Originally posted by Phry

Originally posted by Falcomith

I was skeptical about Win 8 at first, but for $40 I said what the heck. Upgrading from Win 7 to 8, I found out after a few days that 8 seemed a bit sluggish at times. Then I decided to do what I normally do is format the hardrive and start fresh. So thats what I did, and now the boot time is cut in half compared to when I had windows 7. Performance in Win 8 is slightly better.

The interface takes some getting use to, but if you are like me and prefer a similar setup with a start button on the desktop, then you can download a free app to add a similar start button back in. I use pokki Win 8 start menu. https://www.pokki.com/windows-8-start-menu . 

Some have mentioned that there DVD/ROM is not being properly recognized.  Win 8 doesnt come with DVD playback. Thats because MS wants you to grab there Microsoft Windows Media Center or purchase there codec pack (Cha-ching). I know for a limited time it was free for those who purchased Win 8, but not sure if its still free. I believe there are alternatives out there now that will add the dvd playback function to the system.

As far as software and drivers, I have had no problems. All games load without a problem. And dont worry about the statements that allot of developers are not going to support or build there game around Win 8. They just mean they will not develope it for the use in there Metro UI. It will still install via the desktop.

All in all, Win 8 is not a bad OS, especially for the price, but if you have windows 7 and dont feel like blowing $40, then there is no need to upgrade as the performance is close to the same other then the boot time.

the cheap version of win 8 is the win 8 pro 32 bit version only though, if you want to get the 64 bit version, it costs about the same as win 7 64 bit,

Not if you buy the $40 digital download of windows 8 pro upgrade from the MS store. It installs a 64 bit for a 64 bit system, or if you have 32 bit system, then it will install the 32 bit.

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Originally posted by Phry
the cheap version of win 8 is the win 8 pro 32 bit version only though, if you want to get the 64 bit version, it costs about the same as win 7 64 bit, in which case you are much better off getting the win 7 version in any case. 

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This actually isn't true. When you buy the digital upgrade (the cheaper $40 edition) - the download you get will be whichever your source OS is (the one you run the Upgrade Assistant from): if your upgrading from Vista 32, it will install 32-bit, if you upgrade from 7 x64, it installs 64 bit, etc. This includes if you transfer the copy to a DVD or USB thumb drive and do a clean install.

You can, however, order the DVD (for an additional $15 or so), and that will let you get the 64-bit version if you have a 32-bit source OS - it is a bit more money, but still cheaper than an OEM System Builder ($99).

So it's not just the Pro 32-bit version... it's whichever your source OS is, with the option to transfer across with a DVD purchase.

But that's only valid until the end of the month (Jan 31) - it expires after that.

http://winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-upgrade-32bit-64bit-144649

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Originally posted by ShakyMo
Oh vore:I'm going to call bullshit on something else too - "it gives you access to loads of tablet / phone apps"1 there are bugger all winphone / tablet apps. Everyone and his dog builds for ios and Android which are easy to port between with both being 'nix based. Some may do a more laborious port to win phone but most don't.2 win RT looks the same on the surface but is vastly different underneath to desktop / laptop windows. It runs on ARM rather than 8086 architecture for a start

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This is true - you can't run Windows 8 RT (the tablet version) apps on Windows 8 x86/x64, and vice-versa. Windows RT runs on an ARM CPU, and PCs run on a x86 CPU - they aren't cross compatible natively. There are emulators out there, but to my knowledge one isn't publically available to run RT apps on Windows 8.

What you see are a lot of apps on the Windows 8 store that are available for both RT and PC, but they were compiled seperately (kinda like if a program has both a Mac and a PC version - they may be the same program, but they aren't the same binary files that you would run)

The one problem I am having with Win 8 is with my merc stealth Z-board driver. Every day I have to uninstall and reinstall to get the mods to work for some reason. Can't figure this out.

I also read somewhere that DirectX would only be updated for the Win 8 in the futrue trying to force players to make the move. But not sure on that, nothing to back it up.

For my needs, Win 8 is just fine. Faster start up and the simple one click to games and programs. Plus I can just use the desktop like I did in Win 7 if I want.

Originally posted by erictlewis

I am sticking with windows 7 until they come up with something better than windows 8.

Rumor is they'll have Windows 9 (Blue) out by the end of the year in a huge joint release with Surface Pro 2 and Surface RT 2 and Microsoft branded Surface Phone as well as Xbox 720.

They are supposedly aiming for yearly OS releases like Apple does - and like Apple focusing on iteration and evolution over time rather than huge changes all at once.

Explains price tag (30-70$ instead of like 120-200) pretty well too.

But the new interface is staying - they are just supposedly going to integrate it with Desktop better so the two will really be one thing as it should have been from the start.

Originally posted by ShakyMo
Ughh win 9 is sounding even worse. Guess I'm sticking with win 7 until 2018 then praying valve or Google or whoever have a valid alternative OS.

