I can see that problem being a potential problem for us (company), as we use remote desktop a lot but we can't exactly go and give everyone dual monitors. :)

One other thing I find a bit annoying is there's no clock when your using Modern UI apps, you have to activate the charm bar afaik.

Still, it's not as bad as when I first used it, since I could only use it for like 30 minutes at a time, so no real chance to customize it.

It's only for the "metro" version, the real remote desktop application is still there and works as before.

So apparently the retail copy only allows updating a previous Windows installation. It could have mentioned that on the box or at the beginning of the installation process or when I entered my registration code or even when it allowed me to select the clean install option for some reason. But it waited until Windows 8 was installed and ready for activation and asked me to enter my code for the second time to tell me I not only need to reinstall Windows 8 but also dig up and install an outdated OS for absolutely no good reason. It really expects me to reinstall 2 OSes? Are you fucking shitting me? Why can't I just enter my XP code at that point? Or better yet, just ditch the update requirement entirely since Microsoft desperately needs adopters anyway.

There's a trick to activate it anyway - Google it :)

And I did the exact same thing and it didn't ask me anything ... . Activated just fine.

Oh I did and I solved the problem with a little registry editing but the point is that should not be necessary. And if the official fix is to install Windows 8 over a previous version, that should have been clear from the start.

Irritating first impression aside, everything else seems alright, I guess. I'm not a big fan of the hot-corner driven navigation. Fortunately Start8 disables that in desktop mode.

The only thing that should not register as an upgrade is to install on a new drive with no eligible Windows version on it. Even if you tell the installer to format the drive it should already have registered that there's a license there to upgrade from, only if you format the drive beforehand is this not the case and you have to go the (actually official, believe it or not) way of editing the registry.

It sounds like you bought an upgrade rather than the full license. Yes, the upgrade is what have been sold at low prices, the full new-install version is still too expensive. The same was true of Windows 7 except the upgrade prices hadn't gone down to reasonable levels yet, something I found out when I bought my copies for "student price" (apparently it was just the upgrade, which was sold everywhere for the same price, not only to students - meaning, I still don't actually have a legal Windows install).

All right, I'm currently trying out the 90-days trial thingy, and.... Well, windows 8 seems to be an all-round better system than windows 7. There are some small things I dislike, like placement of 'shutdown' button that requires a bit too many clicks to reach (not really a problem since I can get the same effect by just pressing the one on my case.) Other than that, win8's pretty damn good.

And I'm not going to use it in the forseeable future. Why, you ask? It's all about WinRT. As far as I can tell, the only viable method of distributing WinRT applications is Windows Store, which also applies for freeware or open source apps. For myself, two issues arise from this:
1) I refuse to have something as low-level as my Windows installation and applications installed on it tied to an online account.
2) Sure, I can install Win32 applications. But support for them will become more and more limited by every next release of Windows OS, and the only way to get the most out of my OS will be usage of a store that's completely controlled by Microsoft. That's a very dangerous path to follow, and I really hope MS will lighten up on RT apps restrictions, because as far as I go, Windows seemed to be a very nice middle ground between Mac and Linux OSes. If restrictions on WinRT apps is to remain, Windows will eventually become as closed down as any MacOS, perhaps even more so. And I don't like that one bit.

However, if you don't mind these two, DO upgrade. Win8 is an excellent OS.

Apparently WinRT is built on top of Win32. I suspect your Win32 desktop applications will be safe for some time.

http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/windows-8-and-winrt-everything-old-is-new-again/6/

I understand that. And even if it wasn't, MS would have to keep support for quite a while to not piss everyone off. I just don't like where MS seems to be currently heading and I'm not willing to support it, that's all.

Fair enough. :)

*turns back to Win98se retro box*

sorry? No the Dev key you need is free and is not sold in "bundles" it's a single use key that opens your system entirely to sideloading. Enterprise edition doesn't even need the key you just set a flag in the registry!

Been using w8 since dev preview - now im running Win8Pro 64 and i still like it.

Once you get used to Massive List of Hotkeys Its not to bad. I highly recommend a startbutton replacer to help easy your transition. There are really only 2 options.

Start 8: This is by Stardock, its very nice, searches super fast and has flawless integration. The drawbacks are a short trial period and it costs money. It should be mentioned that Stardocks Apps for windows truly are designed well and there support is rather good. You lose a lot fo control customizing it though, as your start menu is based of a template "vision"

Classic Shell: This is an opensource FREE replacement. Its 100% customizeable and has everythgin you would want. the search is a little slow and tempermental. But it can be setup how ever you like, its fully editable and you can even save and import your configs. If you like control and design this is the one for you. You can even make your own custom start Orb!

As for pure aesthetics, Start 8 is the champion. it looks better, runs smoother but its at a loss of a few more resources and control. It costs about as much as a gog. For quick launching anything you want its CLassic Shell. It has an expanding list of all the Metro apps in the start menu so you truly never need to go into metro again. Start8 has a version of this but not as simply done.

has anyone had any trouble with their mouse,controllers keyboards USB run stuff not working?

not me... even the oldest graphic card I'm using in my netbook is working flawless :)

cool I think i am about to try it out for myself.