Why bother with 8.1?

[TechnoMage]

This old forum is getting sleepy. Not many people wanting to install Windows 8.1 any more.
And not too many asking questions about it either.
But, why even bother?

Windows 8.1 was a really GREAT OS, back when it was first released. But that was a long time ago now.
It's already OLD and out of Date, and Microsoft no longer supports it. However I still have it running on a few older PC's, where it just runs Great.

But, when I want a fresh install of Windows, without buying it, I'm using the NON MS version of Windows 11/Pro/64 called "Micro 11".
It's really MICRO, and can be downloaded in just a few minutes. In fact, downloading it, burning it to a Flash Drive, using Rufus, and then installing it, can all be done in under an hour.

And, once installed, and tweaked a little, it's actually a very workable OS!

TM

 

[hroldan]

This old forum is getting sleepy. Not many people wanting to install Windows 8.1 any more.

Hi, just wanted to let you (and others here) know, the forum is not allowing new accounts, or at least it reports an error time after time.

This could explain the silence, the place being so quiet. I tried several times, diff days on diff weeks to open this account, and only managed to do it after clicking inside a thread "you need to etc have an account to post here" something like that.

No, the main button at the top of the forum does not work.

Like you, I also think Windows 8.1 is a great OS, I'm using it right now, and while trying to solve some difficulties (installing store apps without the store), I have found posts and threads on the web where people describe needing or just wanting to use Windows 8.1, but there is little activity. My point is, something like this surely makes sense on specifically dedicated forums, like this one.

I just wanted to share here that I managed to install Firefox 122 x64 on my Surface 3 running Windows 8.1 (but I'm using version 115 mainly). I'll post in a bit.

 

[flavallee]

I'm still a die-hard Windows 7 user, but I recently decided to try out Windows 8.1 (which I've never used since it was released in 2012).

It's faster and snappier than Windows 7, but it's more difficult to use, but I enjoy the challenge.

With the proper prerequisites installed, it accepts Windows Server 2012 R2 updates, so it's not out of date yet.

Mozilla Firefox ESR 115.8.0 is the primary browser I use with it.