Upgrading To Windows 8.1

The other day I recieved a message on my computer telling me that Windows 8.1 was available for download for free.

My first thought was "I wonder if they finally gave us back our start menu?" I was so excited when I read in the details of what would be changed that "The Start button has returned to the taskbar—tap or click to get to Start." Woo-hoo! I had been using Classic Shell to get around Microsoft's decision to remove the start menu I'd come to know and love (they didn't even have a way for you to add it back if you so desired).

So, I decided to take the plunge and begin the 3+ gig file download. After waiting and then installing, I was all fired up about getting my Start menu back. I launched Windows 8.1 and saw the start button - my heart almost skipped a beat. I clicked on it. Instead of seeing the beautiful Windows menu pop up that was so efficient I was taken to the same start screen Microsoft has been heralding for years. That's right, no start menu. I felt like I'd been bamboozled. That's right, I said it - bamboozled.

Plus, my old version of Classic Shell didn't work with this new version of Windows so I had to dowload the latest version and install.

Then I found out my computer's Backup & Recovery software wasn't compatible with this new version of Windows. More downloading, more installing.

In all, it took my computer about 6 hours to install the new version and get back to some semblence of productivity. Interestingly, Microsoft has a video on their Windows 8.1 web page that tells you you can "use windows the way you want". Unfortunately, that's not true. I have to install someone else's software to use Windows the way I want.

So, is it worth the pain of upgrading? Part of me doubts it because I'm not seeing any security advantages. Still, updates were made to some Windows apps like mail, so it may be worth it.

You can check out Microsoft's Windows 8.1 page to see what they have to say about it.

You can also check out the Windows 8.1 area on Wikipedia to see some of the differences between Windows 8 and 8.1.