot of people, and if MS won't give us the shell that we want, someone else will.

[kedawa]

I don't really agree with the notion that Windows alternates between good and terrible.
In my experience, every version of windows since 2000 gets better under the hood and worse in the user interface.

[kedawa]

How was Win2000 not suited to everyday use?
I used it exclusively from the time it was released until XP SP2 came out, and other than encountering a glitch while playing Metal Gear Solid, I never had any issue with it.

[kedawa]

Why would any one ever install windows with anything other than the most current install disc?

[kedawa]

Oh please.  Using a different install disc is not piracy.  It's convenience.  You're using the same software license and ending up with the same install.  The only difference is that you're saving yourself time and saving you and MS some bandwidth.

[kedawa]

I'll check in on Windows a few versions from now and see how Metro turns out.  I have a feeling it will be a much better experience once the old desktop is axed.

Windows 8 will only interest me if it gets a really solid port of LCARS as a replacement GUI.  It would work well with a touchscreen PC.

[kedawa]

I wouldn't be surprised if MS chooses not to issue any service packs for Windows 8.
It's a rather arbitrary way of bundling updates, and not exactly elegant.

[kedawa]

Will this method allow you to do a clean install?

[kedawa]

So what did you enter as your pc model etc. on the form?
Was it just made up, or did you find some actual make and model that comes with windows 7?

[kedawa]

I'm seriously thinking about doing this, but I want to make sure I can get 64bit home premium.
I currently have Vista 32bit installed, and I'd rather not go through the hassle of pirating/installing 7 at all.
Is it actually necessary at any stage to be running 7?

[kedawa]

So I just bought it from my vista machine and got the discount with no issue.
I'm not really looking forward to wrestling with the new interface, but for ~$17CDN, I won't complain.
I figure I may as well dive in and learn what I can before my relatives start calling me for Windows 8 support, which they inevitably will.

[kedawa]

Cool.  I was hoping something like that would be ready by the time I bought it anyway.
One sad thing about the way I did it is that the upgrade assistant checks the 'bits' of the host OS rather than the capabilities of the CPU when determining which installer to download, so I just spent the last hour downloading the 32 bit version.
I'm going to have to get a copy of the x64 install disk through other means and hope my product key works with it.

[kedawa]

I'm assuming that they're two separate images since the retail package contains two separate DVDs, and I've read a few articles that claim that to be the case.

[kedawa]

I had to put off my install until I got done work this evening because it took all night to torrent the 64bit install ISO, but I'm pleased to say that it worked without a hitch.
Even though it's an upgrade, I'm pretty sure the product key is from the same pool as the rest of the retail keys.  I did a clean install on my second hard drive so that I can dual boot with my old Vista install.

[kedawa]

Why? I  have a copy of Vista I've retired.
Tired of it crashing.

I have it set up exactly the way I want, it's on a separate hard drive, and it has never crashed in all the years since I've been using it.
I'm not retiring it until I have Windows 8 fine-tuned the way I want with all of my software set up and working.

I also have about 30GB of stuff downloading via bittorrent that I don't feel like aborting.