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Windows 7 or 8
- Thread starter BluDude
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Comixbooks
Fully [H]
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8 is awesome with the task manager and WIE the Metro desktop is fun just don't upgrade to 8.1 right now until it's bug free I went from 8.1 back to 8.0 because of the bugs.
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Whichever one you can get for cheaper is my advice. The desktop on Windows 8 is the exact same as on Windows 7, the major difference is the removal of the start menu for the start screen. You also have the Charms bar hot corners (not really necessary for anything besides pulling up the Charms bar in desktop mode).
bigdogchris
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I would definitely recommend trying Windows 8 before you buy it. It's one of those things where you either love it, ore hate it.
Ur_Mom
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I have to agree with this. I really love the new OS. It has a few faults, but nothing major for me. Other people despise it and want to burn it in a nuclear fire after torturing it with fire ants and poisonous darts.
If you haven't used it, you really need to get some hands on. Give it more than 5 minutes, as it does take a bit to get used to the changes. Once you get past that initial UI shock, then decide.
I love it, my wife used Start8 which replaces the start menu and makes it more like Windows 7 start menu. But, myself and my kids use it just fine without the Win7 style start menu.
Easy choice: Windows 7.
If both OSs are an option, I don't see the point of going with Windows 8 on any non-tablet device.
Nenu
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Tried 8, dont like it at all.
It looks awful, the lack of aero is so bland, Metro is annoying and the slow ass ways of accessing basic functions.
If MS make another OS that looks good and is a joy to use, I'll buy it.
Not this though, I much prefer 7.
Win 8 is that disliked, I only know 1 person who has it.
It looks awful, the lack of aero is so bland, Metro is annoying and the slow ass ways of accessing basic functions.
If MS make another OS that looks good and is a joy to use, I'll buy it.
Not this though, I much prefer 7.
Win 8 is that disliked, I only know 1 person who has it.
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- 11,507
Waiting for it...
(Edit - my suggestion would be Windows 7 if you can find it cheap enough).
(Edit - my suggestion would be Windows 7 if you can find it cheap enough).
Just get Win8. I hate the interface and stuff but it's possible to tweak it and turn off some stuff to make it pretty much like Win7. For starter, I would suggest IOBIT start menu replacement for Win8. I tried a lot and this is the one that I prefer the most. Clean and very stable.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2003
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- 7,534
Wait for 8.1, but honestly, if you configure it right, 8 is just fine. It's 7 with a splash of paint and better cpu scheduling.
Just get Windows 8. Most of the hate has to do with the Metro UI, but with a little tweaking and installing a Start Menu replacement (like Start8, StartIsBack, Classic Shell, etc..) you'll be back to the familiar desktop-centric Windows we all know and love in no time.
Underneath the controversial Metro UI lies a very fast, stable, rock-solid OS.
Underneath the controversial Metro UI lies a very fast, stable, rock-solid OS.
tonyftw
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Mar 21, 2013
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This.
Just upgraded my "gaming" machine to win8. After installing start8 and editing some things, I couldn't be happier.
Yeah. I converted two other machines to it. A laptop and an HTPC. It's nice, if you don't mind buying Start8 licenses. Plus, that adds the transparency effects. My HTPC box boots from sleep in about 1 second, it's way more useful now.
I wasn't too thrilled with the overall minimalist design, but it kinda grew on me. At first, I hated the fact the UI picks up the color of the background for the active window. But after a while, it grew on me, with changing wallpapers it is a neat feature and breaks up the scheme. They did an excellent job optimizing.
My guess, Windows 9 will be kick-ass (they seem to do a good release every odd one) as it'll be an optimized Windows 8 with the return of the Start Menu. Maybe a hybrid of the Metro/Start Menu to make it more usable. They really need to spoon feed these changes, you can't just force them down peoples throats. Offer the option to use it, if it picks up, then you can go full time. I'd except it from Apple, as they've always dictated their UI.
heatlesssun
Extremely [H]
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I think we've seen the last of the Start Menu in the box in Windows. Honestly, buy the time Windows 8.2 or 9 come out, we'll be two plus years into the Start Screen era and as time passes the Start Menu is simply going to become more and more of thing of the past. There's lots of room for improving the Start Screen and more customization options to make it more palatable to old school desktop users
Not really sure when Windows was considered all that flexible in the UI department in most respects. The Start Menu was shoved down peoples throats, but of that was an era long ago before phones and tablets and even laptops.