Not sure how that is sounding worse?

Biggest complaint in 8 from people who aren't just complaining for the sake of adding their voice to the chorus on the bandwagon is that the new interface and desktop mode are so seperate it makes sense to bypass the new interface entirely.

If everything worked and the customization was there on the new UI, people wouldn't miss desktop mode as much.

Well, there are also people who save 37x10^4 documents and files on their desktops that we in the IT business like to call "f*cking morons."

They are beyond help.

They can't seem to understand that if you make a folder or series of folders to organize stuff (and God forbid they actually save their important documents on the server network drives which are actually backed up and restorable) it may cause them to have to click 1-2 more times but when they get a new PC or theirs crashes becuase they downloaded 18 IE toolbars and 37 Coupon Printers and e-Card readers...

We can actually get them back up and running in under an hour instead of wasting my entire freaking day recovering their profile after scrubbing their local drive that's missing the boot sector.

Point is most people don't have a clue what they're talking about when they critique the functionality of their computers. These same people like Apple because it's idiot proof - and they're idiots.

/rant off

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Originally posted by ShakyMo
ArtemisYeah dx 11.1 is win 8 only. Not that any game devs are using it, as uptake for win 8 is even slower than with Vista. So not worried, I know we aren't planning to go higher than dx11 for many years.

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Also true. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the Xbox 720 is based around DX11.1 (or something similar) - and if that happens, then we could expect to start seeing PC titles use DX11.1 regardless of the Windows 8 install base.

I've also heard Microsoft is trying to move towards a annual-18 month release schedule as well... They haven't lowered the price that much (right now we have the upgrade special, but that expires soon, and then the price for an OEM is back to $99 - pretty much the same as it has been), but hopefully it does permanently lower if they decide to do that. I'd really like to see the licensing simplify, but that's another discussion.

I've also heard a rumor that they are going to smooth over the Metro/Desktop integration with a patch/service pack this summer (after they fired/forced out Steve Sinofsky and moved Julie Larson-Green to be in charge Windows development) which would make the interface perform better with a keyboard/mouse: but I wouldn't hold my breath. In a recent interview, Julie Larson-Green basically said that people will get used to it because they have to (I don't think she realized that not everyone ~has~ to, there are other options out there).

So far my biggest gripe:

I like the idea of Live Tiles. I don't mind the new Start page.

I HATE that metro apps are all forced full screen, and have limited information and UI on them. Case in point: try to print an email using the Mail app. Try to find the button to push to close any Metro app (so that it frees up resources). This is my biggest pet peeve, and it basically makes all metro apps useless for me.

Going with that, sure, they have the ability to tile two apps together, but that is restricted, you get like a 3/4 / 1/4 split, and no option to adjust that. I'd rather be able to overlap them, resize them, etc: You know, like how "Windows" has been able to do since v2.0. This also makes metro apps basically useless, because if you have screen real estate, it's basically all wasted.

But fortunately, using Metro apps is completely optional.

Minorly - I hate that the charms and several menus are "hidden" - you have to mouse hover over a secret spot, or "swipe" with the mouse pointer - none of this is intuitive, and none of it has indications that they exist. Something like a little folded corner to indicate a hover spot, or an animated arrow to indicate a swipe/scroll spot... those little things just seem to be missing.

All in all - if I had Windows 7 already, I wouldn't rush to upgrade. But if I had to choose between 7 and 8 at the same price: I'd go with 8. The stuff I don't like about 8 can all be sidestepped easily, and there are some nice improvements to 7 that make it worth keeping (new System Refresh options, FastBoot, DX11.1 eventually, Cloud account syncing, Windows2Go to boot a live install from a USB drive, new task manager, etc).

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by erictlewis

I am sticking with windows 7 until they come up with something better than windows 8.

Rumor is they'll have Windows 9 (Blue) out by the end of the year in a huge joint release with Surface Pro 2 and Surface RT 2 and Microsoft branded Surface Phone as well as Xbox 720.

That would be a rather stupid thing to do, as it would mean that hardware that is ready to go and an enormous upgrade over the previous generation has to sit and wait several months for whatever the last thing is to be ready.  AMD Temash (aka, the first good x86 tablet chip) should launch around the middle of 2013.  ARM-based hardware that would be a huge upgrade over the Tegra 3 in Surface RT should be ready any day now.  Meanwhile, the Xbox 720 may or may not be ready for launch by the end of 2013.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Microsoft won't do exactly what you said, but only that it would be stupid.

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by erictlewis

I am sticking with windows 7 until they come up with something better than windows 8.

Rumor is they'll have Windows 9 (Blue) out by the end of the year in a huge joint release with Surface Pro 2 and Surface RT 2 and Microsoft branded Surface Phone as well as Xbox 720.

