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I will try to answer your questions.

M$ uses the term “pack” to mean a PACKAGE of updates/fixes/enhancements. Windows XP SP1 was a group of these things all downloaded and installed at one time.

Windows 8 for PC’s comes in 3 versions. Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro(fessional), and Windows 8 Enterprise. Windows 8 is the version with the fewest features. The Windows 8 Pro Pack will upgrade Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro. The Enterprise edition is for large volume users, not individuals.

A retail version is one sold in stores (both brick and mortar or online) and includes, as a minimum, a program disc and a box. Windows 7 was available in retail versions as an upgrade (was supposed to require Win XP or Vista) or as a “full” version which did not but cost more. The only real difference was in the license. A retail version can be transferred to another computer provided it is uninstalled from the computer it was originally installed on. This includes a failed system.

If you buy a “brand name” complete computer with Windows 8 on it it will be an OEM version. In this case it WILL be tied to the computer it was installed on and cannot be used on a different one.

If you buy the parts and put the system together, YOU are the OEM and should buy the OEM version. It will install and activate properly – but you won’t be able to get direct support from M$. You will get updates and service packs. And you can uninstall it and install it on another system you put together. Some “mom and pop” computer stores may opt for this route.

That was very helpful, thank you!

So my idea is to buy the cheap version of windows 8 Pro, which I gather is $69 if you have it sent to you in a box, and hold onto it for a long time until I see if I actually want to use it. I don’t mind losing the $69 if I never want to use it, but would object to paying a couple hundred for the same thing down the road if I did want to use it. Just guessing at the cost “down the road.”

My computer is only 10 months old, so am not planning to buy a new one for a while, could be several years, depends on “whatever” (who knows what, at this point!).

Opinions on that plan??

The OEM version is for people who build machines from scratch. Those PCs do not have an OS on them. The non-OEM versions are for those of use who have a version of Windows that qualifies for upgrading (XP SP3, Vista, Win7). The Win8 Pro upgrade version priced at $39.99 USD is a bargain. See Buy Windows 8 Pro.

Joe

Joe, another question. I went to the link you gave above. And it said this:[/SIZE]

If you purchase a new PC with Windows 8 preinstalled and you later upgrade that PC with Windows 8 Pro Pack, Windows 8 Media Center Pack, a volume license edition, or a retail edition, you will no longer be able to install apps that are provided exclusively from your PC manufacturer through the Windows Store.

What are they talking about? What’s “pack” mean to me, an individual user. And what’s a “retail” edition? What if I wanted to buy this upgrade version and hold onto it and use it say two years down the road. Or if I bought another Windows 7 computer in the spring, and later on wanted to switch to Windows 8 Pro?

I swear I think this is just hopelessly complicated.

Oh wait, nevermind, I just saw it said new pc with 8 preinstalled. So I guess that doesn’t affect what I am thinking about..

But I still want to know what a “pack” is and why a person can’t reinstall apps from the computer manufacturer.

Vote with your feet and use an alternative. Oh, wait, there are no good alternatives. So why not start your own tech company and show ’em how its done?

Haha wish I could. OTOH I didn’t used to think this but now, I would like to see the giants broken into smaller companies and act like they care about their customers instead of like, “I’m so huge I can do anything I want.”

I just read Woody’s column last night and the more I read the madder I got about MS refusing to listen when it came to naming its Windows 8 product, and then on top of that, today I get this email from Newegg touting OEM versions and not one word about non-OEM as though it did not exist, which is why I asked the question here.

I have to disagree with you. Offering a new OS for $39.99 (29.99 euros) can hardly be described as “shafting the consumer”.

I didn’t say that. My message asked why Windows 8 was only offered as OEM on Newegg and whether that was the only kind you could buy.

Kelliann

Thanks Joe – great explanation!!
Kelliann

The one thing that MIGHT move us away from the traditional PC (desktop and laptop) is some sort of port replicator for the ipad / smart phone, which would allow you to connect monitor / mouse / keyboard / printer / flash drive / etc.

