Download Windows 8.1 RTM, Visual Studio 2013 RC Today

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/stevengu/archive/2013/09/09/download-windows-8-1-rtm-visual-studio-2013-rc-and-windows-server-2012-r2-rtm-today.aspx

by tshtf • 13 years ago

123 65 13 years ago

blogs.msdn.com

judah• 13 years ago

Nice. Microsoft heard complaints that developers had no early access to 8.1, so they reversed their stance and released it to MSDN subscribers.

devx• 13 years ago

It's not like they didn't release it because they were stubborn or whatever. They didn't release for a reason - it wasn't ready. But because of bad press so far they will release it anyway - not fully ready, and hope that not being fully really won't give them even more bad press.

yuhong2• 13 years ago

Except that RTM != GA

MichaelGG• 13 years ago

Yeah, the term RTM no longer means "final" like it used to. It's more like shipping a late release candidate, then hoping by GA Windows Update will install the actual finished parts.

TillE• 13 years ago

Microsoft have released not-ready operating systems to developers in the past, clearly marked as such. This is obviously desirable when developers will need to do additional work to ensure their applications are compatible.

marshray9• 13 years ago

I'm really glad we're getting developers what they need, and I'm sorry it seems to have taken some flaming press to get it.

I work in the Azure/AD group and we are dependent on the Windows preview releases too. If the community knew just how fast the Windows team was iterating on this new release cycle, I think they might be a lot more sympathetic to this situation.

And I just downloaded VS 2013 Beta last Friday. At least I haven't have a chance to install it yet. :-)

toomuchtodo• 13 years ago

I feel like its too little too late though. This is just my observation as someone who worked at a .Net shop for 3 years, and recently moved to a Java/Python house.

y0ghur7_xxx• 13 years ago

If the community knew just how fast the Windows team was iterating on this new release cycle, I think they might be a lot more sympathetic to this situation.

You could open source it, so the community could help.

wslh8• 13 years ago

As an MSDN customer I am not sympathetic because Microsoft really harmed my company releasing the last Windows 8.1 to a few vendors. One of our customers deploys our software component in millions of PCs around the world and they noticed an incompatibility in our component before us. Why? just because they have access to a Windows 8.1 (build 9477) release as a privileged vendor.

wslh8• 13 years ago

A downvote for telling the truth...

marshray9• 13 years ago

I can see how that could be a bit awkward. :-|

harrytuttle4• 13 years ago

The problem is that devdiv have been doing this for a few years so some of us (previously heavy investors in Microsoft's products) are now pissed off.

firstly the fuck up that is Microsoft Connect where critical defects which cripple teams for years are ignored (VS HRESULT errors, hanging, crashes) even if reproducible.

Secondly, partner support is a piece of shit. It took 6 months to get a damn registry workaround out for the fact that download prompting in IE9 basically fucked up ClickOnce for 2000 clients for us.

then you fuck us with two license audits which cost us a fortune as it's impossible to decipher your shit crock licensing.

then you pulled windows 8 on everyone, ignored the entire industry saying "no, you fucked up".

then you pulled free visual studio for desktop and did a 180.

then you pulled windows 8.1 (which didn't fix windows. 8) and told everyone that you're not getting it before GA then did another 180.

No, you're not delivering what people want. You're fucking us over again and again and we're fed up with it. The only reason we're still drinking the milk is that we're stuck with it until we do a major product cycle.

That time is right now.

yuhong2• 13 years ago

I still remember when they restored XP support in VC2012, but officially only using the Win7 SDK which don't include the Metro stuff, which of course Metro Firefox needs.

avenger1233• 13 years ago

I can feel your frustration and you've expressed more vocally than I would have but I definitely share some of the sentiments.

My biggest beef is tying Visual Studio releases to the .NET framework and other components. Why should I need Visual Studio 2013/2012 to use Entity Framework 6 or ASP.NET MVC 5, etc. I can't even figure out what's supported and what's not with older Studio releases (such as 2010) without spending time on Google.

I don't really see any reason why Visual Studio 2010 shouldn't support .NET framework 4.5.1, MVC5, Entity Framework 6.0 etc.. I used to believe there was some validity to tying a .NET framework version to Visual Studio but I've come to realize its just a money grab and a way to keep pushing out new Studio releases. I understand there is some point where you need to move forward.

Anyway, at some point you realize enough is enough. I'm not there yet but I am definitely tempted to start heavily investing in other development stacks.

pea• 13 years ago

Not to mention the REMOVING of windows installer from VS 2012 and replacing it with a PoS limited InstallShield ;)

marshray9• 13 years ago

I'm sorry man. I was a developer outside before I was a developer inside and I can relate to a lot of that. I'm not gonna say your complaints are invalid.

All I'd ask is that you try not to take it personally. Our squeaky wheels have to get in the priority queue for grease like everybody else.

ryanmolden• 13 years ago

have any links to the Connect issues in question? I am not doubting their existence, just trying to understand how they fell through the cracks. There are multiple levels of filters before they get to the product teams, mostly because of volume. I have seen people file Connect bugs against non-MS products, even complaining their own product crashes and it is Microsoft's fault (that one turned out to be a ref-counting issue in their code). I don't necessarily like the filters, but having seen it unfiltered I appreciate it, since otherwise we would have time for little else.

kyriakos• 13 years ago

i'm trying to download it but it seems their servers are getting hammered.. 4-5kb/s.. i guess i'll wait for the heat to go away

caiob• 13 years ago

No, thanks.

Avalaxy2• 13 years ago

If I install this, can I just patch it so that it's on par with the GA version when it comes out? Or do I need to install a new image then? (running the consumer preview now)

harrytuttle4• 13 years ago

Yes you can. GA is RTM+updates.

Avalaxy2• 13 years ago

Thanks :)

harrytuttle4• 13 years ago

More schizophrenia from Microsoft. Just what we need to build confidence...

kmfrk• 13 years ago

"It can't get any worse", kmfrk murmured to himself, as he downloaded the update.

nly• 13 years ago

I've read that the same build has been available for weeks via side channels.

chris-at• 13 years ago

This is silly.

We can download the RTM but they locked out the upgrade functionality - fresh installs only! Wtf?

computer• 13 years ago

It's for developers testing if their programs and apps still function properly. Not for consumers to get early access. Just run it in a VM.

Download Windows 8.1 RTM, Visual Studio 2013 RC Today

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