Windows 8 or Windows 7?

[Engert]

Windows 7 targets no-one.

That's because it has always been implied that Windows is an enterprise level os first. So no commercial needed. In Windows 8 things are taking a different turn and many enterprises will not upgrade, but it might be very sucessful in the general market.

 

[jrk190]

On a dated laptop, go with Windows 8. If you're lucky, and have a synaptics touchpad, you can install the latest drivers, which allow you to two finger scroll. I'm using a Acer Aspire One, with a 1.6 Ghz Atom Processor and 1Gb of Ram, and it Runs smooth. It's much faster than windows 7, and the UI looks nice. It's got all of Windows 7's features, plus more.

 

[Foxi4]

That's because it has always been implied that Windows is an enterprise level os first. So no commercial needed. In Windows 8 things are taking a different turn and many enterprises will not upgrade, but it might be very sucessful in the general market.

What are you on about? Microsoft made different versions of Windows for different purposes since "forever" - Windows 7 has several, ranging from Home to Professional and Enterprise, all with different features, price points and target audiences, with a separate entity for server purposes. It's always been advertised for "different uses".

What I meant by "targeting no-one" is that it's soon going to enter the realm of obscure and there's nothing we can do about it. There won't be another system like it.

 

[Engert]

Foxi4, open another topic where we can talk about Windows on a professional level. Because i've been dealing with Windows on a professional level since 1993 and you will see through friendly discussion that your statement above is incorrect.

 

[Foxi4]

Foxi4, open another topic where we can talk about Windows on a professional level. Because i've been dealing with Windows on a professional level since 1993 and you will see through friendly discussion that your statement above is incorrect.

How is that a response? Your only criticism againts Windows 8 appears to revolve around the Start Menu, which as I've mentioned earlier is barely used - people resort to the taskbar icons, desktop icons and the searchbar, yes, those are intact in 8, but rarely browse the menu itself, and I know that for a fact.

You had your chance to "discuss the issue on a professional level" but you chose tomfoolery instead, if a specific thread about Windows 8 pops up again, I'll be more than glad to participate in it, but I don't think it makes much sense from my perspective to start one just to give you space to vent.

 

[Engert]

How is that a response? Your only criticism towards Windows 8 appears to revolve around the Start Menu, which as I've mentioned earlier is barely used .

But i was joking dude. Wow you have no sense of humor. Yes it's missing a start menu and it sucks since it has been the iconic trademark of Windows but the idea is that things are generally indexed nowadays but i'd like to drive my OS manually just like my car.
None of this discussion is helping the OP anyways so that's why i thought a new topic would help. For me of course it's going to be work all over again like when i try to convice the Unix guys on something and the reason i visit this page is to get away from work. But if you want to talk about windows on a professional level then let me know so i can get a coffe.

 

[Foxi4]

But i was joking dude. Wow you have no sense of humor. Yes it's missing a start menu and it sucks since it has been the iconic trademark of Windows but the idea is that things are generally indexed nowadays but i'd like to drive my OS manually just like my car.
None of this discussion is helping the OP anyways so that's why i thought a new topic would help. For me of course it's going to be work all over again like when i try to convice the Unix guys on something and the reason i visit this page is to get away from work. But if you want to talk about windows on a professional level then let me know so i can get a coffe.

Heh, I guess I'm just not used to that kind of sense of humour, plus, I've seen people *genuinely* overlooking all of 8's benefits, focusing solely on Metro as their only argument, so I suppose I didn't "pick up" the "joke" in your post.

I'm sure we'll have more than one occasion to chat about it. To me, it's a matter of testing both systems and choosing the one which fits the user the most. I'm doing my best to "get used to 8" on my desktop as it is as much of a leap to me as to any other user.

 

[YayMii]

But i was joking dude. Wow you have no sense of humor. Yes it's missing a start menu and it sucks since it has been the iconic trademark of Windows but the idea is that things are generally indexed nowadays but i'd like to drive my OS manually just like my car.

FYI, the Metro app browser thing IS the Start menu on Windows 8. So what if it looks different, it serves the same purpose (and arguably does it better).

 

[pwsincd]

Steve Sinofsky has been ousted from M$ oooo... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20295359 thats wha happens if you raise the issue of no start button

 

[Originality]

I mentioned early that the start menu can be regained using third party apps, so all start based functionality can still be found.

Personally, whilst I like the Metro UI aesthetically, the functionality for desktops isn't all there and the bugs it has (mostly driver and compatability issues) means I won't be adopting it for some time.
As for the OP... There's enough discussion here to go by. People can stop reiterating now (including me) and let the OP decide if it's worth taking the £25 jump to Windows 8. I prolly won't post here again.

 

[Arras]

I've been using Win8 for about a month and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I haven't encountered any missing functionality whatsoever. The only problem I had was that my Bluetooth drivers didn't work anymore on Win8, but they might have gotten an update, I should check sometime.

