Good reason to upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows 7?

[triassic911]

Hi. So I get a free upgrade copy of Windows 8 from my school and I'm wondering, is there good reason to do the upgrade? I'm actually fine with my current state of Windows 7, but if Windows 8 can bring something good to the table, I wouldn't mind upgrading. I just hope my essential programs like Steam and Skype still work... Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[ShinyLatios]

I noticed my CPU usage reduced a small bit when I upgraded, I guess that could be a reason. Steam and skype still work for me.

 

[Plainscript]

Programs like Steam and Skype will still work properly. But.. (longer answer coming through!)

Running both on different, spec-wise similar machines: I'm not really seeing any 'real' difference or improvement when it comes to performance. That, and the fact I don't like the ModernUI interface personally (and expecting you don't want to develop for WP8 or something, which requires Win8/Win8Pro), and I had to choose, I would stick to Win7.

Short answer: Win8 = Win7 + ModernUI for most people.

 

[DiscostewSM]

I found Diablo 3 ran better on my machine, not because of reduced CPU/RAM usage of the OS, but because it somehow granted a bit better HDD reading. Don't ask me how. All I know is that instead of major freezing while trying to load assets, those freezes are not as long.

 

[Arm73]

I actually like very much the mail client of W8 !
I have 5 or 6 e-mails account ( included yahoo, which doesn't offer free POP3 service ) and once I set them up in W8, I'm able to download and display all of them very quickly and switch between them without having to worry about logins.
Also IE10 looks really nice in the new metro full screen display, even though my browser of choice is Firefox ( that I can run from the desktop as usual ).

 

[Rizsparky]

Hmmm... I was looking at upgrading from windows 7, If I upgrade does it keep all my work documents?

 

[McHaggis]

If you want to develop for Windows Phone 8, you need to be running Windows 8 Pro x64... I guess that could be a good reason for some. It pretty much forced me to upgrade, begrudgingly. Fortunately, I don't boot into Windows often enough to care that much.

Hmmm... I was looking at upgrading from windows 7, If I upgrade does it keep all my work documents?

Yes, upgrading keeps your applications (assuming there's no compatibility issues) and files.

 

[triassic911]

Thanks guys. I will upgrade.

 

[Tom]

I actually like very much the mail client of W8 !
I have 5 or 6 e-mails account ( included yahoo, which doesn't offer free POP3 service ) and once I set them up in W8, I'm able to download and display all of them very quickly and switch between them without having to worry about logins.
Also IE10 looks really nice in the new metro full screen display, even though my browser of choice is Firefox ( that I can run from the desktop as usual ).

I just realized , its faster but w8=wait XD

 

[DiscostewSM]

You may get annoyed by the lack of a Start Menu on the bottom-left of the screen, but I found with a little time and having shortcut keys related to the windows key to be quite nice (though I probably should have been using shortcut keys since Windows 7).

Win Key + C -> Charms bar on right side
Win Key + X -> Small list showing access to the system like "Programs and Features (for uninstalling)", "Control Panel", "Run", etc.
Win Key + F -> Search Files

Try other Win Key + key combinations to see what is available.

 

[Rydian]

Windows 8 is NT 6.2 (versus 7's NT 6.1) so it's not a huge jump, though I do know that filesystem handling (in the form of error correction) has been greatly enhanced... I'm not aware of most of the other underlying enhancements, if they even exist.

 

[Creqaw]

Hi. So I get a free upgrade copy of Windows 8 from my school and I'm wondering, is there good reason to do the upgrade? I'm actually fine with my current state of Windows 7, but if Windows 8 can bring something good to the table, I wouldn't mind upgrading. I just hope my essential programs like Steam and Skype still work... Any thoughts? Thanks.

I'd do it for the heck of it, it's free so why not?

 

[DeShelly]

i have windows xp lol

 

[Arm73]

I'd do it for the heck of it, it's free so why not?

I would never upgrade my OS like that.
Sure you keep all the applications, but at the end of the day, it is better to perform a clean install and start fresh, then you can add all your applications again.
Or even better, perform a dual boot installation ( I'm doing that sice XP/Vista days ) .
Basically you create a new partition and install Windows 8 on it.
Upon starting your system, you will be asked if you like to boot into Windows 8 or 7.
At the end of the day, if you are not happy with Windows 8 you can just delete the new partition and everything will be untouched on the Windows 7 partition, so you don't risk loosing anything.
Also there is the odd game/application that has compatibility issues in 8, therefore I'd keep 7 just in case, at least for a couple of years until you won't care about the old stuff anymore and you'll keep booting in 8....

 

[mysticwaterfall]

It seems to boot faster and run slightly faster for me. The new search and little tweaks throughout are nice. It does take getting used to though, you'll be annoyed until you poke around for a bit. There are programs like start 8 to replace the start menu if you miss it.

 

[chris888222]

This is a bit off topic but I do believe Windows 8 runs differently on different machines.

There was one touch PC on show at our store. It's a toshiba with Intel Core i3 with Win8 Premium. It was extremely sluggish and glitchy. Hated it.

However, my friend who has a recently bought i7 Dell ran it quite smoothly.

 

[VampireLordAlucard]

Walk into your local Walmart or Best Buy, and play with the new interface some.

Disliking it is the only reason NOT to upgrade, really.

 

[Creqaw]

I would never upgrade my OS like that.
Sure you keep all the applications, but at the end of the day, it is better to perform a clean install and start fresh, then you can add all your applications again.
Or even better, perform a dual boot installation ( I'm doing that sice XP/Vista days ) .
Basically you create a new partition and install Windows 8 on it.
Upon starting your system, you will be asked if you like to boot into Windows 8 or 7.
At the end of the day, if you are not happy with Windows 8 you can just delete the new partition and everything will be untouched on the Windows 7 partition, so you don't risk loosing anything.
Also there is the odd game/application that has compatibility issues in 8, therefore I'd keep 7 just in case, at least for a couple of years until you won't care about the old stuff anymore and you'll keep booting in 8....

Oh, didn't read that OP wanted to keep his stuff. For me OS upgrade == clean install.

 

[Coto]

I'll try it someday once I see good compatibility with most W7- WXP programs.

 

[JohanX]

The People App rocks. All of my social (LinkedIn, FB, twitter, Microsoft) contacts in one location.

As has been mentioned before, the Mail app works well too, with the ability to pull down all of your e-mail accounts. It wont handle POP 3, but you can get around that by creating an Outlook/Hotmail/Live e-mail account, then adding your POP e-mail accounts to the outlook/Hotmail/Live e-mail account, then connect the Windows 8 Mail to the new Outlook/Hotmail/Live account.

The Windows Store is cool too. LOTS of free games.

It takes a bit of time to get used to the new UI, but once you figure it out, you will like it.

There is a free upgrade to add Media Center to Windows 8 Pro as well. Go to: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/feature-packs

The Skydrive integration into the apps is nice. No more having to download the file first, then accessing it. Office 2013 will have Skydrive integration as well.

An don't forget - free streaming of over 18 million songs with Xbox Music.