My first DS purchase - Krypton Level 3+

That is sweet!

That's going to be one sweet laptop!...

But I think you should have went with Windows 7... (Personal Preference) but I feel that its way easier to navigate through, and its way easier to work with!

roykirk, did you notice that the krypton is no longer offering the 256GB mSATA Solid State - Crucial M4 Series
in the configuration menu? I was showing my wife the selections I had made for her krypton and noticed it. They must be going like hotcakes!!!

Originally posted by AshesDen But I think you should have went with Windows 7... (Personal Preference) but I feel that its way easier to navigate through, and its way easier to work with!

I've been using Windows 8.1 on my previous laptop for several months now.  I am always in the desktop and the only time I see the Modern UI is when I hit the Windows key to start typing in a search for an app, and then I'm back in the desktop.

8.1 has some back end, infrastructure improvements over 7, so I'm sticking with it.  Networking improvements, speed improvements, etc.

Originally posted by Roykirk Originally posted by AshesDen But I think you should have went with Windows 7... (Personal Preference) but I feel that its way easier to navigate through, and its way easier to work with! I've been using Windows 8.1 on my previous laptop for several months now.  I am always in the desktop and the only time I see the Modern UI is when I hit the Windows key to start typing in a search for an app, and then I'm back in the desktop.8.1 has some back end, infrastructure improvements over 7, so I'm sticking with it.  Networking improvements, speed improvements, etc.

Agreed, it takes a little getting used to but once you do, it's much faster than the Windows 7 experience.

Originally posted by Nav Agreed, it takes a little getting used to but once you do, it's much faster than the Windows 7 experience.

This ^^ in spades.

Yes, the learning curve is a bit steeper and I was of a mindset to hate it immediately, but I was convinced to go into it with and open mind and try to find the needles of productivity in the haystack of weirdness.

So far, pound for pound, 8.1 is coming out the winner, imho.

Peace

Originally posted by AshesDen I would highly disagree with that... but again, personal preference is main thing

I could go through a list of things they improved, but one sticks out: file transfer speeds.  I've used Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 all from their Previews and Betas on up into their various Service Packs, and all of them fully patched and updated, and Windows 8's file transfers are faster and lack the hiccups that they could never fix in Windows 7.  Networking improvements elsewhere as well.  Boot time is quicker, even on an SSD.  I'm at the desktop and ready to go just a little bit quicker.

I like Windows 8's Task Manager as well, where I can see my networking, CPU, RAM, and various other resources in a much clearer format.  I do hate the Start Screen and the Modern UI, but I pretty much have relegated those to annoyances that last for seconds.  I could buy Stardock's Start8 and never look at the Start Screen again, but it's not been a problem enough for me to spend $5.  And I'm not averse to spending money for what I need.

As for gaming, I've noticed no difference in my games between Windows 7 and 8.1 on the same machine, so with the back end improvements that I can observe and prove, I'm going with it.

Not looking to evangelize 8.1 or get into a Microsoft-vs.-Apple-like battle.  Like my love for Star Trek and all its incarnations, I'm going to criticize it when it's bad and praise it when it's good and rate it as objectively as I can.  I don't have a personal stake in this kind of debate.

Windows 8.1 has its issues, but the improvements, like the OSes before it, warrant my upgrade.  Cost-to-benefit ratio works for what I need from it, so I won't be going back to 7, despite how much I think that OS was a huge win for Microsoft.  They hit that one out of the park.

Krypton arrived on Thursday and I've been putting it through its paces since then.  I took quite a few unboxing photos and once I get those converted over and hosted somewhere—anyone know of the best site to host when posting photos to these forums—I'll be writing my full, audaciously subjective review (I'm not a benchmark guy).

Preliminary review?  Gorgeous.  Both machine and gaming quality.

You definitely will.  That part of the review is complete, but I'm not going to post it yet as it's a multi-parter and I'm composing it in Notepad++ with the BBCode.  It's taking a long time.

It'll be about 5 posts long, and I'm finishing up section 4 right now.

Originally posted by NH001 ... Roykirk, Imgur is a decent image host if you are still looking.

Thanks, NH001.  I did create an account there yesterday and edited the photos and uploaded them.  I used their handy BBCode links to sprinkle them into the text of my review.

For those that would like a taste of the photos without my commentary, here's the Imgur album

Originally posted by AshesDen Listen, Its personal preference. No matter what you say I will always like Windows 7 more... No more about this topic!

No actually 8.1 is better and will live much longer than 7.

Originally posted by DustyRH Originally posted by XpubuX No actually 8.1 is better and will live much longer than 7. If you fight through the first couple of days of the 8 changes you begin to actually like it.

^^ 100% agree with this! ^^

I've been an XP user for it's entire life. I was told to hate Win8.1, and so I was ready to hate it immediately.

It's been what, 3 weeks now? I've uninstalled Stardock and am now using 8.1 more fluidly and not really missing XP, or Win7, on a daily basis. Sometimes I go to look for things that aren't there anymore, but you know the sayings about old dogs and new tricks.

Yea. 8.1 is, for a complete novice like myself, user friendly.

(Games run better on it. BONUS!)

Thread derailed... apologies.