At this point, for individuals that are reasonably computer savvy, there's little reason now a year out from the RTM of 8 and on the doorstep of Windows 8.1 RTM not to go with 8 beyond compatibility issues. As many of have indicated is you just can't deal with the new UI there's a lot of 3rd party tools that can take care of that. And while one may not care for Modern apps, there is an every growing option of those apps and there's no reason to preclude the possibility of ever running those apps.
haters gon' hate
Net Market Share numbers are out for July 2013 and Windows 8 totally just passed Vista, and there's no denying s-u-c-c-e-e-s. http://arstechnica.com/information-...-8-passes-vista-at-last-as-ie10-growth-slows/ edit: confirmation of Windows 8's awesomeness: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
Nenu
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haters gon' hate
Net Market Share numbers are out for July 2013 and Windows 8 totally just passed Vista, and there's no denying s-u-c-c-e-e-s. http://arstechnica.com/information-...-8-passes-vista-at-last-as-ie10-growth-slows/ edit: confirmation of Windows 8's awesomeness: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
Fanboys put words in other peoples mouths
I prefer Windows 7 and already own it, I dont need to spend money to have a worse experience.
Others have the same opinion.
Clinging to straws doesnt make your case.
Have you ever heard of a back-handed compliment or sarcasm? 'cause my post has both.Fanboys put words in other peoples mouths
But there is a bit of truth behind the post. Windows 8 has failed to slow down sinking PC shipments, and if often blamed as the reason for the decline. It's just not true. The decline started during the Windows 7 era. Windows 8's adoption rate is bad by historical standards, but is tracking fairly decently in consumer spaces.
It's not that Windows 8 is a total failure. The new OS share statistics I linked above suggest 81 million people are using Windows 8.
If you've been reading this board for a while, you'd know I'm no fan of Windows 8. However, ignoring that it's being used quite widely by consumers who mostly don't have major complaints about it isn't going to fix things. That's what alarms me, and others, who want a productivity desktop OS and not a tablet OS.
In corporate environments, Windows 8 is doing horribly by any standards. If MS can get over the stupid idea of forcing a tablet interface onto devices which don't work well with that paradigm, there's still a little bit of hope for things to change. Anything really, like a Windows 8 Business Standard Pro, which lacks idiotic Metro would solve the adoption rate problem, and make an OS available to those who are avoiding Windows 8 because of Metro. But to repeat my favorite phrase: this is just Ballmer's delusional strategy.
Nenu
[H]ardened
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Well put.
I find it strange you thought I hate Windows 8 when I said I dislike it, hence my fanboy comment.
I hate what MS have done and what they are becoming. I badly want to use the latest OS as this is my main hobby and major part of my career, but not when its like Windows 8.
I guess we are on the same page
ps the problem with sarcasm is you have to know that the poster understands the use of it as well.
It was a bit dry, but yeah after the event...
I find it strange you thought I hate Windows 8 when I said I dislike it, hence my fanboy comment.
I hate what MS have done and what they are becoming. I badly want to use the latest OS as this is my main hobby and major part of my career, but not when its like Windows 8.
I guess we are on the same page
ps the problem with sarcasm is you have to know that the poster understands the use of it as well.
It was a bit dry, but yeah after the event...
Godmachine
[H]F Junkie
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Have to agree. I refused for a while now to join the Windows 8 bandwagon but I was recently given a copy of Windows 8 Pro for free and although I still loathe Metro UI , once you install the start menu replacement and just use it like normal its actually quite awesome.
Its a bit smoother than Windows 7 as well and I didn't care for Aero GUI at all , I turned it off because I found performance to much snappier without so not seeing it in Windows 8 was perfectly fine to me , I don't get all the love for it from the Windows 7 fanboys .
Windows 8 is more like a tune up than a totally new OS , there are lots of smart tweaks made to improve upon Windows 7 and for that alone its worth it.
That doesn't solve all the problems, but if it does in your case, good I guess.
Problem is Windows 7 is still gaining marketshare. First time ever that a prior version of Windows still gained after a new version was released. Sorry to say the start menu will be with us for another decade+, as most companies with XP retirement plans will be moving to Win7, not 8. Why? The start menu "just works" and without jarring screen transitions that lose the focus. Its great that MS tried gaming the system by putting a tablet OS onto desktops in hopes of creating a market for Metro apps to benefit the poor reception of their phones and tablets, but that's backfired because people and businesses dont buy PCs to help Microsoft achieve Microsoft's financial goals. They buy them to do what they need them to do.
Every version of Windows up to and including Windows7 allowed users to restore classic UI elements. Microsoft understood the value in enabling people and businesses to make a more gradual transition at their own speed, not Microsoft's. Windows8 was the first time they made a conscious effort to remove those abilities, by Sinofsky's insistence and in defiance of strong objectors within the company.
