DkD Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hi all, Any views on whether it's worth utilising Microsoft's January's offer at a discount upgrade for Windows 7 users to Windows 8. (I'm thinking of my pc & laptop none of which are touch screen!). Love the idea of it being faster to load up and shut down but no 'start' menu option isn't good. pleased to hear..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted January 28, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 28, 2013 There were 100's of the 8 upgrade DVD's in a bin at Tescos's a few weeks ago. £49 I believe. I am not going to bother. I would if I was on Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I have an old machine that still boots in about 20 seconds under Win-7. That's faster that any of my phones or indeed anything else in my house! What I understand from all my techie-in-the-industry mates is that Win-8 is fairly pointless unless you have a touchscreen device. Win-7 is pretty sound, pretty solid, pretty-well proven and does the job pretty damn well IMO. The only times to really look elsewhere are: - If you're an über-über-geeky techy-type, in which case you'll already be using Linux anyway. - If you're a Guardian-reading bean-munching writing-your-novel-in-a-coffee-house fashionista snob, in which case you'll already have a Mac and will give me the chapter and verse bullshit on why Macs are supposedly better. - If you're genuinely into photo and media manipulation, video editing and computerised design work, in which case you'll already have a Mac and actually know it's better for your specific requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DkD Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Right sod it, will give it a wide berth and put the 25 quid towards a new headlight bulb or something.. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Bloody hell, dinosaur, still on XP here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted January 28, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 28, 2013 Second best OS Microsoft ever produced. The first was windows '98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted January 28, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 28, 2013 3.1 was ace... still remember upgrading DOS to 6.1 with 6 floppies 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted January 29, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hmmm. Fellow at school was called 'flop' wonder if that was due to computers........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley1244 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hi All, I work in IT and have recently had to do a review and business case for Windows 8 so I thought I’d drop my two pence worth. If Microsoft didn’t want to sell Surface devices Windows 8 would be a spectacular OS, even better than Windows 7. It’s more secure, It’s faster and has more functionality. Unfortunately Microsoft DO want to sell Surface devices and ‘Metro’ sucks . . . on a non-touchscreen device anyway. On touch screen enabled devices it is actually not that bad, once you’ve spent a couple of hours arranging the tiles like you would desktop icons IF you didn’t have a start menu . . . oh wait you don’t!! I’ve been using it now for around 3 months on both a laptop and desktop and you do get used to the ‘metro’ interface but it does mean a lot of mouse moving and on a laptop touchpad that’s hard work. For instance to close a ‘metro’ app you have to drag it from the top of the screen to the bottom in a gesture like motion, if it’s not a fluid movement sometimes it pops back and you have to start again. You can use ‘Alt+F4’ but most users don’t use keyboard shortcuts. The not to techie people out there also have to deal with 2 control panels now and good luck finding how to shutdown. There are rumours that Microsoft will offer a switchable interface with Service Pack 1 but I doubt it as they have already taken steps to block some of the ways of removing ‘metro’. So to summarize; great OS cocked up at the end, but get used to it because I predict Windows 9 will have more of the same. So maybe it’s worth getting while it’s still cheap. Agree with DirtyDT, if your on Vista (or older) it's worth it, just for the speed increase. Windows 7 is a toughy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Bloody hell, dinosaur, still on XP here Nothing wrong with that. I keep my Netbook on XP and it does very nicely! The desktop gaming one has to have Win-7, although I still have it switched to the old XP style interface. No silly pretty graphics for me, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toutsuite Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 My new laptop has Windows 8. Yes, it's fast, yes it's stable, but Metro is a pain in the ass without a touchscreen. And no start button. FFS. Also, Windows 8 is not as pretty as 7. You know, with the transparent windows and that? Gone in 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hi All, I work in IT and have recently had to do a review and business case for Windows 8 so I thought I’d drop my two pence worth. If Microsoft didn’t want to sell Surface devices Windows 8 would be a spectacular OS, even better than Windows 7. It’s more secure, It’s faster and has more functionality. Unfortunately Microsoft DO want to sell Surface devices and ‘Metro’ sucks . . . on a non-touchscreen device anyway. On touch screen enabled devices it is actually not that bad, once you’ve spent a couple of hours arranging the tiles like you would desktop icons IF you didn’t have a start menu . . . oh wait you don’t!! I’ve been using it now for around 3 months on both a laptop and desktop and you do get used to the ‘metro’ interface but it does mean a lot of mouse moving and on a laptop touchpad that’s hard work. For instance to close a ‘metro’ app you have to drag it from the top of the screen to the bottom in a gesture like motion, if it’s not a fluid movement sometimes it pops back and you have to start again. You can use ‘Alt+F4’ but most users don’t use keyboard shortcuts. The not to techie people out there also have to deal with 2 control panels now and good luck finding how to shutdown. There are rumours that Microsoft will offer a switchable interface with Service Pack 1 but I doubt it as they have already taken steps to block some of the ways of removing ‘metro’. So to summarize; great OS cocked up at the end, but get used to it because I predict Windows 9 will have more