Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8?

[3bbb7]

...I did not even know that was a thing, I always just pressed Winkey and started typing. Neat. Also, WTF does Win + . do?

theres a few shortcuts with the windows key. Win + X opens the context menu over the start button, Win + Q (or Win + S) is search everywhere, Win + W is search settings only, and a few more generic ones like Win + E opens explorer
Win + . lets you set the app to the side. Hit Win + . then let go of . and use the arrow keys.

I don't know the full list

 

[Duo8]

I used to use Win+L all the time back when my Windows key was working.

 

[Rayder]

Well, I call it Windows H8.

My brother bought a laptop with Win H8 in it and it was slow and lame. We reformatted it with Win 7 64bit and now it runs better. The laptop's video card didn't support DX 11.1, but did support DX11. The laptop is much happier now.

Besides, nobody here wanted to re-learn how to use the OS with that horrid shitro UI.

 

[Duo8]

Well, I call it Windows H8.

My brother bought a laptop with Win H8 in it and it was slow and lame. We reformatted it with Win 7 64bit and now it runs better. The laptop's video card didn't support DX 11.1, but did support DX11. The laptop is much happier now.

Besides, nobody here wanted to re-learn how to use the OS with that horrid shitro UI.

Are you sure it's not bloatwares slowing the PC?

Spoiler

Are you sure it wasn't placebo?

 

[3bbb7]

Well, I call it Windows H8.

My brother bought a laptop with Win H8 in it and it was slow and lame. We reformatted it with Win 7 64bit and now it runs better. The laptop's video card didn't support DX 11.1, but did support DX11. The laptop is much happier now.

Besides, nobody here wanted to re-learn how to use the OS with that horrid shitro UI.

My laptop has been overall faster since I upgraded to Windows 8. Both Windows 7 and Windows 8 were fresh installs, so neither had bloatware on it.

 

[PityOnU]

For all the hate Windows 8 gets, it's a logical, evolutionary step from Windows 7. Most of the changes are under the hood, but they add up to a big speed increase.

Aside from smoother performance, the (happy) death of chrome, and slightly better battery life, the benefits of upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows 7 are minimal.

This is especially true if, like most people, you are mildly neophobic and dislike change/new things in general. Then you'll REALLY hate Windows 8.

 

[Qtis]

Win 8.1 and classic shell = profit.

Windows 7 is nice, but I don't see the need for staying on windows 7 if you're doing a clean install anyways.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Windows 8 is a nice step-up from Windows 7, at this point the only hate anyone could have for it is because of Metro UI, but that's just silly because that can be easily replaced with Classic Shell.

But then again, I don't think there are enough pros at the moment to switch to Windows 8 either. If you like using Windows 7 and if you're used to it and have it all setup to how you like it, then just stick with it until Windows 7 loses support.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

I think he meant press this and that key. Like, CTRL + C, you don't literally press the plus button just those two.

 

[tbgtbg]

8 is perfectly functional whereas Vista wasn't

That's not true.

 

[Taleweaver]

I installed windows 8 on my computer when it was new. While the timing wasn't that great (it was a couple weeks until 8.1, and that really wasn't a small update or service pack), in the end it wasn't worth it. Yes, it booted a couple of seconds faster. But with a modern PC you'll need a chronometer to tell the difference. And the interface...you know that "you can turn it off" isn't really an argument in its favor, right? With some tweaking, I managed to make it behave pretty much as much as I had used to on my old PC (which I still have).
...and then windows 8.1 came along and every setting got fucked up. Why is it that linux distros like ubuntu and mint install so smoothly that you can pretty much upgrade the entire operating system with a couple clicks as if it was a browser update (with about the same chances of programs no longer working as firefox add-ins...or even a LOWER chance), and that microsoft seems to think we want to format our entire SSD-drive if we want to UPGRADE FROM 8.0 TO 8.1???

Admitted: it wasn't a legal windows 8 installation, but I honestly think that wasn't the culprit.

