Windows 8 Pro Pack - Product Key Card or Windows 8 Professional Upgrade $60.00 FS

Quote from serra : that's enough, play nice please (or ignore)

Sorry for the extra work , I got a bit too into the mud it would seem. I'll back on off .

I like it because it boots and shuts down much faster. The windows key works just like the start key does.. hit it and type the name of the program and enter.

Here we have the same Windows 8 trolls in this thread.
Windows 8 works great on desktops, here are the reasons why I like it and the new features it brings for mouse and keyboard users.
[blogspot.com]
Either way, save your money and get it straight from Microsoft for $40. Just burn the image onto a disc, or better yet put the image on a flash drive dedicated for Windows installation. You only need a 4GB flash drive and you can get those for $5. You can use a USB flash drive to install Windows faster than from a DVD plus it also works on computers without DVD drives of which there are an ever increasing number of.

Quote from Mr.Ritz : I like it because it boots and shuts down much faster. The windows key works just like the start key does.. hit it and type the name of the program and enter.

I've got a 7200 RPM drive and my windows 7 laptop boots up in less than 30 seconds and shuts down in less than 10. Buying and installing an entirely new operating system because you might save a couple seconds or might not makes no sense. Put that money towards a SSD. It would be better spent.

Quote from AggroDude : Digital download of a game is fine but not an OS. EVERYONE ends up needing a disc, especially to reload it etc. Microsoft will charge $20 for it and then the digital copy IS NOT a deal. Great find op. In for one

If it's an image one could easily load it onto a dvd or usb drive.

Quote from Ananke : ???? So downloading from MS image OS for free and buying the license key for $39.99 total is worse deal than buying the retail kit for $60? Can you burn a disk to save $20 ?

Where can you get the actual win 8 iso from Microsoft? Not consumer preview or torrent.

I have Win 8 for almost a year now, since the Beta, on desktops and Asus tablet...I have also MSDN licenses and W8 Pro retail for a month already. Indeed, W8 is better, very performance polished system. However, regular users may not need or understand what is different, besides the UI, so it makes no sense for them to upgrade even at $40 a pop.
But, I have also Windows phones, and I prefer those phones, because of the slick interface, and mostly because of account integration with all Microsoft products and services. So, in regards of that, Microsoft is doing everything very right for the last many years. They integrate, and the applications are stable and unified across all platforms - something that cannot be done by Android for example. Apple is offering something similar, but not there yet and their execution of multiplatform integration is not that elegant, capable and out right expensive to the end user.
That's my opinion - $40 is good for new builds, or VERY technically savy people who intend to fully use MS multiplatforms. For anybody else - it is just not worth spending any money over Win 7.

Quote from DarthSaver : I've got a 7200 RPM drive and my windows 7 laptop boots up in less than 30 seconds and shuts down in less than 10. Buying and installing an entirely new operating system because you might save a couple seconds or might not makes no sense. Put that money towards a SSD. It would be better spent.

I already have a 10k drive

Quote from AggroDude : Where can you get the actual win 8 iso from Microsoft? Not consumer preview or torrent.

In post 23 in this thread I posted a link to the Microsoft blog where they tell you that if you purchas the $39.99 electronic download you get the option to create an .ISO image while using the upgrade assistant...

Quote from Ananke : That's my opinion - $40 is good for new builds, or VERY technically savy people who intend to fully use MS multiplatforms. For anybody else - it is just not worth spending any money over Win 7.

Great post, fellow MSDN'er. I have one small disagreement. The youngsters who love their Apps on their phones will definitely love Win8. My daughter (23 years old) came over and I showed her the awesomeness of Win8. At first she was kind of "big deal". However, when she saw the Apps I have on the Metro, her entire attitude changed. "I can use it like my desktop AND like my phone???"

I'm spending the $40 and getting her Win8 as one of her upcoming Birthday presents.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is if you have a Windows Live login, definitely USE IT with Win8. You get some tremendous access and also Xbox Live, which both my kids have and I don't... but now I do with Win8!

Quote from TuffyAndMe : Great post, fellow MSDN'er. I have one small disagreement. The youngsters who love their Apps on their phones will definitely love Win8. My daughter (23 years old) came over and I showed her the awesomeness of Win8. At first she was kind of "big deal". However, when she saw the Apps I have on the Metro, her entire attitude changed. "I can use it like my desktop AND like my phone???" I'm spending the $40 and getting her Win8 as one of her upcoming Birthday presents. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is if you have a Windows Live login, definitely USE IT with Win8. You get some tremendous access and also Xbox Live, which both my kids have and I don't... but now I do with Win8!

Exactly the way I use it - through Windows Live Login - one account to synchronize everything in real time, priceless...I tried Android, iOS, they had their chance, but didn't execute that integration well and tight enough.

Quote from TuffyAndMe : Great post, fellow MSDN'er. I have one small disagreement. The youngsters who love their Apps on their phones will definitely love Win8. My daughter (23 years old) came over and I showed her the awesomeness of Win8. At first she was kind of "big deal". However, when she saw the Apps I have on the Metro, her entire attitude changed. "I can use it like my desktop AND like my phone???" I'm spending the $40 and getting her Win8 as one of her upcoming Birthday presents. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is if you have a Windows Live login, definitely USE IT with Win8. You get some tremendous access and also Xbox Live, which both my kids have and I don't... but now I do with Win8!

whats her facebook?
i mean yeah i get what you're saying

I installed last night on an old dell e1505 laptop. It was a simple install and I didn't need any 3rd party drivers, except for the card reader. Doesn't ask a ton of questions like xp install. But the interface was just like my phone and felt really dumbed down. I was moving things around the screen, but not really doing anything. I opened up skydrive photos and spent 20 minutes selecting a hundred or so photos to delete. Then I spent another 20 minutes trying to find a non-existent delete button or keystroke.
I installed start8 and made it more useable, but my biggest gripe is that there are no drop down menus in any of the native apps. Email, which should have a multitude of configuration options, stationery, signatures, filters, etc., but no. I was even simpler than my phone. Even my touchpad email app was more intuitive. I clicked everywhere on the screen and couldn't figure out how to even bring up the settings to add a pop account. Shutting down programs? Not a clue. I just hit the windows key to go back the the main screen like a android tablet. Then I saw the games I had on my phone on the xbox live tile and got excited about playing feed me oil on the laptop, but all it showed were game stats which i couldn't care less about.
Initial impression.... not good.

Quote from DarthSaver : Windows 8 blows. Save your money.

Do you mean, it sucks?