Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you have Windows 7 or XP, you can buy Windows 8.1 Pro (look for the Windows 8 Pro upgrade if you already own XP or Windows 7 - it's much cheaper - you can update it to Windows 8.1 for free). Microsoft decided to no longer include Windows Media Center as part of Windows 8. So if you buy this and decide that you want to have a home entertainment pc, you would have to buy the Windows Pro Pack for 99 bucks just to get Windows Media Center. If you buy Windows 8.1 Pro, you can get Windows Media Center for 10 bucks extra. If you already have a version of Windows 7, you would be better off to simply install it on your computer rather than this. If you are updating from Windows XP, I recommend that you find a Windows 7 Upgrade package rather than install Windows 8.1 on your computer. Microsoft has stopped selling Windows 7 upgrades (because they were out-selling Windows 8), so you may have to buy a Windows 7 OEM version to do a clean install of Windows 7 on your computer. Windows 7 comes with Windows Media Center as part of the operating system and has an interface well suited for use on a standard non-touch screen computer. With Windows 8.1, you now get a start button, but the start menu is still not back. Even more important than the lack of a start menu, you can either have the tiles or an awkward stripped-down desktop choice. Microsoft still has not realized that a computer is most productive with an operating system designed for a mouse and keyboard interface and that a tablet and a phone come with a touch screen and work best with a touch interface. The all in one approach will make some power users and early adapters happy, but an every day user who just wants to run multiple applications in actual windows (instead of awkward full-screen apps), including MS Office, email, and dozens of other programs will be much happier with Windows 7. Windows 8.1 is a bit friendlier than Windows 8, but it is still an operating system that gives the user an awkward desktop interface instead of a classic start menu and takes away the valuable feature of Windows Media Center only to charge you an additional 99 dollars to get it back by buying Windows 8 Pro Pack. UPDATED INFORMATION: Below are quotes from a CNET review of Windows 8.1 concerning the tiles, the start button and the classic Windows 7 interface as well as their observation about Windows 7 vs Windows 8.1: "The split between the touch-friendly tiles and throwback desktop mode is still awkward, and the OS is hard to use without a touch screen. While welcome, the new Start button doesn't behave like the classic version..." "What you're left with is an OS that still feels like an awkward compromise between the traditional "desktop" Windows and the touch-centric, tablet-optimized future that looks and feels exactly like Windows Phone." "If you have a legacy Windows 7 system and haven't taken the Windows 8 plunge yet, there's still no reason to." Full review is at [...] If Microsoft were to restore the option for the classic start menu and include Windows Media Center as part of the operating system, I would be inclined to recommend Windows 8.1 as an operating system that I would use. However, in its current state, I must agree with CNET that if you have a legacy Windows 7 system and haven't taken the Windows 8 plunge yet, there is still no compelling reason to do so based on the changes in Windows 8.1. UPDATE December 3, 2013: As of November 30th, here is the breakdown of Microsoft operating systems in use: *Windows 7 46.64 percent of pc's *Windows XP 31.22 percent of pc's *Windows 8 6.66 percent of pc's *Windows Vista 3.57 percent of pc's *Windows 8.1 2.64 percent of pc's Windows 8.1 is faster and has some improved security features over Windows 7. However, as you can see, even Windows Vista has a larger installed share of the market than Windows 8.1 as of November 30, 2013. Windows customers are waiting for Microsoft to give them a choice of whether they want to use the tablet (tiled) interface or a fully functioning desktop O/S complete with a start menu as an option. Although Windows 8.1 made some improvements and I could tolerate it (however awkward it might be), I am staying with Windows 7 because it already includes a friendly desktop with Start Menu and Windows Media Center for recording live tv. Why should customers lose functionality or incur additional expenses with Windows 8? The rejection of Windows 8 and 8.1 has gotten so bad that sources say Microsoft is finally talking about bringing back the start menu in Windows 8.2. See "Microsoft may finally bring back full Start menu with Windows 8.2" [...] Computer manufacturers have become so disgusted with the whole Windows 8 and 8.1 mess that they are now talking about selling computers that run both Windows 8 and Android. (Note: this can't be good news for Microsoft!) See "PC makers plan rebellion against Windows at 2014 CES, analysts say." [...] My predictions are that we will also see an end to Windows RT. There will be a desktop Windows 8.(something) and a Windows 8 Phone. One or the other is going to end up on Microsoft tablets. Right now there are full versions of Windows 8.1 running on tablets, so it should be interesting to see which O/S runs on Windows tablets in the future.