We know because features like disabling Metro existed during the beta and then explicitly removed in later builds. Nevermind it was a *regkey* tweak, as in not something average end users would've been able to easily find. That's just consumer hostile and moves like that are why Windows8 era MS has been seen as arrogant and left a bad taste for many longtime customers.
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heatlesssun
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7 isn't gaining any significant market share at this point, either it's steady or slowly declining according to the major market share counters that I know of. But long before 8 was released, this Windows 8 fanboy did say that there might be an uptick in 7 market share as enterprises, particularly large ones, started moving from XP. I work in one of those large enterprises, and if 8 had the best Start Menu in history it would have been just as irrelevant in our environment as the Start Screen. Moving to new versions of Windows in true enterprise environments is a multi-year and costly effort because everything client related has to be formally regression tested. We started that effort mid-2010 and we're struggling to be done by end year which is our goal.
For decades now Mac and/or Linux folks have talked about how superior their UI was and no one to this day, even with the hatred of Windows 8 seems to care that much. The most important aspect of Windows on the desktop has been 3rd party support. Ironically Windows Phone is generally considered to have a very nice UI but is hounded on it's lack of apps. UI's are important but 3rd party support is much more important.
Disabling Metro was never an in the box option in 8 from the Developer Preview. Yes, there was a Start Button and I think something of a Start Menu, that was almost two years ago. As much as some want to say that Microsoft isn't listening to its customers, many want to deny the fundamental transformation that is taking in the world of computing. Tablets are not a fad, people aren't going to move more and more back to keyboards and mice and if it's more than 1.5 lbs it's to heavy to be a mobile device for many.
Oh really..
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/tweak-windows-8-to-remove-the-metro-interface/
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-...le-start-menu-in-windows-8-developer-preview/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-easily-disable-metro-user-interface-windows-8/
and a thousand more links if you google it..
...Because, as anybody who has ever done an XP retirement knows, unless you're supporting a coffee shop or something doing it correctly takes a long time. If they hadn't already migrated a few years ago, it's because moving to XP for them is/was a big deal, and they probably had their retirement plan half in place before Windows 8 was even an option. It wouldn't matter if Windows 8 was the greatest thing ever, or a pile of shit....Corporate customers wouldn't be moving to it regardless.
Metro could be disabled in the preview because it was a preview build, not the finished product. It certainly wasn't a finished product, and if you spent any time looking at it on a technical level it should be clear. People seem to completely miss the point of those previews. They're not meant to be a representation of using the final product. They're merely a preview, showing you what Windows will look like in the future. The preview had a lot of Windows 7 underneath it and the new interface was sort of just sitting on top of the old one. This is why you could revert that with a registry change...Of course the end result was essentially just Windows 7.
Drawmonster
2[H]4U
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- Jun 9, 2007
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Windows 8.1 + ClassicShell is just like Windows 7. Mine looks identical to the screenshot a couple posts up. I even skinned the button the same. Sometimes I forget I'm even using 8.1. I have noticed 8.1 to be a little snappier. I haven't had any issues at all once I got rid of the Metro crap. I don't know why, after all the outcry, Microsoft doesn't just add a "Disable Metro" option. So freaking simple, and it would make Windows 8 sell infinitely better.
heatlesssun
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That was via a registry hack I think, so not exactly an in the box option, certainly not a user friendly option like a checkbox labeled "Run Classic UI".
interface in desktop mode is very aero similar/ metro is growing on me. hit win key type what app you want very easy. Maybe slower if your a pure mouse user, even then you can setup metro to give you easy access. and Win 8 is faster, cant really complain. hope everyone jumped on the 15 dollar upgrade when it was available!
heatlesssun
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I have a feeling that Microsoft will be doing a similar offer again as the end of XP support nears.
I doubt we've seen the last of the Start Menu. I'd be willing to bet that it returns in the next version. Microsoft may have been running in stupid-mode for the last year or so, but they aren't that stupid. If anything, it'll return as an option.
I don't think it will return. The start menu is a dinosaur. It's an obsolete way of finding things. Search indexing has made it a pointless, useless way of looking for your stuff, and most people use Windows in a way that reflects this decision. Who wants to go traversing a tree to find what they want, when the computer has already done that for you and can give you exactly want you want in a couple key presses? Computer users have evolved as the technology has evolved, and now most Windows 7 users use the start menu exclusively as a gateway to the search. When people want to open up Microsoft Word, they hit the Windows key and type 'Word', rather than navigating the start menu of old.
User interaction has become search oriented, rather than menu oriented, and the new version of Windows (Windows 8.1) reflects this.