Let me start by saying that Windows 8.1 pro pack upgrade (Windows 8.1 pro with Media Center) is a very stable and fast product. It's not really different from Windows 8.1 (standard/core edition), but it does have the Windows Media Center included that many home users are wanting to use. It also has a lot of business oriented features, but if you need those you already know what the features are and why you want them.

Microsoft should offer Windows Media Center as a $49.99 upgrade, instead of forcing the user to pay $95-99 for Pro and not require any other features aside from Media Center. Media Center used to be included FREE with Windows 7 Home Premium, so this is basically a revenue generating move, because less folks are buying PCs these days and not many people are going to watch Media Center on a tablet, but I digress...

For the not-so-technical among you, who purchased a new PC and want to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to 8.1 Pro with Media Center, this upgrade... Read more

Let's see what Microsoft is offering for the money. I am supposed to pay Microsoft 95 dollars so that I can get Windows Media Center which was already included free as part of the operating system in Windows 7.

Microsoft wants you to pay 95 dollars to upgrade your Windows 8.1 Home Edition installation to Windows 8.1 Pro. You already paid for Windows 8.1 in the price of the computer. You could have upgraded from Windows XP or Windows 7 to Windows 8 Pro for the same price. Why not give current Windows 8.1 users a break on the price, say maybe 40 dollars to upgrade to the Pro Pack?

In addition to Windows Media Center, you get Bitlocker (full disk) encryption, remote Desktop Connection and the ability to connect to a corporate/school network (Domain Join). None of these are really essential. The whole business of not including Windows Media Center as part of the operating system is ridiculous. If Microsoft has to charge for Windows Media Center for Windows 8.1,... Read more

I would give this a 5 star, but the price. I could not get a new laptop without Windows 8 on it, at least where I was looking for laptops. My laptop (a Dell) came with Windows 8 and I had heard all these horror stories about it and was actually a bit leery. Got my Dell laptop from Costco because they have a no questions ask policy on returning things and there is a Costco near me.

Upon getting my laptop, I upgraded from 8 to 8.1 because it says for me to upgrade to the 8.1 Pro, I needed 8.1. It took awhile, maybe an hour or so (I was busy with other things, so I wasn't really timing this) to upgrade from 8 to 8.1.

I wished that they offered 8.1 Pro in the product key online without sending it to me, so I could've upgrade to 8.1 Pro all in the same day, but had to wait until Tues (I ordered Fri afternoon) to get the product key. As another reviewer said, the hardest part was typing in the 25 digit product key, which isn't hard.

I didn't time how... Read more