In this way, you could snap it into the port replicator when you get home or to the office, and it would have all the advantages of a regular PC; and you could remove it and take it with you when you leave.

There is a kind of a workaround for this – if you either store files on a cloud server such as dropbox or some such, or, there is an app for iphone (and probably ipad as well) called USB Disk – check the app store for it – it involves plugging the iphone’s cord into your usb port and using iTunes – I have the app, have not used it, and have not read all the instructions. But apparently you can use it to transfer files back and forth.

I do wish we had usb ports for ipad and iphone. So annoying!

I did discover that the above app will act as a clipboard automatically without you asking it to – for text messages. If you write a text message and decide to “cut” off a portion, it will automatically be stored as a file in the app, under its own file name. It only works for text messages though.

I want to thank Medico for his helpful information. It turns out that I not only have Windows Live Mail on my computer, but it has been operational and shows the same Email as Hotmail and another of my accounts. Also it does place the mail on the computer and can be used offline. However I do prefer the interface of Hotmail but that is a purely personal choice. Now I know that my mail is not only in the “cloud.” Actually it is good to have the mail both in the cloud and on the computer(backed up, of course, to an external drive). When my previous computer went entirely kaput, as they say, I was able to rescue any unbacked email from the cloud.

If you like windows live mail you may want to download the 2012 version of it from Microsoft, as Medico tells me it is much better than earlier versions.

Kelliann

I wonder how much space I need to have available on an external drive for an image of a hard disk C drive which says it haS 907GB total, 407 in use, 499 free.

Do I need images of these next two partitions too?

The D Drive which says “Restore” on it says it has 20 GB, 18 in use, 2 free.

The E Drive says “HP TOOLS” says it has 4GB, 3 in use, 1 free.

Making an image of a disk is something I never learned anything about.

I still have not picked a program to use for this. I’m reading some of the Macrium program’s forum right now.

Thanks!!

Kelliann,

Be sure to check out the forums (Factory Support for Macrium, Users Forum for Acronis); might also look at Easeus Todo Backup (either free or paid).

Zig

So far I looked at all three and whatever comments there were on the alternativesto.com website, and if I can get time tonight, will look at factory support and user’s forum as you suggested.

I stumbled across this thread discussing a lot of backup programs. I wonder if anyone has any opinions http://superuser.com/questions/7423/does-an-equivalent-of-time-machine-exist-for-windows It’s a kinda old thread, though. But it asks the question I’m asking.

This is a rather interesting site – it provides “alternatives to” whatever you are asking about. There’s a ton of backup programs mentioned, too. My eyes are now rolling around in my head like pinballs http://alternativeto.net/software/time-machine/

I see Drive Image, Rollback RX and Comodo Time Machine on the alternativeto website. Anyone tried any of these? Opinons?

I read the Acronis True Image Home 2013 page http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/#whats-new and see they offered a free trial, so, downloaded that. Got busy and could not try it out (natch!) and could not get out to buy the new external drive either but hope to before the weekend if possible.

I see Acronis offers cloud storage — I take a somewhat dim view of that — just never quite trust “my stuff” in someone else’s hands, I guess, and I see it also offers free trial but then you pay $49.99 a year for 250 GB storage for your files. So, it looks like if you are making an image of your whole drive, it doesn’t get stored there? Has anyone tried this service? If my hard drive says 349GB of it is used, how do I tell how much of that is used by the operating system and how much by my files? Just go to the Windows directory and see how big it is? From what I have read, if you are making an image of the whole drive, you need not AS much space as the # of GB currently in use, but, you need more than 50 percent of that number. Guess I am wondering if 250GB for $50 a year is enough or if I’d need even more than that. There’s a limit to what I can afford.

Acronis cloud storage: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/#add-cloud-storage.