That would be a rather stupid thing to do, as it would mean that hardware that is ready to go and an enormous upgrade over the previous generation has to sit and wait several months for whatever the last thing is to be ready.  AMD Temash (aka, the first good x86 tablet chip) should launch around the middle of 2013.  ARM-based hardware that would be a huge upgrade over the Tegra 3 in Surface RT should be ready any day now.  Meanwhile, the Xbox 720 may or may not be ready for launch by the end of 2013.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Microsoft won't do exactly what you said, but only that it would be stupid.

Releasing the new version with a slight (or sometimes major) upgrade every year is exactly what Apple does with iPhone and iPad and iPod - it is absolutely stupid but obviously people buy these things every freaking year over and over and over again.

It's sad but true - common sense is in the minority - it makes sense to build a product that will last for at least a couple of years so you DON'T have to buy something new every 10-18 months.

But you know what they say - the only bad ideas are the ones that don't resonate with people - and people obviously like buying iGadget one year and iGadget + 1 or +0.5 year after year after year.

Stick with 7 as its the more stabile OS. Win8 seems like it need a servicepack to be stabile enough.

If you REALLY care about is faster boot time, sure, windows 8 is faster.

When it comes to almost everything else the difference is minimal, and goes both ways.

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by erictlewis

I am sticking with windows 7 until they come up with something better than windows 8.

Rumor is they'll have Windows 9 (Blue) out by the end of the year in a huge joint release with Surface Pro 2 and Surface RT 2 and Microsoft branded Surface Phone as well as Xbox 720.

That would be a rather stupid thing to do, as it would mean that hardware that is ready to go and an enormous upgrade over the previous generation has to sit and wait several months for whatever the last thing is to be ready.  AMD Temash (aka, the first good x86 tablet chip) should launch around the middle of 2013.  ARM-based hardware that would be a huge upgrade over the Tegra 3 in Surface RT should be ready any day now.  Meanwhile, the Xbox 720 may or may not be ready for launch by the end of 2013.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Microsoft won't do exactly what you said, but only that it would be stupid.

Releasing the new version with a slight (or sometimes major) upgrade every year is exactly what Apple does with iPhone and iPad and iPod - it is absolutely stupid but obviously people buy these things every freaking year over and over and over again.

It's sad but true - common sense is in the minority - it makes sense to build a product that will last for at least a couple of years so you DON'T have to buy something new every 10-18 months.

But you know what they say - the only bad ideas are the ones that don't resonate with people - and people obviously like buying iGadget one year and iGadget + 1 or +0.5 year after year after year.

I'm not talking about the OS release date.  I'm talking about delaying major new hardware to have a release date that coincides with other, unrelated hardware that can't launch until several months or maybe even a year later.  The latter is definitely stupid.

Apple's iDevices have lately taken to releasing when the hardware is ready.  The iPad 4, for example, has a new generation CPU, and is one of only two tablets on the market that I'm aware of to do so.  (The Google Nexus 10 is the other.)  For Microsoft to leave the first generation Surface to compete against dramatically better hardware for a full year because they're waiting on the unrelated Xbox 720 would be really stupid.

I use Windows 8. Benchmarks are better.

Never hade a Driver issue, or have a Game not work.

it was based off the Windows 7 engine with added feature to be equaly as good with a touch screen, Mouse, Touch Pad, Phone.

It was Made universal. Most people who bash it, never tried it.

Originally posted by Quizzical

I'm not talking about the OS release date.  I'm talking about delaying major new hardware to have a release date that coincides with other, unrelated hardware that can't launch until several months or maybe even a year later.  The latter is definitely stupid.

Apple's iDevices have lately taken to releasing when the hardware is ready.  The iPad 4, for example, has a new generation CPU, and is one of only two tablets on the market that I'm aware of to do so.  (The Google Nexus 10 is the other.)  For Microsoft to leave the first generation Surface to compete against dramatically better hardware for a full year because they're waiting on the unrelated Xbox 720 would be really stupid.

Ah I see what you mean.

I thought you were calling the yearly (ish) release cycle really stupid - but as you put it here makes a whole hell of a lot of sense.

They might have to languish under inferior hardware to not piss people off TOO much that already bought it, not to coincide with the release of another unrelated product as you say (and that does make a lot of sense of course.)

My only dislike with win8 is multi monitor support was sketchy for me at the beginning, somehow it works fine now.

Other than that I get longer battery life from my alienware laptop running Win8, both laptops and desktop are rock solid stable, just like Win7 was, and I run a massive amount of games off Steam on Win8, they all run just fine. Not a single problem yet.

Plugged in my microsoft PC controller and everything works as intended. I can launch Steam with no problem. Every1 I play with from Steam have reported no problems yet, so I am a bit confused where all these people who do not own win8 somehow know that Steam is incompatible or causes major problems when ran on Win8. If there are any games that do not work with Win8 please let me know so I can avoid buying them.