Windows 8.1 Preview is here

Thanks, getting it now.

I'll be checking this out over the weekend.
 
I have to admit, my relationship with Windows 8 has gone really sour so I hope this betters it. If not I'm back to Win 7 on my DAW and I'll leave it at that.
 
My new laptop is a Mac BTW
 
Has anyone had a chance to test Win 8.1 yet? Any bug warnings?

That's a good thing to point out Slartabartfast! Cheers for that! A disk image have saved my rear before so I always keep a fresh one at hand, and I recommend everyone else to do the same.

Me? I haven't had any problems with Win8 at all. It's working great. I just hate using it. It's like Pro Tools for me. Good program, but there's a major cultural conflict so I won't use it. It's Sonar all the way for me
 
I don't like that charms thing and all that stuff that keep popping out everywhere, all the weird clicking, and the interaction with the OS just isn't to my liking. I tried a touch mouse thingy to see if it helped with my experience of using Windows 8, but not only is it a really lousy mouse, I don't think it enhances the Windows 8 experience at all.
 
I just purchased a MacBook and really dig it now and will use that on the stage with Ableton Live. And for my personal computing, I just can't stand the dual OS attempt they are currently running. My main DAW will remain Windows but I'll probably go back to Win7 on it because I don't like interacting with Windows 8 at all. However, I'm curious to see what Win8.1 will do to it all. Fingers crossed it will suit me as well as Windows always has.
 
Besides that, Windows 8 is working really well on my system

Brandon Ryan [Roland]. After getting used to it, I quite like it. Mostly I think it's faster and more stable, but I quite like the UI as well. When on teh desktop Win8 seems almost indistinguishable from Win7 other than it seems faster to me.

I agree, just not feeling the hate towards it. The new search function alone is worth it for me. Charm bar is my only minor annoyance, wish I could turn that off, but everything else I like. Really don't get the big fuss about the start button, don't see how pressing the windows key instead of clicking on a start button with a mouse is such a big deal.

Re the start button - I agree. I always use the windows key anyway. I don't care that it is gone.
 
The Charms bar is almost a deal breaker for me. I feel I get aggravated whenever it turns up when I don't want it. Besides, I find it's functionality to disrupt my interaction with the OS. I might as well just get rid of it

Yeah, I know John. I've been using Win8 daily since it came out and have gotten to know it quite well. But for some reason it just doesn't fit with me. It's a good concept I guess but it just doesn't suit me. I'm not able to pin point a specific thing that bugs me, it's the sum of all it's parts I guess. I find myself really miss Win7 and that environment.

When I was shopping around for a new laptop lately, I decided that I didn't want any of them because of windows 8. The best thing I can compare it with is that I prefer shoes from Vans or Adidas because Nike and Converse aren't as comfortable on my feet

Sorry to drag feet into this btw

Anyway, Win8.1 is downloading right now so I'm off to the pub while waiting. Cheers!

ProjectM you have every right to like whatever you want. I'm not here to dictate what you or anyone else should like. 
 
I will say I like Windows 8. I'm glad that I do. 

I know John, and I'm only offering my opinion here. I truly respect that yours differs from mine

Really? How do I do that? That's good news Soundtweaker!

I feel like w8 is faster than w7, but I so much hate the tile screen . I 1000% hate that ms is aggressively pushing bing . Eveywhere you go you can't get away from bing!
Osx im my opinion is light years ahead of MS. It just works and works awesome .. No bloat ware crap..
I really hope CW is developing sonar for osx . I am done with ms and there bing crap..

I too find Windows 8 smoother and faster than Windows 7 x64 for my audio work. The Start Screen doesn't bother me that much as I'm rarely seeing it but the Charm Bar drives me nuts. I hate that thing.  As for Bing being forced on us, I'm not fond of that idea but considering all the privacy issues and security problems Google seems to be having lately, especially with Android, maybe Bing isn't so bad.
 
Google, with Google Now and it's integration into smart phones is getting downright creepy IMHO. It can be mostly turned off though. 
 
Anyway, overall Windows 8 has been fine for me.

I just installed 8.1 on my daughter's laptop. I had a heck of a time not setting up a Windows Account. I found that if I entered a bogus password and email address for my Windows Account, I could get logged in to the PC without creating one. I thought I'd share in case I'm not the only one who doesn't want M$ to monitor every time I log on and off the PC.
 
I guess I should be more clear. In Windows, you can now create an account that is on the Windows Cloud Servers. You can also create a local computer account. Using 8.1, I found it very hard to log in with a local account instead of the accounts on the Windows Cloud Servers.

I'm totally A Linux nerd!