Windows 8.1 Preview

Windows 8.1 to get many security improvements

The article mentions the following security improvements:

• Better support for Biometrics
• Adding more Trusted Platform Module (TPM) support
• Device encryption (supporting InstantGo)
• Remote Data Removal
• Windows Defender Behavior Monitoring (To detect bad behaviors in memory, registry and the file system, before signatures have been created)

To read the article, click the link below:

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-81-to-get-many-security-improvements

 

Re: Windows 8.1 to get many security improvements

that one was the most interesting for me.

i don't use Defender atm but this will be worth a try when 8.1 is final.

 

Re: Windows 8.1 to get many security improvements

For sure

Can't wait to test it out

 

EPM enabled by default in IE11, among other 8.1 security improvements

Of note:

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/...keep-data-secure-in-a-modern-environment.aspx

I predict a lot of plugin related headaches due to EPM being on by default, unless MS has been pushing companies to make their plugins EPM compatible behind the scenes.

 

I'm pretty much stuck with 8.1 as I cannot downgrade to W8 or W7, I just have no way to get my recovery partition from Toshiba (0 key does nothing) But that's OK. As soon as I can afford it I'll probably purchase Windows 7.

 

Or you could just buy a start menu for 95% less...

 

I could yes

 

This !

Windows 8 Start Menu hysteria is ridiculous ...

 

Or you can download and install an alternative graphical shell and never have to see the blasted Metro screen!

 

right...

so i to re-install Win 8 and i'm now downloading the 8.1 from the Windows Store instead of creating a boot ISO like the last time.

anyway,

i noticed you don't have to enter a temporary serial number from the Store, unlike with an install from an ISO.

just wondering if the Final will be delivered on top of the Preview.

that would be nice if that was the plan.
otherwise, i have a Windows 8 base image saved just in case i have to start from scratch when the Final is released.

 

Probably because you're using a legitimate copy of Windows 8 which you're upgrading. If you install 8.1 fresh you're using the trial-version preview that will expire.

Yes but there were some downsides with certain Windows 8 apps being deleted during the upgrade process that you will need to reinstall, or something like that.

I will be installing fresh, hoping they make a 8.1 installer/ISO available. Call me old school, I never did like updating over the top.

 

well, since i don't use Windows/Metro apps i got that part covered.

never did either, but i decided to give it a try just for fun.

everything seems to be working fine, including all the programs i had installed in Win 8.
only minor annoyance is that 2 programs were disabled from the autostart.
(a mouse gesture program and a virtual monitor program)

it was easy enough to fix though.

i might be imagining things but 8.1 seems snappier than 8...

 

well,

if anyone from Microsoft is reading this:

if a buy a new machine in 4 years, i'd like for it to be possible to install let's say Windows 9 without having to re-install XP first.

it's a pain in the butt to install XP on new machine.
----
on another note, the Windows Update Cleaner did a good job; cleaning the 4.5 GB of the previous installation, and close to 1 GB of installation files and Windows Updates in about 10 minutes on this i3 machine.

 

I still don't understand why you're having problems with that. Before I installed Windows 8 I completely erased my SSD using Linux. There was no trace of Windows on it but it installed fine. :s

 

tnx, that's good to know.

i know you can 'rearm' Windows after install but i always was worried that the license would get flagged as invalid at a later date...
(though i am not sure that 'rearm' trick is entirely legal, nor should i have to jump through hoops as a paying customer, i think.
i don't think that as a paying customer, i should need to hack my own paid for OS, but i digress)

then that i would have to go through something like this down the line anyway: lol
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2210171&postcount=13

 

wow since silverlight is aweful (my quad core intel gtx 460 struggles to play netflix full screen on silverlight) IE11 has now caught my eye. However I aim still on IE9 not IE10 because the dll to overide the font aliasing doesnt exist for IE10 and I guess wont for IE11. Do you think the win7 variant of IE11 will use html5 for netflix?

 

I played with win 8.1 today on a VM, and I am hitting more or less the same problems I had before.

IE unable to get round the antialiased fonts since the dll wrapper made for IE9 doesnt work on IE10/11.
IE instability remains, and now actually seems worse, eg. it crashes trying to load youtube.com.
Sluggish performance. (I am aware its VM but win7 in VM is faster).
Crappy GUI, microsoft added minor improvements but its still a chore to use with no documentation on changes. Still no aero theming etc.

 

Windows 8.1: Signs point to October
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57598246-75/windows-8.1-signs-point-to-october/

 

Windows 8.1 to roll out October 18
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57598456-75/windows-8.1-to-roll-out-october-18/

--------------------------

 

tnx for the heads-up!

been running it for a month and a half.
it runs fine as it is.

if it wasn't i'd restore 8.

anyway, looking forward to see what new features come up between now and October 18

 

Am I reading this right? A person can download the 8.1 Preview ISO and install it as a clean install without having 8.0 there? In other words, wipe my 7 machine and install 8.1 as I would any other OS or version? Just curious... the purpose being just to have a look around at what they've done.

 

Kerodo,

That's correct. You can use the ISO for a clean install or an upgrade. No previous Windows install is needed.

 

Ok, great. Thanks for the confirmation, Brian.

 

Installed the 8.1 Preview yesterday.. I can't believe I'm saying this, but wow.. I really like it. There are some definite small improvements that I've seen, which helps. But everything has gone smoothly so far. I'm using IE 11 but need to resort to Firefox on a few sites where things don't work right yet. I'm not even sure why I like it so much, but maybe I just needed more time to digest the 8 situation in general. Not sure. But this is pretty nice...

 

I think I'll wait for the official update in October, but it's nice to see you are beginning to enjoy it!