Windows 8 Upgrade From XP

[engine]

Has anyone here upgraded from Windows XP straight to Windows 8? How did it go?

I ran the Windows 8 upgrade tool and it highlighted too many clashes for my liking. That being the case, I wonder if that is going to be the stumbling block to XP upgrades. Those clashes put me off upgrading, so I will stick with XP on one of my workhorses.

I think i'd rather buy a new machine than attempt an upgrade.

[SevenCubed]

I cannot comment directly on upgrading from XP to 8 however your comment:

I think i'd rather buy a new machine than attempt an upgrade.

I think it's the best course of action based on my experience of just having left an old XP Pro box behind to get repurposed as an Ubuntu.

I think something that might help you decide is consider this: My laptop running Windows 8 sitting idle with no applications open or anything of any significance running in the background consumes 1.5GB of 8GB of available RAM. If you don't have much leeway in RAM you're computing experience will probably suffer as a result.

[bill]

Unlike previous versions of Windows there is not a Windows 8 version available like the OEM versions intended for a clean install. All available versions of Windows 8 now are upgrade versions. They intend that you upgrade from a previous version of Windows.

When I had trouble activating a Windows 8 install due to my corporate firewall Microsoft had me wipe the drives, install an earlier version of Windows and then upgrade to Windows 8.

Unless you buy new hardware with Windows 8 the recommended path from Microsoft is an upgrade.

[moxie]

bill,

They have OEM versions of Windows 8 (both 32 and 64-bit) at newegg. I just purchased an OEM copy of Win 8 64-bit Full Version for $110CA. They also have the pro version right now for $149CA.

[bill]

Thanks moxie. Good to know. When I was dealing with Microsoft about my activation issue they estimated availability of that version was the first quarter, but they weren't more specific.

Another point about the upgrade from XP to 8; If you have a lot of software that isn't compatible with Windows 8 then I'd probably suggest an upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate. Then you could take advantage of XP Mode. XP Mode gives you a licensed virtual copy of XP. You can install your apps in XP Mode and access them from the Windows 7 desktop like they are native apps.

[Robert Charlton]

XP Mode gives you a licensed virtual copy of XP. You can install your apps in XP Mode and access them from the Windows 7 desktop like they are native apps.

bill - Would XP mode work this way even if I went to a new 64-bit machine?

[bill]

I believe so Robert. I had a 64-bit version of Windows 7 with XP Mode running which is 32-bit XP.