News - Windows 9 to be a free upgrade for Windows 8 users

[HEXUS]

Reveals the president of Microsoft Indonesia.

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[Attila the Bun]

Interesting...so my laptop will get upgraded if I want to...that's good...can't say I ever had the hate for 8 that a lot have had but I did think that it wasn't a good progression from 7. Hopefully 9 will be better and I can upgrade my main rig.

[Corky34]

I understand rolling minor version changes out with Windows update, but i think i will miss having installable media when a new major version change comes around.

I hope they still release physical media and ISO's of major versions as well as the upgrade path.

[Tpyo]

I understand rolling minor version changes out with Windows update, but i think i will miss having installable media when a new major version change comes around.

I hope they still release physical media and ISO's of major versions as well as the upgrade path.

I hope they make them available too (and not at some ridiculous premium). The lack of a cheap OEM style version of Win8 for system builders was a blow. Ideally (IMO), do it as a read-only bootable USB pen drive so that it can be used across most systems (many laptops not having an optical drive these days).

[Ulti]

That's interesting. I wonder if they will do a cheap pre-order version for those who do want to buy it though.

Do Windows 7 users not get a free upgrade then? I've got 3 other machines in the house running Windows 7, only my machines are running Windows 8 and I would at least like to upgrade my brother's PC to Windows 9.

Wish I had bought more of the pre-order Windows 8 Pro when it was £14.99 for a limited time.

I can't see myself putting Windows 8/9 on my parents' machine though, a bit too tricky for them IMO.

[YazX]

thats a step in the right direction.

[dfour]

If they do a cheap pre-order this time I will go for it. never used 8 and didnt like the look of it when I played with it so 9 it is.

[tomthum]

That's good news how do we turn of spycloud?????????????
Tom G

[neilbob2]

How can it still be necessary to have a 32 bit download, over a decade after the first consumer 64 bit processor was launched? Are there really so many people clinging on to such outdated technology?

[Smudger]

A lot of companies have legacy apps which will not run in 64-bit environments. Hence why until recently there were a high percentage of people still using IE6...

[RobbieRoy]

I understand rolling minor version changes out with Windows update, but i think i will miss having installable media when a new major version change comes around.

I hope they still release physical media and ISO's of major versions as well as the upgrade path.

I hope they make them available too (and not at some ridiculous premium). The lack of a cheap OEM style version of Win8 for system builders was a blow. Ideally (IMO), do it as a read-only bootable USB pen drive so that it can be used across most systems (many laptops not having an optical drive these days).

Agree totally with what each of you have said. I look forward to learning more from Microsoft's event tomorrow.

[McEwin]

Well that's frustrating. Just bought windows 7 to avoid windows 8 interface only to find they get the next (likely usable) version for free. Why do I bother to buy things legitimately again?

[shaithis]

How can it still be necessary to have a 32 bit download, over a decade after the first consumer 64 bit processor was launched? Are there really so many people clinging on to such outdated technology?

Some home users are still stubbornly sticking to 32bit. I doubt it's driven by business too much as all Microsoft terminal servers are now 64bit only, so they obviously don't care that much about backwards compatibility in the workplace!

[LSG501]

This will be interesting... I can't get 8.1 x64 due to them dropping support for some cpu feature, so I'm not expecting to get my free upgrade to windows 9 either.

Hopefully this will not be a limited time thing but I suppose we can wait and see.

[Saracen]

Hmmm.

If this is true, about Win9 being free to Win8 users, it does make me wonder if it amounts to a tacit admission that Win8 has been, overall, a disaster, certainly in PR terms, and that so-called Win9 will be what Win8 ought to have been?

I think that the differences between what ships as Win9 needs careful comparison to Win8, to see if ir's much more than ...

Win 9 = Win 8.1 + a few tweaks amounting to a service pack + Win 7 'feel' as an option.

By Win7 feel, I mean desktop mode, MUI disabled, menus either back or optional.

Oh, and no doubt, MS will drive their strategic agenda forward a bit, too, like ever tighter cloud integration. Also, will it be 'free' to Win8 users, or Win8 users with a (privacy-sacrificing) NS account ? My bet is on the latter.

Exactly what Win 9 does better, or differently, will be very close examination. I suspect Win 9 = Win 8.2 + desktop mode/menus + PR facelift.

Cynical?

Me?

[crossy]

(I hope they still release physical media and ISO's of major versions as well as the upgrade path.) I hope they make them available too (and not at some ridiculous premium). The lack of a cheap OEM style version of Win8 for system builders was a blow. Ideally (IMO), do it as a read-only bootable USB pen drive so that it can be used across most systems (many laptops not having an optical drive these days).

That's why I'm not interested in an Windows 7 upgrade kit via some kind of download. What I'd prefer is some kind of discount deal on the full media, especially as I plan to do a full/new install rather than trust to any kind of "upgrade" process.

And definitely +1 on the USB drive, heck, I'd be happy to pay the extra to go from optical media to USB. The price difference these days can't be that much surely?

If they do a cheap pre-order this time I will go for it. never used 8 and didnt like the look of it when I played with it so 9 it is.

+1 on this. 8 still weirds me out.

There's still a lot of chatter about the naming of the next version of Windows. Paul Thurrott reports that a Microsoft web site, since taken down, talked about 'Windows TH'. Other names we might see for the next version of Microsoft's OS are; 'Windows 1', 'Windows X' or just 'Windows'…

Windows TH - sounds like someone with a stutter and a lisp..!

As to the name choices, why not just use the last two digits of the launch year, so instead of Windows X, we get Windows 14? Only downside of this perhaps being if we get to 2090+, the "omg, I can't wait for that Window 95." "Nah, I'm waiting for Windows 98".

But by then I assume that (a) I'll be dead; and (b) my grandkids who'll be rushing out to buy Windows95/98 will be on some madly demented quantum computer anyway. Certainly not x86.