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Pancake_EffectFlag for United States of America

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Windows 8 Upgrade?

I'm currently running W7. I want to upgrade to W8 Release Preview. Being in the IT field, I feel like I should start learning it down to it's roots before October. My question however is once I upgrade to W8 Release Preview, when the release date rolls around this October..can I simply purchase a key? OR can I simply do a upgrade without losing anything?

I don't want to upgrade to W8 right now, if I have to reformat or lose everything when the release comes out.
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jgerbasi
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If I were you I'd install VMware Player on your Windows 7 PC and install the W8 release preview inside that. If you really want to test it on real hardware then you should get a tablet with multitouch that supports that OS, as it only makes sense on such hardware. On normal PC's you can't work properly or efficiently with W8.
I have Windows 8 Release Preview running now in a Virtual Machine. It works.

(a) Agree with the above that if you install for real you will have to reinstall later. I would definitely recommend against replacing a production system with a test system on a real machine.

(b) When you look at Windows 8, you may not want it. Unless I can retrofit a Start Button (even a paid aftermarket Start Button), I will not move to Windows 8. Windows 8 is essentially helpless on a non-touch screen. Agree with rindi on that point and rindi posted well.

If you really want to try it, you will be happier running in a virtual machine.

... Thinkpads_User
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There is a 3rd party app, vistart, which you could download and run. It gives you a configurable start button (not within the metro interface, but on the normal desktop) and I recommend it if you have to use Windows 8 (is it from you leew, it seems to be made by a company called "lee-soft.... :)  ).
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"I need to know how to use and do things the "Microsoft" way "

Microsoft has taken to shoving things down our throats whether they work or not.

I am now using the following third party paid alternatives to make my computers work on my terms.

1. Windows Explorer (xPlorer2)
2. SyncBack Pro (to sync files flawlessly)
3. UltraEdit (for a decent text editor)
4. NCP Secure Entry (to get VPN that works flawlessly)
5. iPhone (for a smart phone that works).
6. Foxit iFilter (to find stuff in PDF files).

There is probably more, but soon Number 7 will be a Start Button.

.... Thinkpads_User