Surprise! What you can expect from Windows 8 RTM

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Surprise! What you can expect from Windows 8 RTM[/h] Summary: Microsoft has officially made the final release of Windows 8 available to subscribers of its MSDN and TechNet services. You'll find a handful of small surprises, one very large change from Windows 7, and a momentous name change.

By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report
August 15, 2012 -- 17:01 GMT (10:01 PDT)


The slow march of Windows 8 to its wide-scale release on October 26 continues.


On August 1, Microsoft released the final code to manufacturing. Today’s milestone is the first public availability of those RTM bits, to developers and IT pros who are subscribers to Microsoft’s MSDN and TechNet subscription services.


eb-windows8-rtm-logo.jpg

There's a new build number, of course: 9200. (Trivia: Windows RTM build numbers in he modern era are always divisible by 16.) Its official version number is 6.2, making it part of the same evolutionary line as Windows 7 (6.1) and Windows Vista (6.0).


If you’ve spent any time with the Release Preview, you’ll see only small changes in the RTM code. The biggest difference is that the free previews are over, and you’ll have to pay (or find a trial version) to evaluate Windows 8 from here on out.


See also:




I’ve had a very brief head start with the RTM bits, long enough to install them on a couple of test machines and share some first impressions. It’s still too early to offer up a final review, with two very large pieces of the ecosystem still missing: the “modern” (nee Metro) apps, as well as what will presumably be a large number of devices built specifically for Windows 8.


I installed Windows 8 Pro on a pair of physical test machines and on one virtual machine, performing one clean install, one upgrade from Windows 7, and one upgrade from a Windows 8 preview. All three installations went quickly and without hiccups of any kind. (It's worth noting that upgrading from the Windows 8 Release Preview migrates files and settings but does not preserve installed apps.)


One big change in setup: You can't install Windows 8 Pro without entering a product key. (That's how the previews worked as well.)

see full two page report
 
I found this paragraph to be a bit concerning,

If you've become accustomed to installing Windows 7 without entering a product key so that you can use it in evaluation mode for 30 days, you'll definitely miss that option. After installation, activation is automatic. If you use a product key that's already been used on another PC, you'll be unable to personalize some parts of the Windows 8 environment.

Seems like this is going to really rack up the activation count and problems a frequent tester is going to experience who installs on lots of different machines and tests scenarios regularly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I was not prompted for a key when I installed Enterprise, and interestingly I found no easy way to provide my TechNet key. There was no "Change Product Key" on the system properties page. Ultimately I opened an administrator command prompt and entered the key using the command slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. Once I did that activation was automatic and pretty much immediate.

I have not yet installed Pro.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 x64
@ TerryE When I ran 8 Pro RTM there were "Enter a new key to activate" and "Buy a new key to activate" options if you clicked the blue "View details in windows activation" link in the Windows Activation section of the system screen. That might not be the exact wording but there was a link to enter or change the Product code. Like a lot of things in Windows 8 you have to hunt around to find it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I was not prompted for a key when I installed Enterprise, and interestingly I found no easy way to provide my TechNet key. There was no "Change Product Key" on the system properties page. Ultimately I opened an administrator command prompt and entered the key using the command slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. Once I did that activation was automatic and pretty much immediate.

I have not yet installed Pro.

The Developer release of the Enterprise is a 90 day trial release and will expire with no option to reinstall later The CP, RP, and RTM are all activation required builds that can see multiple installs on the same machine.

With all the leaks of 7 MS decided to stiffen up the activation requirements which is understandable from their view point. This is why you are now seeing the key first required in order to install being additional product security being added in.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    1st W10 Professional x64/W7 Ultimate x64 - 2nd Remote system: W10 Insider Builds/W7 Professional
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Builds
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz -2nd case AMD Atholon II 3.2ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4
    Memory
    Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600mhz 16gb - 2nd case Kingston Hyper-X "Fury" DDR3 1600mhz 8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI Radeon HD 5750 1gb - 2nd AMD Radeon 6450
    Sound Card
    Creative Xtreme Gamer - 2nd case Realtek Onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 19" dual monitor setup - 2nd case HP 20" lcd
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 same on both builds
    Hard Drives
    1st build
    WD Caviar Black Edition Sata II 1tb two OS drives
    WD RE "Heavy Duty Sata II 2tb two Storage/Backup
    2nd build
    WD Blue Sata II 500gb
    WD Black Edition Sata III 1tb
    WD Green Power Sata II 1tb in external usb enclosure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750H 750w -Corsair 500w
    Case
    Antec 900-2 -NXZT Vulcan Mini tower/carrying handle
    Cooling
    120mm front pair, 120 rear 200cm top - 120mm Front intake 200mm side cover
    Keyboard
    Azio Blue led back lit both builds.
    Mouse
    MSI DS200 11 button programmable Gaming optical mouse - Odessa 3 button dual scroll trackball
    Internet Speed
    30mbps
    Other Info
    two MSI 22x ide dvd burners, 25 usb flash drives used for Linux Live, live data recovery 128gb, and Windows 7, 10 usb installation keys
I was not prompted for a key when I installed Enterprise, and interestingly I found no easy way to provide my TechNet key. There was no "Change Product Key" on the system properties page. Ultimately I opened an administrator command prompt and entered the key using the command slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. Once I did that activation was automatic and pretty much immediate.

I have not yet installed Pro.

I had the same issue and actually started a thread on this forum to discuss that very issue. Was strange that it installed a KMS key, but then didn't provide the "change product key" button for me to actually use the key that I got via MSDN.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
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