There, I said it. Blearily packing up my bag before CES 2013 I thought nothing of a suggestion to cover the world's biggest technology show using Windows 8.

"It'll be fun - and be a good chance to really put the operating system to the test," someone opined.

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Idling around the CES 2013 show floor I was struck by something - there are touchscreens everywhere.

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Following our first reader blog on the reception given to Windows 8, more people have been in touch, and there has been more comment on our Windows 8 review.

But first a word from Ray Dewey about getting drivers. "When I upgraded from XP to Windows 7 I had real difficulty obtaining drivers for my webcam, scanner and printer. So if I upgrade again I will have to pay not only for the upgrade but a new scanner, web cam and printer when the ones I have are all in perfect condition and produce good quality results.

"The manufacturers of the ancillary equipment are, in my opinion, at fault as they don`t produce drivers for their equipment after it is a few years old for obvious reasons," says Ray.

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A number of Computeractive readers have been in touch to recount their experiences of following our guide to installing an SSD in a desktop or laptop computer that appeared in issue 380 (links to the videos that accompanied that article are below).

Howard Smith emailed to say that he had fitted a Sandisk Extreme 120GB as a boot drive in his main PC following the article because of a startup (or ‘boot') time of almost three minutes on his Windows 7 PC.

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Many people argue that Windows 8 is a tipping point for Microsoft - a pivotal moment that will define the company's future for better or worse.

That's because Microsoft recognises the importanc eof the growing tablet market, and has developed the latest version of Windows with that type of device primarily in mind, although one of the Computeractive team who has been using it on a non-toucscreen computer for some time says the Windows 8 Start screen works perfectly well for him.

But this is the reader blog, so let's bring on Chris Read, who bought a digital download of Windows 8 on the day it launched.

"Having previously backed up my data, the Update Assistant led me through the upgrade process which really couldn't have been easier," says Mr Read.

"Everything worked perfectly and, within about 45 minutes, my old laptop was transformed into a rapidly booting and swift-running system. No glitches, no missing device drivers and a quick look at the new Task Manager told me that Windows 8 was using far less memory and did not put as much strain on the processor, compared with Vista.

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Berlin's annual IFA consumer electronics show is one of the world's biggest and we've been scouring the show floor for the latest technology and gadgets. Despite the sheer vastness of stuff throbbing for our attention, several clear themes emerged from this year's Teutonic technology trade fair.

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