To a degree, I respect MS that they overhauled their interface. With tablets, smartphones and a new console on the way, it's certainly a good idea if they all have a similar way of navigating.
Unfortunately, that navigating is just bollocks on a non-touchpad interface. I mean...you know how installed programs often have these extra icons in the start menu (like "game", "game safe mode", "readme", "uninstall"...and so on)? I really thought that metro interface just showcased the main program and had the others hidden somewhere (like on a right-click or something). It isn't. It's just not there. It just isn't. Not even in the non-metro interface. I can only hope that they added it back in 8.1, but I couldn't be bothered to install that correctly. For all 8 was doing, it seemed like it was slowly getting in the direction of 7. And that's the point: 7 already exists, is stable and is easy to use. Aside from the boot time, it's pretty much exactly the same performance wise and all the extra's are things I don't care about (honestly...is anyone really using the windows shop over already existing programs or freeware?).

All in all, I can't think of anyone updating to windows 8 aside from "because I want to upgrade". That same irrational behavior that makes people want to update their consoles to the latest firmwares despite it only blocking potential piracy exploits. I've learned the stupidity of that sort of thinking when installing windows millennium, and I've given windows 8 a fair chance to convince. It failed.

 

[the_randomizer]

For all the hate Windows 8 gets, it's a logical, evolutionary step from Windows 7. Most of the changes are under the hood, but they add up to a big speed increase.

Aside from smoother performance, the (happy) death of chrome, and slightly better battery life, the benefits of upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows 7 are minimal.

This is especially true if, like most people, you are mildly neophobic and dislike change/new things in general. Then you'll REALLY hate Windows 8.

Get rid of the Metro UI and you have a deal, that's for touchscreens. Windows 7 is working just fine for me, never had a single issue with drivers, BSODs, stability, or software not running. It has nothing to with so-called neophobia, it's called, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Upgrading to 8 costs money people don't want to spend. And besides, Windows 8.1 > 8.

If someone can provide a legitimate reason to update besides marginal performance gains or for the Metro UI, then I'll be able to see why. But, seeing as there are no major disadvantages to Windows 7, there's no reason to update. I like the GUI, the stability, how it boots, no Metro BS interface, never a single driver issue, all the programs I have run, no need to tweak compatibility settings.

 

[Duo8]

and that microsoft seems to think we want to format our entire SSD-drive if we want to UPGRADE FROM 8.0 TO 8.1???

Admitted: it wasn't a legal windows 8 installation, but I honestly think that wasn't the culprit.

Strange, I upgraded straight from the store without any problem.
My experience with Windows 8 has been smooth so far. When I had to reinstall it, it synced most settings from the old installation and even reinstalled every single driver automatically.

 

[the_randomizer]

I do have an MSDN license though, so I guess I could always get it if I wanted to

 

[WiiCube_2013]

That's not true.

From my experience and others Vista was never a really stable OS nor a good one, hence why Windows 7 exists.

Back in the days I had Windows ME and every tiny thing would get me an error or a screen of death, so then I upgraded to Windows 2000 and lastly Windows XP, until now, which I use Windows 7. I'll stick to 7 until it becomes discontinued.

Windows XP has been used for 13 years and Windows Vista was for 3 years (sure it's still usable but 7 took over since it's far superior).

 

[Zaide]

From my experience and others Vista was never a really stable OS nor a good one, hence why Windows 7 exists.

Back in the days I had Windows ME and every tiny thing would get me an error or a screen of death, so then I upgraded to Windows 2000 and lastly Windows XP, until now, which I use Windows 7. I'll stick to 7 until it becomes discontinued.

Windows XP has been used for 13 years and Windows Vista was for 3 years (sure it's still usable but 7 took over since it's far superior).

The only problem with Windows Vista was that XP had been around too long. EVERY operating system has bugs when it is first released and as it ages they gets patched and it gets better. If you go find a computer running a fully updated version of Vista right now it runs great. The issue was that people were so used to XP being rock solid that they were not willing to wait for patches. Microsoft only rolled out Windows 7 right away to get rid of the Vista name since people refused to give it a second chance after it's rocky release.

