Win7 or 8 new OS

I built a pc around 12months ago but have only used linux on it which has not been very often.
I now want to put on a new system.
I am still using XP on my other pc but its starting to show its age ( pc that is).

I am thinking of going with win7 even though its older than 8 which seems to get a lot of bad press. What would you do if upgrading now.

Windows 7 x64 if your system supports 64bit.

I have Windows 8 and I still can't get use to it, I prefer the old Windows UI. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad but I would go for Windows 7....

is a matter of opinion.

windows 8 is newer, it has certian enhancements such as hyper-v, metro (to some this is an enhancement), IE11 which in turn can play netflix without silverlight, newer directx, better multi monitor support and better touchscreen gui.

Windows 7 will be less of a annoyance factor for you upgrading as its still a 100% desktop OS, has less bugs (in my opinion), less features cut, looks nicer, better gui for mouse, better gui for desktop LED's, faster (from my testing windows 8 is laggier). A fair few windows 8 enhancements do get backported to windows 7 (but press doesnt report it), however expect major ones such as hyperv to never be backported. Native dvd support as well (pulled in windows 8 requires MCE addon).

Microsoft have reverted to kindergarten, by that I mean they are panicing and keep changing their decisions, so what we can expect is frequent OS releases (windows 9 rumoured 2014 release) and possibly also frequent changes of direction market wise, so eg. one could buy windows 8, get used to metro and then its entirely possible microsoft ditch it in windows 9 if they decide its not pulling in the sales.

I am still using windows seven tho I own 2 windows 8 licenses.

Edited by Chrysalis (Mon 09-Sep-13 15:20:49)

The pc will support 64bit win7 so i am closer to my choice, i will wait for any more replys but win7 64bit is the strong favourite.

If your want to wait a few weeks until the 17th Of Oct you can see how the new Windows 8.1 looks. I've got windows 8 on 3 machines and haven't found any issues with it. It just takes a little bit of getting used to. Most important thing for me with either Windows 8 or 7 is to set up a shortcut into "God Mode" so you can go through all your settings.

In reply to a post by captain666:

Most important thing for me with either Windows 8 or 7 is to set up a shortcut into "God Mode" so you can go through all your settings.

In reference to social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/d8ac5cf6-461a-470...:

Activate God Mode in Windows 8
1. Go to the Desktop
2. Right-click and select New Folder.
3. Right-click on the New Folder and select Rename.
4. Change the name of the folder [just copy & paste the following string]: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
5. Open the folder and you will find every utility Windows 8 has under the sun.

Windows 8 - can't recommend it highly enough. If you are buying a new system definitely go for Windows 8 to take maximum benefit and performance from your new hardware.

Well the new hardware is just over 12months old but i know what you mean, just reading to many negative's regarding win8 up to now, but still not 100% yet.

I have windows 8 on the main desktop, it is fast, stable , boots up and shuts down pretty quick. they are the good things.

The bad things are it looks awful compared to windows 7, no start menu and that silly Metro screen.

The good thing is you can get rid of the silly metro screen and get a nice start menu if that is what you want.


Why do you want to change from Linux?

Just can not get used to it and not sure about firewalls etc if i did any online banking,shopping.

Yes, it always ends up mimicking the features available in Windows in a "me too" sort of fashion. So it's always 2nd best.

The firewall in Windows 8 is very comprehensive, and very configurable, so I wouldn't worry about that. As for the interface, once you ignore the Metro stuff, which is easily done, it's not really any different to 7 - the GUI is a little "flatter" (and none the worse for that) and that's about it. Performance, and stability, seem to be appreciably better in 8 than 7.

Unless you have some very errant program that doesn't work under 8, I can't see any real reason to prefer 7; and you can be sure that improvements and security enchantments will be quicker and more comprehensive on the new OS. For future-proofing 8 is easily the better choice at the current time; this is not an XP/Vista situation.

