Upgrading to Windows 8.1 Will Require Some Patience
Microsoft's Windows 8.1 arrived yesterday, and as soon as I got to my desk I embarked on the task of upgrading my PC, which was running the preview release.
The experience was more challenging than I expected. In fact, it killed a good part of my morning and was fraught with frustration.
Though Microsoft said yesterday that you can upgrade by simply going to the Windows Store, when I did so, the Windows 8.1 upgrade was nowhere to be found. The first thing I did was to make sure the Windows 8.1 preview on my system was up-to-date. Indeed, I was due for an update and that process took about an hour.
After extensive searching, I finally found a link to perform the upgrade. However, after launching the upgrade, nothing appeared to happen. It wasn't until about an hour later that my screen indicated that my PC was indeed going through the upgrade process, but I waited an additional hour for it to complete.
Microsoft warned users of the preview that certain apps would be gone, so I prepared for the worst. Indeed, quite a few apps were gone, including -- not surprisingly -- Google Chrome. But also gone was Microsoft Office. Those with Office 2013 will need to go to the Office site and re-install it. Make sure you have your license key. The good news is that all your data should be intact.
My mail settings remained intact -- both my connection to my company's Exchange server and my Yahoo Mail account. My colleague, Redmond Channel Partner Editor in Chief Scott Bekker, had a similar experience with his Exchange connection, though alas, he had to reconfigure his Gmail account.
Upgrades are never fun but this seemed more difficult than it had to be. If you are among those who have yet to perform the Windows 8.1 upgrade, consider yourself warned.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 10/18/2013 at 12:14 PM