of the same. So maybe it’s worth getting while it’s still cheap. Agree with DirtyDT, if your on Vista (or older) it's worth it, just for the speed increase. Windows 7 is a toughy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Havent used it myself* but those apparently in the know recommend dumping windoze and using this http://www.ubuntu.com/ It supposedly so much faster without all the irritating pop ups. *Only because I dont have the time or inclination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I have Windows 7 on my desktop at home and work and Windows 8 on my new laptop, had Vista at work, and as already said well worth moving from that. The only reason I can see to move to 8 from 7 is to get access to all the free stuff available in the Windows Store, and there is some good stuff there, navigation with the mouse takes some getting used to, but once you get into it, its not that difficult, its just different from using the old start button, how many times have you being digging deep into the start menu to get to that sytem accessory and then miss with the mouse and have to start again, the easiest way is to type in the search box, that works the same on Windows 8 but you just start typing from the start screen, simples. My laptop has a multitouch touchpad, this give two and three finger gestures and swipes and to be homest I find with that, the windows key and a couple of keyboard shortcuts, just as easy as a touchscreen, possible easier as you dont have to reach so far, I dont miss the start button at all, as the more you install the more the menu in that becomes a mess, you have easy access to the desktop via the desktop tile, and you can pin your favourites tot he task bar, startscreen or create an shotcut as in Windows 7. I like Windows 7, but I like Windows 8 more, it can do everything that 7 does but better, I dont miss the start button, Metro is fine once you are used to it, removing the glass effect from normal desktop windows to me makes it easier to concentrate on what you are doing rather than seeing blurry images of whats underneath, and you get access to all the stuff in the Windows store. Just my point of view.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzish Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Win 8 is much faster and better optimised than 7. If you not like how start meny looks with metro style, you can simply go to http://ninite.com/ and find Classic Start.... It is a Classic Shell for Win8 wich make start meny to look classic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Win 8 is much faster and better optimised than 7. Really? But my Win-7 is already hella-fast! How well does it hold up with all the older software like, say, a game from 2003 designed for XP at best? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzish Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Really? But my Win-7 is already hella-fast! How well does it hold up with all the older software like, say, a game from 2003 designed for XP at best? I had older TV tuner which worked fine on Win XP. When I move to Win 7, there was no support for my tuner, and driver from XP was not supported in Win 7, so my tuner was useless... until I moved to win 8. Then I was able to use the driver from XP, so my personal opinion is that win 8 will be as good as win 7 (I think that sometime is better) with older software and hardware. Also RAM usage is lower at win 8, which is important if you had 1 GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Who has 1gb RAM any more, man??!! Even my little Netbook has 2gb... Okay, I do have 64mb RAM on my MicroPC, but that's designed for Windows Mobile 5 and even then I've flashed a massive upgrade onto it. If I were good at soldering I could double it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmcl Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Finally a topic I can contribute to. As a senior software engineer I develop and test software in all different operating systems and configurations. As for upgrading from windows 7 to windows 8 I think it really depends on a) Your setup and what you use your computer for and c) your skills on the computer. Your setup It is true that windows 8 is faster on boot up and loading applications than windows 7, in some cases seeing an increase of near 10%. However this improvement is only really noticeable on standard HDD (Hard drives). When tested against SSD (sold state drives) there was no real noticeable difference for boot time or applications averaging only a 1.5% increase. Your Use If the tiles don't bother you to much and you only really use your PC for checking email and browsing the web, and general use, you will see and feel the benefits in performance. But recent tests have shown that in a graphics heavy environment such as gaming, video editing etc, that windows 8 actually preforms worse than windows 7. Now this is probably due to the infancy of some of the windows 8 drivers and may improve over time, but in that case simply stick with windows 7 and see how things develop. Your skills Windows 8 is confusing to new users. The built-in tutorial are brief, amounting to a few instructions on how to perform some basic actions. If you want to engage snap mode or scroll through apps running in the background, good luck figuring them out without someone holding your hand. Even finding the restart button is a little challenging. It all amounts to a pretty steep learning curve, even for longtime Windows users. So if you would not really class yourself as a savvy windows user then I would stick to windows 7 as there is no point adding in the addition complexity to trying to do the simplest of tasks. Personally I would stick to windows 7. Windows 8 may sound great and it is for tablets, but as a desktop operating system I don't feel the extra performance is worth the hassle having to deal with an operating system that is expecting you to be using a tablet and not a PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 A whole 10%? It takes maybe 2.5 seconds to open Firefox and fully load my homepage, so that's suddenly 2.25 seconds... oh. wow. Snap mode? I don't really use anything that's not in Classic mode, so I'd probably flip out over any additional unnecessary fancy features, especially if I couldn't disable them! Besides, I'm a heavy gamer, so it's lucky number 7 all the way for me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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