But you may want to wait for 8.1 to be released; the beta is a significant improvement in some ways.

personally the gui theme drives me nuts, the lack of aero affect has dragged it back a decade. PC's have been pushed back to put them in line with tablets, effectively to try and make tablets a more attractive option to use. Win8 is so ugly I may as well install linux which is free, faster and will likely have a more stable UI design in future updates.

The fonts and cleartype is rolled back in win8 also so it doesnt display so well on a pc led as win7.

Plus is dozens of minor gui features removed which do add up.

Metro cant be completely ignored as some of the dialog boxes on the desktop are metro themed as if they half converted to metro (not sure if bug or intentional).

I guess that it's all a matter of priorities. I've never cared that much about screen decorations and whizzy effects (hence on Linux I use xfce and not one of the fancier desktops), caring more about performance, security, and the applications rather than the OS scaffolding.

8 works just fine on an LCD display as far as I am concerned; I find it cleaner and easier on the eye than previous versions of Windows. A welcome change from the charge towards form over function that characterizes so many OSs (OS X in particular, and now Linux) IMO.

Would you use XFCE to do banking or shopping and feel safe. i know nothing is 100% safe just as in windows.

I'd certainly use it rather than Gnome or KDE. But I don't think the Desktop has any appreciable influence on the security of the browser.

Is there a option to have a linux firewall and linux antivirus which do a good job.The linux i have used is a more simple one called puppy/slacko/lucid

Xfce is a Desktop, not a Linux distribution. All distributions that I have used come with a Firewall; anti-virus is normally considered to be unnecessary in Linux. I have no worries about using online banking in Linux. But I have no worries about using it in Windows, OS X, or on my iPad either.

You might want to check out if you can run windows 8 on your machine. I don't know if this link will work if you try it on your Linux machine.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade...

At worst it does give you all the system requirements

I use both (Win 8 booted straight to desktop via Classic Shell) and not noticed that much difference.
If I was buying now, and both were roughly the same price, I'd go with Win 8, mainly as the support will last longer.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

IE11 which in turn can play netflix without silverlight

Presumably this applies to other sites which need Silverlight too (such as Eurosport Player)? I see there is a preview version of IE11 for W7. Is the same true of this and is it worth installing on my W7 nettop which I use for media playing?

In reply to a post by Zodiac:

Just can not get used to it and not sure about firewalls etc if i did any online banking,shopping.

Most Linux Distros got some sort of firewall, but you can always get others, even AVG have one out. viruses are not a big problem with Linux, it don't mean there are no problems, but no where near the problem that we have with windows.

I prefer to access my bank and to my online shopping using Linux than windows. you are not going to get used to it if you don't use it.

I know some things in Linux can get annoying, trying to sort out my graphic drivers for a start. If I could get all the software I needed on the Linux platform, then this computer would be Linux 100%.

Totally agree, I got my copy of 8 when they were virtually giving it away £15 if I remember right, put it on my laptop and hated the GUI straight away, definitely a leap backwards, I have been using Windows since it first came out, and it has come on by leaps and bounds right up to Win 7 which I would recommend to anyone using a desktop or non-touch screen laptop. I'm now trying out Linux Mint on my laptop and even that looks better than Win 8's desktop mode

Well i have had good replies which i am taking onboard and 99% certain i will go with win7.
Just the 1% to go.

I didnt know was a preview of IE11 for win7, it should be the same but it depends if the required codecs get installed or not.

Why put an old OS on? Windows 8 is just Windows 7 but better. "Metro" takes about 10 minutes of getting used to, and that is only if you open metro apps anyway. 10 minutes of your time is probably <0.1% of the total time you will spend on the PC.

I just don't get the negativity, oh well. Maybe people who can't get to grips with Windows 8 just can't get to grips with anything new period.

Edited by Pipexer (Wed 11-Sep-13 21:20:19)

I'm one of those 'if it aint broke, why fix it' people - especially if I have something that works well for me.