I personally am using Windows 8 and it's great. I've only run in to two problems. When I first got it there was a bug that caused a random bluescreen complaining about the CPU_Ticker (this has been patched). Then when I updated to Windows 8.1 it failed to install and corrupted Windows. I reinstalled and updated before installing anything else and it worked fine.

I really don't understand all the hating on Windows 8. I use it, I love it.

 

[PityOnU]

Get rid of the Metro UI and you have a deal, that's for touchscreens. Windows 7 is working just fine for me, never had a single issue with drivers, BSODs, stability, or software not running. It has nothing to with so-called neophobia, it's called, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Upgrading to 8 costs money people don't want to spend. And besides, Windows 8.1 > 8.

If someone can provide a legitimate reason to update besides marginal performance gains or for the Metro UI, then I'll be able to see why. But, seeing as there are no major disadvantages to Windows 7, there's no reason to update. I like the GUI, the stability, how it boots, no Metro BS interface, never a single driver issue, all the programs I have run, no need to tweak compatibility settings.

Here is the interface I see everyday on Windows 8.1:

Spoiler: Desktop

Spoiler: Start Button

So, the difference isn't huge in the end, and Metro (now called Modern) UI is basically just the whipping boy of the masses. Pretty much everything else (Android, iOS, Xbox, even the PS4 interface) is conforming to Metro design standards nowadays so it can't be that bad. Yes, it's designed for touchscreen rather than desktop use, but that's the point - it is new.

The PC market is struggling a lot right now because it's becoming very, very difficult to come up with compelling new features. How do you get better than Windows 7 in a traditional PC environment? Well... you don't really. Same goes for existing Apple and Linux operating systems for PC. Where do they go from here? Ubuntu is now pushing hard for tablets and phones and their default interface is becoming pretty horrible as well. OS X is just kind of floating along keeping the status quo and not giving a shit, because that's what Apple users want. But in that specific case they have two different operating systems - one for classical computers and one for mobile.

In regards to compelling reasons to upgrade, I will quote what I can only imagine is a very intelligent and handsome individual who posted earlier:

Aside from smoother performance, the (happy) death of chrome, and slightly better battery life, the benefits of upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows 7 are minimal.

 

[the_randomizer]

The only problem with Windows Vista was that XP had been around too long. EVERY operating system has bugs when it is first released and as it ages they gets patched and it gets better. If you go find a computer running a fully updated version of Vista right now it runs great. The issue was that people were so used to XP being rock solid that they were not willing to wait for patches. Microsoft only rolled out Windows 7 right away to get rid of the Vista name since people refused to give it a second chance after it's rocky release.

I personally am using Windows 8 and it's great. I've only run in to two problems. When I first got it there was a bug that caused a random bluescreen complaining about the CPU_Ticker (this has been patched). Then when I updated to Windows 8.1 it failed to install and corrupted Windows. I reinstalled and updated before installing anything else and it worked fine.

I really don't understand all the hating on Windows 8. I use it, I love it.

As for myself, I don't see the urgency or necessity in upgrading to Windows 8 as everything I have runs great on Windows 7 and only had one BSOD in the four years I've been using it.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

As for myself, I don't see the urgency or necessity in upgrading to Windows 8 as everything I have runs great on Windows 7 and only had one BSOD in the four years I've been using it.

I am holding out, praying that Windows 9 will bring back at least the option to install the old style UI. I like the idea of Metro on a phone or a tablet but for a desktop PC doing double duty as a server and production machine... Metro seems designed for the consuming of content not the production of it.

If Windows 9 doesn't give me that option, I will be looking into running Android on my home PC. Maybe get some work done and integrate with my phone and tablet in one fell swoop.

 

[Pleng]

I am holding out, praying that Windows 9 will bring back at least the option to install the old style UI.

Can't believe I'm getting into this again...

What do you count as 'the old style UI'? What exactly is missing from Win 8 that Win 7 has, UI wise.
Start Menu isn't a valid response, because Win 8 has it (it's just a bit bigger...)