Beware Windows 8.1

If you think that Windows 8 is a big change from previous Windows for ordinary Users, Windows 8.1 has some nasty surprises for even the “technically able” folk. So, make sure you do a Full Backup before even trying Windows 8.1, the only alternative for rolling back will be a Factory Restore.

Possibly the most prominent is removal of Wireless Management.
You can’t rt-click on a wireless connection anymore.
You won’t find wireless management in Network and Sharing Center
You won’t find anything useful in Windows Help
The Network Troubleshooter won’t return anything useful

Yes.

You can still create and connect to a Wireless Connection the first time, but now for the typical User
– You cannot change the network password
– You cannot list and inspect network configurations including wireless
– You cannot prioritize network connections which is useful if the APs are using the default manufacturer network names (SSD)

So, woe to the traveler who connects to a wireless network that suddenly changes its password.
Or, if you might connect to a number of NETGEAR, DLINK or LINKSYS networks using the original manufacturer’s name but with different passwords.

And, notice that without a network connection your options to fix may be severely limited.
You may need to get help from a friend with a working connection.
You may need to “sneakernet” files using a USB dongle or similar.

Or, you can get an impromptu education on using typed commands more typical of UNIX, the following is an example
   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

For an interesting discussion how to “manage” this problem
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/ac80d8ec-21ad-4d44-9a0c-c8777f861db7/windows-8-manage-wireless-networks?forum=w8itpronetworking

The first 50% of the posts discuss Windows 8.0 issues
The bottom 50% of the posts discuss some Windows 8.0 but focus more on Windows 8.1 issues.

Other issues encountered include new application compatibility issues, a current one is Virtualbox 4.3 which causes a Windows BSOD.

Contributed by
Tony Su
MCSE
November 18, 2013