Yes it's garbage....

Microsoft urged people to try their 8.1 Review.. now we find out you can't upgrade from the Preview, you have to reinstall all your apps which can be a problem if they are downloaded as shareware and you need to go back to get a new key. Further there's no connection to the Store from Preview so you can't even go there to get it as an upgrade. I've tried the Amin account, a user account, and setup yet another account and none of them can access the Store. 

I finally did a direct download to an ISO but it screws up big time. 

After installing 8.1 and yes it removed everything, but then it came up with the wrong screen size, no drivers to connect to wifi, it's a mess. On top of this the update will not activate unless I BUY a new key. What happened to getting the free upgrade on top of Win8??? When I wrote to Microsoft Support for help... no reply. When I phone in they insist on me paying money to fix their screwup. 

In short Microsoft you've lost a customer: I'm tired of the crap you put out: VISTA, Win8 and now 8.1 I can't get to work and not one person in Microsoft is willing to help. When you go to the forum for answers you're treated like a moron and little help is given and the moderators appear to encourage insulting non-techie users. Who needs this after paying hundreds of $$$ for all these attempts at gaining a workable OS. I might as well go to Linux. If I have to fight with it at least it's free. 

I'm so disappointed in Microsoft and their products.... I will not recover from this. 

PS: and the answer below is typical of Microsoft support: "I'm sorry to hear that Windows 8.1 brought so much trouble for your computer." then shove the person off to someone else... don't offer assistance or attempt work with the user... God no, don't do that. 

I'm done.... next laptop no Windows. 

I totally agree! In Windows 8, I finally had a stable, crash-free OS. After taking advantage of the free "upgrade" a few weeks ago, my computer is nearly unusable, crashing & auto-rebooting time after time, day after day. It also 'lost' my DVD drive so I can't even reinstall 8. Every day I spend hours researching possible solutions, updating drivers, disabling processes, etc trying to find the key to the problem. Absolutely no luck so far.

I have about had it with Microsoft & Windows.

• Edited by roscoguy Tuesday, December 17, 2013 5:08 PM Problems solved(?)

Microsoft needs to bring back the availability of ISO images or inexpensive discs from which Windows 8.1 can be installed fresh and clean.

Really, no one ought to be trying to upgrade an operating system in place.  It's simply a bad idea for many, many reasons not least of which are installed application incompatibility, incompatibility with settings that made sense in the prior version (including configuration errors propagated and magnified).

Based on my own (good) experience, Windows 8.1 can be very stable and halfway productive to use - IF you install it fresh and clean from a disc and NOT as an upgrade.

I think it boils down to a matter of needing to buy a full version disc if one wants a new version of Windows.  With "free" comes expenses in time later, when things go wrong.

     I have done a clean install many many times and I can say Windows 8 Pro is the worst OS from Microsoft I have yet experienced. It has many issues that they basically want the buyer to fix. I spent $199.00 for each of my 2 computers. My wifes and my own. The only reason I purchased 8.0 Pro is because they removed the other OS versions from store shelves.

     Since the date of purchase our computers have been garbage. I became so irritated with one I sold it along with the cd as soon as I had it in a semi stable condition. I am about to do the same with this one. The multiple crashes the reboots, downloads that don`t download to proper folders, files lost, drivers not installing, constant update issues, I am so sick of this 8.1 Pro and 8.1 Bs I would give it up all together, but we can`t all afford new computers because of the way Microsofts latest piece of crap screwed our up.

      Even the techs I have talked to numerous times on the phone say they stick with windows 7 or xp which I would love to do only Microsoft doesn`t allow sales of those in the stores anymore.  Basically they said here is our latest, yes we know it is a piece of crap but you won`t realize it until installed  then you are stuck, help us work out our bugs.

      All I can say is If they would have told me it was a Beta version still in testing I would have spent my money elsewhere.

Microsoft needs to bring back the availability of ISO images or inexpensive discs from which Windows 8.1 can be installed fresh and clean.

Really, no one ought to be trying to upgrade an operating system in place.  It's simply a bad idea for many, many reasons not least of which are installed application incompatibility, incompatibility with settings that made sense in the prior version (including configuration errors propagated and magnified).

Based on my own (good) experience, Windows 8.1 can be very stable and halfway productive to use - IF you install it fresh and clean from a disc and NOT as an upgrade.

  

     I have done a clean install many many times and I can say Windows 8 Pro is the worst OS from Microsoft I have yet experienced. It has many issues that they basically want the buyer to fix. I spent $199.00 for each of my 2 computers. My wifes and my own. The only reason I purchased 8.0 Pro is because they removed the other OS versions from store shelves.

     Since the date of purchase our computers have been garbage. I became so irritated with one I sold it along with the cd as soon as I had it in a semi stable condition. I am about to do the same with this one. The multiple crashes the reboots, downloads that don`t download to proper folders, files lost, drivers not installing, constant update issues, I am so sick of this 8.1 Pro and 8.1 Bs I would give it up all together, but we can`t all afford new computers because of the way Microsofts latest piece of crap screwed our up.

      Even the techs I have talked to numerous times on the phone say they stick with windows 7 or xp which I would love to do only Microsoft doesn`t allow sales of those in the stores anymore.  Basically they said here is our latest, yes we know it is a piece of crap but you won`t realize it until installed  then you are stuck, help us work out our bugs.

      All I can say is If they would have told me it was a Beta version still in testing I would have spent my money elsewhere.

Grats I am glad it works for you. I don`t hate all of Windows products I was quite happy with xp and vista even. I guess I got to them after the kinks were worked out. My only issue is with the new version that was a supposed upgrade. If it was still in Beta testing they shouldn`t have made it impossible to purchase the reliable versions they had out. I feel I got duped as I am quite sure many others do. There are many many more complaints on this OS than there are happy users. Tablets may run great on it  but so far the two desktops I had turned quickly into garbage. And yes I am sorry  but I don`t think the average comsumer should have to become a computer wiz in order for a product to work how it claims to work.

There seems to be an ongoing theme:  People who are comfortable with undertaking in-depth reconfiguration of their operating system and can rely on their large accumulated base of knowledge from past releases can get Windows 8 to work.

For me Win 8.1 - the fresh install I mentioned up above - is still working every bit as solidly as Windows 7 did for me:  no crashes, no glitches.  I give it hard daily serious desktop use.  Last bootup was more than a week ago.  So far the longest stretch I've gone between reboots mandated by Windows Updates or software installs has been 17 days.  It's never crashed.

But I'm under no misconception, even though I've written a book on how to do it, that Windows 8.1 is an easy system for the masses to use.  With 38 years computer engineering experience I can tell you honestly that it taxed me to my limits to turn it into something with which I can get my work done.  Windows 7 took some skill as well to get running right, but not nearly as much as Windows 8.

Meanwhile, Microsoft does things like not even bother to document it (try clicking a link in an event log dialog, for example).  There comes a price for reducing support:  Fewer people get it to work well for them.  Fewer people can write good drivers for it.  Fewer people can use it.

Those who know what they're doing worry that Microsoft has lost the very ability to continue to engineer Windows at the professional level.  This version certainly doesn't do anything better than its predecessor to make it worth putting up with all the negative changes.

"With 38 years computer engineering experience I can tell you honestly that it taxed me to my limits to turn it into something with which I can get my work done."

  Thank you, my point exactly. The consumer doesn`t want to buy a product that they will have to jump through hoops to get working, they want to  buy a product that they can plug in and turn on and have it perform exactly how it was advertised to perform. We don`t all have 38 years of experience in computers, and if it taxed someone who does to their limits then what do you think it did to the masses who are just learning.