I had XP Pro for a long time, and was worried when a new computer spec had W7 Pro. The company building it assured me that I'd find it better, and true enough, though virtually dragged kicking against it, I loved it within a very short time.
Had it two years now, and also had it installed on a new notebook recently.

When I do see something new that I think is better than what we already have, then I will embrace the new.
I have seen W8 but have no current wish to exchange my W7 for it.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

Why put an old OS on? Windows 8 is just Windows 7 but better. "Metro" takes about 10 minutes of getting used to, and that is only if you open metro apps anyway. 10 minutes of your time is probably <0.1% of the total time you will spend on the PC.

I just don't get the negativity, oh well. Maybe people who can't get to grips with Windows 8 just can't get to grips with anything new period.

if its just the same but better why cant these people "get to grips" with it?

I can get used to metro, thats not the issue, metro is slower and less efficient to use, getting used to something doesnt make it good. Of course noone 'has' to use metro, its a 2nd interface on top of the desktop with its own seperate apps. But the desktop isnt the same as windows 7 there is various changes that fans of windows 8 pretend dont exist.

But thats why i am undecided at present because new is not always better.I cant be sure that i would like win7 over XP but just looking for opionions first.

Let us all face backwards as we drive because that is safer. It'll only take a few minutes to get used to as the percentage of time will be negligble to the total amount we drive.

That sounds like a very good description of those who stick with older versions such as XP! I like to look forwards.

here is a read on 8.1.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Windows81_1.html

in short win7 is a PC os.
win 8 is a touch/cloud os with pc support.

that article only touches on some issues as well there is many more. coming from XP it goes without saying win7 will be a more freindly experience for you, also dont worry about it been "old", win 7 isnt about to go EOL it has several years left, win 8 also only has 7% market share so you wont be left out on win 7, that has the biggest windows market share, and XP is 2nd behind it.

Its like what website dev's started doing, redoing their websites to be touch friendly claiming pc users arent compromised when they are, it is impossible to have a good UI good for both, one has to have consequences, and sadly touch usually gets favoured due to thats where the growth is. Most popular websites were better 2 years ago then they were now before they started becoming "touch friendly"..

Edited by Chrysalis (Thu 12-Sep-13 18:13:22)

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

personally the gui theme drives me nuts, the lack of aero affect has dragged it back a decade.

I've installed Aero Glass - works fine. Now have transparency back!

Thanks thats a good read.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

win 8 is a touch/cloud os with pc support.

God damn! If only I had known this before I rolled it out to 700 computers at work!

Funny though, I've had no complaints.

yes that looks handy, so someone finally made an app for it, does it import win 7 themes?

shame about the other problems that still remain tho.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

win 8 is a touch/cloud os with pc support.

God damn! If only I had known this before I rolled it out to 700 computers at work!

Funny though, I've had no complaints.

the question is why did you roll it out?

if you was my employee I would be evaluating the ROI on that rollout.

So far in this thread to a guy using XP who wants a good upgrade experience the people reccomending windows 8 is a weak argument based on "its newer".

Newer isn't always better (Vista). I have Win 2K on a 10 year old laptop as a print server, XP on a PC and W7 on a laptop. All work well on their own environment. Should I change to W8 just for the hell of it?

You generally need to for games and internet sites, although if you just use it for sending emails or as a server, then you many not need to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8

If the 2000 and XP machines connect to the Internet then you most assuredly should update them to a newer version. Malware writers will be reverse engineering patches to Vista and later versions to discover vulnerabilities which will not be patched in the older OSs.

No-one should change to Windows 8 for the hell of it. If you already have 7 then it's a matter of preference; if you are buying a new OS now then it's a no-brainer. Better still just use Linux or FreeBSD, which are updated more frequently than Windows and will cost you nothing. (Problem there if you like game-playing, though - that's why I run Windows as well as Linux.)