 

[Jamstruth]

I myself am not sure whether to take the plunge and go for Windows 8 or not. Since I want to do a fresh install of Windows anyway and I get both 7 and 8 for free (go Dreamspark!) I've decided with this plan: Download both 7 and 8. Install 8 over my OEM infested 7 install and see how it runs. If I still hate it or things just don't work I'll wipe and install 7.
Windows 8 is definitely more lightweight than Windows 7. I think I'll be installing Start8 or similar just for convenience of quickly launching desktop apps from desktop (no matter how many times you guys point out that the Start Screen has a Search bar/is the new Start Menu I will still prefer a quick quarter of the screen to search rather than a fullscreen interface). I also remember seeing a cool mod somewhere on Reddit which showed Steam more integrated into the Metro UI with a bunch of nice looking shortcuts in its own section of the menu. I need to find more info on it though...

 

[YayMii]

Personally, whilst I like the Metro UI aesthetically, the functionality for desktops isn't all there and the bugs it has (mostly driver and compatability issues) means I won't be adopting it for some time.

There are driver issues? I wasn't aware. It uses an updated Vista/7 kernel, and I was able to install 7 drivers with no issues whatsoever.

 

[qlum]

There are several reasons why you should stay with Windows 7.

1. Windows 7 has a nice Start button. Windows 8 doesn't.
2. In Windows 7 it takes you three or four steps (compared to XP) to find something. In Windows 8 it takes you eight steps.
3. Windows 7 features a nice start menu button that Windows 8 doesn't have.
4. If you are not in tablet happy mode you should stick to Windows 7.
5. Among a myriad of countless useful features Windows 7 boasts an extremely useful start menu button which is missing in 8.
6. Windows 7 is less confusing then Windows 8.
7. Windows 8 is also known as XBOX version which loses its credibility as an OS.
8. Among other features which are too many to list here you'll find that Windows 7 has a starting point also know as a Start Button which is missing on 8. The Start button allows you to find things in three steps on Windows 7.
9. If you go from XP to 8 you'll feel like Alice in Wonderland. Go easy, start with 7 first.
10. And last but not least, Windows 7 has a start menu button. It's a small thing but i thought it's worth mentioning since it's kind of overlooked.

Hope this helps.

1: classic shell and quite a few other programs add back a start menu that is at least as good
2: because of this and the fact that it can disable most of the metro stuff this is not true
3: it can have it
4: its really not tablet happy mode if you don't use metro
5: again repeating yourself and again saying classic shell adds it back just as wel
6: not true assuming you fixed its issue
7: uh no
8: nope
10: again start menu can easily be installed.

Really there are no big drawbacks of windows 8 once you get back the start menu and don't have to deal with metro, at some times it creeps back in but really not that big an issue, also your 10 points are not really 10 points. There is really no good reason not to go to windows 8 instead of 7 its just a slightly improved version once you get your start menu back via classic shell or one of the many other programs to do so.

 

[1NOOB]

you dont have to use the metro interface , i installed a start menu and add a shorcut so the desktop mode is what i see when i open my pc .

 

[DiscostewSM]

It isn't until people try not using the Start Menu and try learning how Metro works that Windows 8 begins to show how decent it is. I had my fair share of irritation with no Start Menu because I had been locked into using it ever since Windows 95, and much of my routine involved using that when other options were available. I tried out many 3rd-party Start Menus, but in the end, they were either unstable, operated horribly, or didn't have the features I was used to. The moment I let go of that and figured out how Windows 8 operated was the moment Windows 8 sprung to life.

 

[Foxi4]

Well, my Preview installation was just replaced with Retail, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so-far. I've already optimized the services to what I believe is the bare minimum for what I usually do on the PC, the Polish language pack is installing nicely, I've already assigned my tiles and added a Reboot and Restart tile...

Spoiler

Create two shortcuts on the desktop, name them to your liking, put this as the Path:
SHUTDOWN -r -t 00
SHUTDOWN -s -t 01
First for Rebooting, second for Shutdown. If you want, you can also change the icon to the standard "button" you used to see in Windows 7 and Vista by changing the shortcut properties. Once done, pin it to Start.

SO much quicker than Signing Out and Restarting/Shutting Down from there.

...can't wait to give Retail a thorough testing. I was relatively happy with the Preview, so the "polished" version is near-sure to please me.

 

[Rydian]

I can live without the start menu as long as there's easy shortcuts to the functions there. My main concern is how much else has changed.

If I can't fire up the machine and start dragging files and folders around and manipulating things on my own, it's really going to cut into my productivity.

I mean when Staples has to advertise on TV that they're giving free Windows 8 training when you buy a Windows 8 device...

 

[chris888222]

If I were to upgrade to a new computer, then I'll definitely pick Windows 8.

Like it or not, I believe the Metro UI will stay for at least another 5 years to come, so I'll just live with it if I were to get a new computer.

Everything new will take time to get used to. It was just like how I got my first smartphone... Like it or not, you just have to accept it. I may diss the Metro UI, but it may all be due to the fact that I have not played with it long enough.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Honestly Win8 is great on a tablet like Surface since its built perfectly for it but for a desktop or laptop without a touch screen monitor its absolute shit.