Compliance: Windows 7 & 8

I could do with a new printer plus the new version of a software application I use regularly. There are other bits and bobs as well. All my systems are Windows XP and I�ll probably replace at least one in 2012. If I buy the things I want/need now, they�ll be Windows 7. However, what if I buy a new computer system after the release of Windows 8? (When�s the exact UK date? Is it known?) Will software designed to run on Win 7 be compliant with Win 8?

Cross-posting? Tut, tut!

Total accident. I wondered why my post wasn't showing up on this forum so I posted it again. F ourse, the first post was elsewhere...

In reply to a post by ARD:

Total accident.

It's easily done

I've closed the other thread, with a request to reply to this one as it makes more sense that way.

It really was an error. Thanks for closing the other post.

I would go with ones that work with windows 7 for now, assuming they will work with Widows 8 if needed.

I currently use an HP printer only available for WinXP in Win7 by looking at the printer model and seeing what printer was the next generation of that series. I loaded the old driver in compatibility mode then the 'new' driver and hay presto all features work. Go figure.

I expect all hardware that works with windows 7 will work with windows 8 as under the bonnet Windows 8 is windows 7, just with some silly ribbon menu system and some stupid phone style interface.

I suggest you get windows 7 and give Windows 8 a wide berth.

As to your question, I expect all hardware available now will work with Windows 8

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I expect all hardware that works with windows 7 will work with windows 8 as under the bonnet Windows 8 is windows 7, just with some silly ribbon menu system and some stupid phone style interface.

I suggest you get windows 7 and give Windows 8 a wide berth.

As to your question, I expect all hardware available now will work with Windows 8

Personally I would only use Win 8 if I had a tablet.
What's the point of having a OS cluttered up with something you will never use.

Thanks for your answers all. The Win 8 release date suggests that I'll be replacing at lease one system within the Win 7 era so any software and hardware bought in the near future will be fine. Even if the release date is earlier than indicated I'd prefer Win 7 as past experience has taught me to avoid a brand new Microsoft release whenever possible!

When someone asks a question it really is not conducive to their request to make such trivial remarks as;
...."7 will work with windows 8 as under the bonnet Windows 8 is windows 7, just with some silly ribbon menu system and some stupid phone style interface."
There is significant and major differences in the proposed Windows 8 and there are some major advancements to the power shell and its engine. It is in no way a cosmetic tweak as you quite wrongly pontificated.
Microsoft have stated that anything that runs under Windows 7 will run in Windows 8 and there is possibility of a release date of the Autumn of 2012.
However release dates are historically very unreliable and I would suggest that as a good guide it is usually approximately a month or so after the final release candidate is made available for download to general release.

I hope this information is of some help to you

In reply to a post by ARD:

Thanks for your answers all. The Win 8 release date suggests that I'll be replacing at lease one system within the Win 7 era so any software and hardware bought in the near future will be fine. Even if the release date is earlier than indicated I'd prefer Win 7 as past experience has taught me to avoid a brand new Microsoft release whenever possible!

I went for windows 7 more or less when it became available to the public as Beta, i have had very few problems in beta and I now think it is one of the most reliable OS for home users that Ms have done, that I have used.

No doubt windows 3.1 was reliable and even Dos, but I never used them.

I did not regret going to windows 7 even in Beta and for doing so got the full retail version for a good price.

So MS do get it right sometimes,

In reply to a post by pcologist:

When someone asks a question it really is not conducive to their request to make such trivial remarks as;
...."7 will work with windows 8 as under the bonnet Windows 8 is windows 7, just with some silly ribbon menu system and some stupid phone style interface."
There is significant and major differences in the proposed Windows 8 and there are some major advancements to the power shell and its engine. It is in no way a cosmetic tweak as you quite wrongly pontificated.

Never said it was just a cosmetic tweak, but yeah I can understand where you got the idea that I think it is just a cosmetic tweak.

sure there are differences, but there is still a lot of Windows 7 code in windows 8, I been told by someone that is fairly up on the old coding thing and he mention there is hell of a lot of windows 7 in Windows 8

Microsoft have stated that anything that runs under Windows 7 will run in Windows 8 and there is possibility of a release date of the Autumn of 2012.
However release dates are historically very unreliable and I would suggest that as a good guide it is usually approximately a month or so after the final release candidate is made available for download to general release.

I hope this information is of some help to you



considering how complex windows is and how many lines of code is in Windows, the release date given seems pretty short for it to be a complete rewrite.

Look at how long it took for vista to come onto the market from when it was announced to when it eventually became available to the public. windows 7 was also a fairly quick build


I still think MS have lost the plot if they are going to put windows 8 onto the market with Metro for desktops

The developer preview of Windows 8 is just that - a preview. The purpose is to allow programmers to have a play with producing Metro applications. To suppose that this represents the final Windows 8 interface, on all platforms, is a triffle premature.

To be fair Adrian, that tells us nothing we don't already know.

Just because your friend is a programmer doesn't mean he knows any more than anyone else with access to google. Besides, it's common knowledge that Windows 8 builds on Windows 7, just like Windows 7 built on Vista, and so on.

I'd pay less attention to mates telling you things and take information from a variety of sources on the web, much more likely to be accurate!