# Question about Windows 8.1



## mzelinsky65 (Jun 26, 2014)

I have Windows 8.1, but the company I'm trying to get work through only uses Windows 7 or Windows 8. Can I downgrade back to Windows 8.0 which is the original OS my laptop came with. I have a Gateway.
Thank you very much for your help. I'd appreciate if someone could answer asap, so I can try to get a job.
Marian


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

What will the problem be if your OS (version) is different from theirs? Is the basis for hiring that you have to supply the computer? If so, is the job really career enhancing?


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

did the company specifically say you cannot use 8.1? a lot of users say win8 and it would include 8.1. 

anyway, you can go back to the original os that came with your system. if you post the full computer model, someone here will help. when you upgrade to 8.1 was it a clean install or just an upgrade with all of the programs you installed still installed?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

There is not a lot of difference between Windows 8 and 8.1 (at the user level, it's just a handful of enhancements that make using it a bit easier for previous Windows 7 users). Windows 8.1 isn't a whole new OS, it's more like an enhanced service pack. Speaking of which, there will probably be another later this year, called Windows 8.2.

Since the 8.1 and upcoming 8.2 updates are free and just enhance, not fundamentally change, the OS, there is really no reason a company shouldn't update to them. Nor, in my opinion, is the difference so great to preclude a Windows 8.1 user from being able to operate Windows 8.0 on a work computer. 

Speaking of Windows 7, I run (and have always run) windows 8.x from the Desktop using the $5 app Start8, which brings back a fully-functional Start menu and, for the most part, allows Windows 8.x to look and act a lot like Windows 7, only better.

That said, if your original OS was 8.0 and you upgraded to 8.1 then you should be able to revert back to 8.0 by refreshing or reinstalling from the original media (see the section entitled "Can I go back to my old operating system?" in the article linked below). 

Update to Windows 8.1: FAQ - Windows Help


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## mzelinsky65 (Jun 26, 2014)

They did say my system isn't compatible with the Windows 8.1 OS. They're sort of like an employment agency through the social security's ticket to work program. Their clients (for example-Vitamin Shoppe) hire the people on soc sec to work customer service from home.

This is as much info I found. Let me know if you need more. It's a Gateway NES56R41u, 15.6" HD LED LCD, Intel HD Graphics, 4GB DDR3 Memory,500 GB HDD, DVD Super Multi DL drive,6-cell Li-ion battery.

I'm not sure what else you need.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

If your work requires software that's incompatible with Win 8.1 then by all means revert back to Win 8.0 until they update their software.

However, make sure first that the software _is_ incompatible. Firstly, I wouldn't think that a program that ran under Windows 8.0 wouldn't run under 8.1. Secondly, Windows 8.1, like many of its predecessors, has a compatibility mode (at least my version does). I run a ten-year-old XP application on my Windows 8.1 system every day with no problems by setting it to XP compatibility (right-click the .exe file and select the Compatibility tab). Windows 8/1 can even run old DOS programs under DOSBox.


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Make sure the "Employment Agency" person knows what their talking about. It sounds like someone blowing smoke.


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## mzelinsky65 (Jun 26, 2014)

These are regular companies I'd be working for as a customer service rep. I'd just be doing it at home. Their servers have 8.0, and they haven't upgraded to 8.1 yet.


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

I see no compatibility problem, but if they insist, revert.


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