I finally got it upgraded and I'm soooo disappointed.  The "start button" just takes you to the "modern ui" page that I hate.  I don't see any significant difference between 8 and 8.1.  It looks like my kindle fire, which is great for a tablet and sucks for a desktop.

I promptly downloaded the trial for Start8 and love it!  I should have downloaded that a long time ago.  Live and learn.

Anyway, I'll now have the Win8 engine driving my machine and the intuitive interface of Start8.  I'm now a happy camper.   

Hey everyone I'am back could not get on my own post yesterday evening what's up with that. Well anyway I am happy to see all the posts on your experience with the 8.1 upgrade it has really helped with my decision on upgrading my system I think I'am going to postpone upgrading atleast till Windows 9 which is supposed to have RTM release in January or February of 2014. For all of you running Windows 7 32 or 64 bit their will be no further service packs for this O.S , Microsoft just really does not listen to the consumer at all.I do believe that even on a good day they could not find their own ass with both hands a map and a GPS tracker stuck up their butt . Their customer support is nonexistent , I have tried several times to call customer support to no avail, It is obvious they do not care about the customer (SO SAD) i WISH EVERYONE LUCK ON THE UPGRADE PLEASE KEEP US POSTED ON THE OUTCOME!!! 

I doubt that you will see RTM windows9 before 2015... I think your source got some wrong information it was planned before they started project Blue but it was delayed in schedule after... there was only a rumoured date for a RP nothing else.
Also i have to disagree, Microsoft has a good customer support,its true that most of them are not up to date on a fresh released OS or point release but let’s face it who can fix everything if there is such a vast variety of Hardware out there no system is the same you can only distinguish some factors of failure and try to make a right guess -like we all do..
After all they are Humans as well not quantum computers.
I do not blame them, since most of the time IF  something goes wrong on my system- iam the one to blame, since my system is modified like many others here.
And i think MS showed with 8.1 that they do care about their customers aswell as the success of the OS take a look at mail they have obviously listened, while they did not such a great job on the design but the functionality of the modern apps has been creased. Start can now be modified with walls colors and the tiles can be sized in groups… there is lots more...So sorry I do not agree with your post.

Agreed. Microstuff isn't finished screwing up 8 first, at least as far as making it look halfway decent. Personally I hope they keep on screwing up. This way Stardock will continue to make them look sick. IMO

Well according to my news feeds, and the Redmond based company it self prerelease is slated to come out by February of 2014 I have done alot of research on this and all the news I can report are all in agreement on the dates of the prerelease !

meh was still in editing you gotta leave me more time LOL

I am not doubting you that very well could be i did not mean to ruffle so many feathers. i am just going on what i personally have encountered please don't take offense to my post i am sorry. I base alot of my decisions on the consumer reviews not the critics so all of your input is valuable to me , again i am sorry!

I don’t no worries, I just can post my personal experience from the encounters I had with MS based on  requests permissions requests and mainly customer support from Germany since my phone bill will not allow calling MS in the US.
I could point you to articles that “state” a scheduled release to 2015 it seems to have been delayed and was scheduled for 2014 but was then delayed because of windows 8.1 , but all those dates are also not fact and are based on rumours from the MS kitchen, experience however tells me that there will be a RP version some time at the end of 2014... if that is the case there is likely to be no new windows before 2015 since the beta phase continues for 4-5 months including DP, RP and CP… 
 

Thanks Roloccolor iam learning and all input is valuable to me I learn more from individuals like you than from any tech so please at times be patient with me as this is the only enjoyment in my life I am severally disabled and home bound so my PC is all i really have. I just want to be sure before I decide to possibly put out 119.99 on 8.1 so all of your input means alot again thanks!

Nah....They'd lock me up in the looney bin in a heartbeat. 

Hey here's an idea hire both of you , that would be one for the ages LOL! Your both pretty damn smart so why not!

The best example I can throw out is if you like the new Start interface that was introduced on windows8 than you benefit from quick access to a lot of information after the installation without adding anything.. Mail notification through the live modern apps. News, Bing reports, skype , Windows Messenger if you use it and Finance section.
 That’s pretty neat especially since you don’t have to open a single app and they all run on very very low resources.
The same can be achieved on windows7 of course with enough apps in autostart… But to me it seems like a bit more work to set it all up.
Windows8 is hibernating or comes with the option to Hybrid Boot -
Hybrid boot shuts down all logged user sessions but keeps the kernel hibernated the data will be then stored in the hyberfil.sys  that will be read on the new boot and  allows a faster boot.
Therefore you have a faster system start you can of course also activate a normal shutdown ( but I don’t see why someone would do that unless he is running a dualboot system) but currently with the new update 8.1 that will still cause chkdsk to run on a dualboot machine if you start windows7 this is a bit of a flaw and I haven´t found a workaround on this yet.
Windows8 has the new Start  interface that allows you to work with different apps at the same time but, without ModernMix that’s  pretty useless since most of us are used to work on the desktop and have our shortcuts on it.
So without ModernMix you will have to do extra clicks. Or MS would need to integrate something like it but too late
Windows8 comes with a Virtual machine… and so on… so it has some gimmicks no doubt… not sure if all of that is also on the standart win8 I run pro.

I bought windows8 on release and I only paid 35euros for it that’s the cheapest OS I’ve ever bought to date, would I buy it for the current price if I had windows7 ultimate ?`Hell NO… not after I got it for that cheap
The upgrades done are nice but the price is just too heavy if you already have a stable and good working OS to hand like Win7pro and up.
saying pro and up since the basic windows7 Starter is no OS in my eyes...

The shorter Boot time and the Multimedia based interface are neat But do not justify the current price I think.
If you get it with a new PC that’s fine but I would not pay 120USD or Euros for it especially since it will not include WMC…
If Stardock products would be included for a year I would reconsider … I have tried alternatives but most of them seem cheap and you will have close to no support or no support at all.

You must be new here....lol.  

 hahaha

Windows 8.1 is out and yet Windows 7 is still a better OS. Imagine that.

LMAO!

Must Win8 be the installed OS to upgrade?  Is there an option to use a Win8 License Key?  Installing an OS from the cloud without a way to recover from a disrupted install seems a little dicey.

I have 2 Win8 keys I purchased as a hedge - may (or may not) install it on my XP machine at some point.  Gathering info, doing due diligence, so TIA.

Thanks for your input Roloccolor . It is pretty hard to justify 120.00 I only paid 64.00.for my Windows 7 64 bit home premium I just could not afford the ultimate even-though it was the O.S I would have preferred . All in all I am pretty happy with my current O.S . I have all the stardock programs except those for windows 8 I love this stuff and to all you skinners out there KUDOS TO YOU AWESOME SKINS EVERY WHERE. Wish I knew how to do it but I am not that good yet!