I just finished reading everyone’s opinion – thank you all, and if anyone else has any thoughts, I hope they will comment because I will keep reading.

Medico, Ruirib, on Acronis 2013, do you do pre-scheduled backups and if you do, is it working smoothly?

I am really envious of that Time Machine. I went hunting for it for PC but see it doesn’t exist (at least not that I could find). I also found some programs that claim to be “as good” but I am not sure whether I can trust such claims. Apparently the registry is the problem. It appears that a lot of other people also wish the Time Machine worked on a PC too.

I’m going to look at Acronis and Macrium right now and will be back later.

I am not sure if there is a method to change the default font. I supposed we could propose that to Matt (I.M.O.G.) to see if it’s possible. I also just changed to 3 font size. Easier for my getting old eyes as well. Perhaps Matt will read this.

Ahh…hmmm—- email it to him ??

Clint, you wrote : I don’t think I’ll ever be in a possition to not use the reading glasses for computing of anykind.

I am. At 80, I can see this screen without any glasses. I got new lenses, cataracts, and asked for “infinity” replacements. No more glasses of any focus. JP.

I don’t know what “infinity” replacements are but if you can see that good I sure wish they’d make them in regular contacts for the “rest of us.”

Microsoft’s creation of outlook.com is acknowledgement that locally installed email clients will soon be a thing of the past. Web based email clients are so much better that there is no longer any reason to use locally installed email clients. Gmail is light years ahead of Outlook and Microsoft knows it. We have migrated hundreds of thousands of email messages for Customers as they migrate from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps for Business. Most of them have employees who are so uncomfortable with change that they continue using Outlook as their local email client after the migration, even though this is completely unnecessary and costs the business money.

Doug, I completely disagree with such sweeping statements. To begin with, Microsoft is NOT the only provider of email clients. No matter what they do, business and individuals will always have a choice for their email. They’ve been trying to move everything to the web for years on end, and many (most) of their customers have not been happy. They may be willing to use one or two things on the web but not everything.

And more and more I am beginning to think that a lot of customers are digging in their heels and switching over to Mac because Microsoft is being such a jerk and acting like such a bully. After all, a lot of people now own Apple products. So Apple is no longer a foreign territory for Microsoft users. So that makes a switch much more attractive if Microsoft does something that, for these people, is the absolute final straw of anger, frustration and aggravation for them.

But personally, I do not find that web based mail is fast or convenient. And I have addresses with gmail, yahoo mail, earthlink mail and comcast mail plus an imap account with Apple’s me.com — on the *web.* Each has its own features, and gmail is pretty good but for efficiency would *never* be my first choice. Any webmail for me would be a far distant LAST choice, both for business and personal email. And, fyi, I have more than 13 gigabytes of email on my own computer (I just deleted a few GB of mail the other day after saving the folders to an external drive).

On the other hand, one way to do both is to have a gmail address, set gmail to save all mail on its server (and pay for more space if you use up their very generous allotment) and have your local email client pull in gmail and store it on your computer or servers locally. That gives you a back up on the web plus local efficiency. (I do this for some mail).

Time is money and if a business is a heavy user of email then they need something local at their own place of business, in MY opinion. I think keeping control of your own stuff is valuable, and sending the whole shebang to somebody else’s servers and keeping it there *instead of* at your own place is a concern.

If a consultant or my hired IT freelance person waltzed in the door and told me to move all my mail to the web and started trying to sell me on the idea, he’d soon be waltzing back out the door.

I’m considering a clean install of Win 7 x64 Pro and am moving from XP x64. How can I reuse my licensed copy of Office 2003?

For Office 2003 you do have to call Microsoft. When you try to activate, it won’t, because of its age, and will give you instructions to do something that doesn’t work. Find Microsoft’s number and call them. Seems to me I had to hunt around a lot to find a phone number, and it made me mad that they made it so difficult. Try This
800-642-7676. They will quickly give you what you need.