From party to tragedy in the Windows 8.1 update

The news has spread like wildfire, delighting all of Microsoft's competition: the update to the new version 8.1 is having such serious and abundant problemslike to go back a step and remove the software from the Store for RT devices.

That is why today I want to analyze all the negative things that I have been finding during the installation of this update of the operating system that, finally, have turned into the holiday of Microsoft, on another embarrassing disastrous day (and there are… too many) .

Complaints, complaints and more complaints

The first pleasant surprise has become very unpleasant and uncomfortable; and this is the distribution by the Windows Store itself.

Although, for the majority of users who only have one computer, the ease of accessing the new software as if it were another application was very convenient, for those – like the person who writes these lines – who have three or more computers, it's absurd to have to perform the same download of +3Gb on each of the machines; without being able to download a single ISO image and reuse it.

Another frustration experienced by more advanced users is that the update would not launch unless we had the operating system updated to the latest patch. Something that is not understandable because the logical thing is that the installer itself downloads and updates the equipment, as it did in Windows 7 and 8; not that it prevents the update in a “preemptive” way.

Once the update wizard has been launched, it has been said to wait. But wait, wait. There have been no processes completed in less than two hours, with cases exceeding five, depending on the computing power of the device.

And this is just absurd.

I can't imagine what calculations and processes can make brown beasts, such as today's computers, waste two or three hours to upgrade to a minor version. And more when the installation of the entire operating system from scratch does not exceed 45 minutes.

But the problems have continued after the installation is complete and with the computers updated to Windows 8.1.

In my case, the main laptop there is no way to activate it It is an Enterprise version with volume license, and I get an error of DNS. Just thinking about the money that my company contributes for the partner license and that we cannot activate our operating system already seems to me a lack of respect for customers.And it forces me to waste our precious and expensive time solving a problem that shouldn't exist.

But, from what I have read, things have not stopped there. If not Windows 8 serial numbers, they are not valid for Windows 8.1 (first time in Windows history). Thus, if you have to restore Windows on your computer, you should have the two serial numbers at hand because, another surprise, the restoration leaves the computer with the version 8, not with the latest.

This would just be annoying, treating series as if they were different versions, if it weren't for reports from all over the world indicating that with Win 8.1 there are a multitude of hardware and app bugs that have stopped working.

They are not general, it is true. But an update should NEVER cause errors of this type. It is assumed that the core of the operating system has not been touched and that these are just improvements.

The RT disaster

If you add gasoline to a good fire, you not only get a good flare but also you will most likely burn your eyelashes .

Well, Microsoft just did something like this with its battered Windows RT.

In my case, the update to 8.1 simply never appeared. But it seems that the failures in the installation of this version have been general. Leading to the unprecedented and unprecedented decision to stop distribution until Microsoft fixes the problems.

The issue was further complicated when the first communication from Redmond was that the tablet crash was “easily” fixed via a system recovery from a USB… process almost no one uses or knows about use . Luckily they rectified and blocked access to the Store.

This blunder is surprising because, in addition the number of RT device models is minimal - the Surface, some old Asus and not much more – if we compare it with the vast fleet of Windows 8 machines.

As if that were not enough, the "lucky ones" who managed to update are finding software that has stopped working or that works poorly, when version 8 or Preview itself ran perfectly.

In my case, since I can't update and continue with my version 8.1 Preview, I can't download or try the brand new Facebook application because it doesn't meet the software requirements.

Conclution

Inconveniences and operations out of all common sense continue to occur; like it asks me again to choose a browser... and removes the IE icon from the desktop bar and the main menu by default; or that the license to develop applications for Windows 8 has been drawn up by a drunk lawyer advised by the intern, and that results in in some cases to make an app you have to buy 100 development licenses

But even so, in the two computers where I have managed to update (including this one in which I am writing these lines) it is noticeable that the system is more fluid, it is deeper and allows me to do more things.

That is, I I highly recommend it in its “complete” version, and I advise waiting for the stabilization of the RT version.

But without forgetting that it has been a real disaster that may indicate that the people who direct or make decisions in the company are not looking where they should .