Free ebook available for download from Microsoft

[40hz]

You can download a free copy of Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals by Ed Bott.

Info and download link is here. No registration or other nonsense required to download.

I took a quick skim and it looks like it could be useful if you're an IT admin or Windows power user.

The Windows 8 product line represents a radical departure for Microsoft. A new user experience. A new app platform. New security features and new management tools. If you’re an IT pro, you have the daunting job of helping your users adapt to the newness of Windows 8.1 while you try to stay at least one step ahead.


Although I’ve written in-depth guides to Windows in the past, this book is not one of those. Nor do I pretend to offer much in the way of opinions or review. Only you can decide whether and how and when to incorporate Windows 8.1 into your enterprise, based on your own organizational requirements.


My goal in this book is to help you on that upgrade path by presenting the facts and features about Windows 8.1 as clearly as I can. If you’ve been living in an environment built around a previous version of Windows, you have a lot to absorb in the transition to Windows 8.1. I’ve tried to lay out those facts in as neutral a fashion as possible, starting with an overview of the operating system, explaining the many changes to the user experience, and diving deep into deployment and management tools where it’s necessary.


By design, this book focuses on things that are new, with a special emphasis on topics of interest to IT pros. So you might find fewer tips and tricks about the new user experience than your users want but more about management, deployment, and security—which ultimately is what matters to the long-term well-being of the company you work for.

[Stoic Joker]

Any chance it mentions how to log into 8.1 OOB without having/using/needing a Microsoft account. I ran out of time last night upgrading my laptop and stopped just short of tossing it out a window because of that little nuance.


Dear Microsoft,
  It really is My Computer, so please shove the NSA infested cloud requirement up you ass.

Thank you,

Stoic Joker

[40hz]

^It is annoying. So do what I did. Open a new Microsoft account - and lie!

[Stoic Joker]

^It is annoying. So do what I did. Open a new Microsoft account - and lie!

-40hz (October 21, 2013, 12:05 PM)

There is no profit in encouraging bad behavior. If you lie, the Corporate Masters only see that their draconian mandate is being accepted as the list of signed up sheeple names grows. Conversely, if you flatten the box to return to personal computing, and then line their driveway with bags of flaming poo...the message gets much clearer. I really do enjoy making people regret pressing me for personal information IRL.


Oh yeah... ... Thanks for the book link.  The subject matter just caught me (in a ranting mood) at a bad time.

[tomos]

Any chance it mentions how to log into 8.1 OOB without having/using/needing a Microsoft account. I ran out of time last night upgrading my laptop and stopped just short of tossing it out a window because of that little nuance.


Dear Microsoft,
  It really is My Computer, so please shove the NSA infested cloud requirement up you ass.

-Stoic Joker (October 21, 2013, 11:37 AM)

Took a while to find a solution (but I'm happy to find that there is a way of avoiding it) - thought it was worth some publicity so made a new thread:
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=36379.0

[Stoic Joker]

Took a while to find a solution (but I'm happy to find that there is a way of avoiding it) - thought it was worth some publicity so made a new thread:
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=36379.0

-tomos (October 21, 2013, 04:11 PM)

 

[40hz]

^It is annoying. So do what I did. Open a new Microsoft account - and lie!

-40hz (October 21, 2013, 12:05 PM)

There is no profit in encouraging bad behavior. If you lie, the Corporate Masters only see that their draconian mandate is being accepted as the list of signed up sheeple names grows.

-Stoic Joker (October 21, 2013, 03:20 PM)

That's only a real issue if Windows is your primary or choice of operating system.

It's neither for me. I just provide tech support for clients these days. What Windows machines I still have (most of which are now VMs) are kept in "the lab" and connected to their own network. They're totally isolated from my penguin pond - which is where my stuff lives these days.