Windows 7 Vs Windows 8?

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
get windows 7 definately, if you are advanced user get the pro version, it comes with group policy enabled.
win 8 on the other hand is a joke, metro, ugly looking square menus, no aero, stupid "cloud" integration and other nonsense.

I appreciate that some people don't like the Windows 8/8.1 UI, but comments that "win 8 is a joke" are not helpful nor accurate. The UI is horrible to use on a desktop, I agree, but the OS itself is simply excellent.

Yes that it is what was on the cards on the last road map I saw, 9 is supposed to be an updated 7 with optional metro support.

I think you'll find the Windows 9 is actually and improved Windows 8/8.1 with a Windows 7-like interface for desktop users. There are many subtle under-the-hood differences between Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 and it's a mistake to judge an operating system by it's UI alone.

I completely understand why many people choose to stick with Windows 7 because the Windows 8/8.1 UI is so horrible on a desktop, but there is much more to Windows 8/8.1 than a horrible UI......

:)
 

Androcles

Rising Star
I think you'll find the Windows 9 is actually and improved Windows 8/8.1 with a Windows 7-like interface for desktop users. There are many subtle under-the-hood differences between Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 and it's a mistake to judge an operating system by it's UI alone.

I actually got it from the horses mouth so to speak, I was told that the plan for windows 9 is to revert back to windows 7 design and architecture with improvements taken from the development of windows 8, then for the next version they would produce an updated windows 8, with the road map being each version after alternating between the two types. Believe it or not they already have the next 3 versions of windows planned out in advance.

he was very vague about it obviously, but that was the general gist of what he told me, I could be misunderstanding the vagueness though.
 

mishra

Rising Star
I'm a techy, I don't mind, both systems are fine but for non-techys, Windows 8 is a nightmare!

1. How to access Control Panel - explanation to my Mum:
Win 7
Me: Mum, go to Start then click on Control Panel
Mum: OK I got it.

Win 8
Me: Mum I know there is no Start button, just press Windows button on your Keyboard.
Mum: The what?
Me: It is between CTRL and ALT
Mum: OK now what, I have some "programs" open now
Me: If you cannot see Control Panel there and I bet you can't, can you start typing "Control Panel" just there
Mum: Type where?
Me: It doesn't matter just start typing "Control Panel"
Mum: OK, I see it now...

2. How to shutdown PC - explanation to my mum:
Win 7
Me: Mum, go to Start, then click "Shutdown" on start menu
Mum: OK I got it

Win 8
Me: Mum, There is no Start menu. But there is this new charm menu on the right, but it's invisible now. You have to activate it by pointing your cursor in the top right corner of the screen.
Mum: Hmm, I am trying. But it is not coming up
Me: It's fiddly sometimes, just point your cursor to Top Corner then jiggle a bit , and it should pop-out
Mum: OK I think I got it, there are just icons there and then it disapears.
Me: You have to move your cursor down a bit and it will "activate"
Mum: OK I see icons with names now, what now?
Me: Click on to Settings, then click on Power, then click on Shutdown
Mum: Really ?
Me: Yeah, Mum I know.. Just try to remember it, please.


This list goes on and on and on. Why changing "My Computer" to "This PC". I mean what pupose does it serve? Except confusing everybody around?!
We techys are fine we will google it up , we know shortcuts and we love fiddling. Out parents, typical Joe, Mary the accountant they have no time or will to fiddle with this stuff. Why suddenly a two click operatino has been converted into a convoluted process that serve no purpose.

It is not that I don't like Windows 8, it's the fact I have to explain it to someone that was used to Win XP or 7 for so long, that Windows 8 for him/her is like using Linux at first. That is why Windows 8 is getting all the bad rep.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
My personal thoughts are that Windows 8 is given a hard time because people haven't bothered to learn how to navigate it. It's pretty simple really, very little difference to Win 7, just a few bolt on's. Most of the navigation you need can be accessed by right clicking on the start icon on the desktop.
 

Boozad

Prolific Poster
100 million in 6 months isn't what I'd call rejected, God-awful or bombing!

That's not even one third of the population of the United States though, take into account the population of the rest of the world and it actually looks pretty rubbish. Is that the six months from launch? It's only sold 200 million to date so it's slowed down significantly somewhere along the line, and if you compare that to Windows 7 selling 250 million copies in its first twelve months it speaks volumes. And let's not forget the amount of corporate customers who've bought new machines and 'downgraded' to Windows 7 which actually skews those sales figures as they're not relevant to current users of the OS.
In February's sales figures Windows 7 commanded a 48% share while Windows 8.X had only an 11% share. And why did Steve Ballmer lose his job again?

Was Windows 8 a mistake? Microsoft seem to think so.
HP brings back Windows 7 machines. I wonder why.
Microsft can't sell Windows 8, so they're giving it away.
Windows designer explains why 8 is such a mess.
Microsoft retracts Windows 7 PC end-of-sales deadline.


Your statistic compares installed userbase - so this time last year, you were comparing a few months of Windows 8 sales, to several years of 7, and several more years of XP! With typical PC upgrade cycles of many years, it takes a long time for a new version of an OS to rise in terms of installed userbase. Most of the time comparisons are done based on sales, not installed userbase.

See above. It's only recently overtaken Vista, over a year to outstrip that train wreck?


Yes, you can only easily buy PCs with the latest version, but this is standard. I don't see PCS selling older versions of their laptops, or Samsung offering an Android 4.1 version of their S5 :)

That's an apples and oranges comparison. Why would anybody sell older hardware which has been superseded? Windows 8 hasn't superseded Windows 7, not in the slightest, and many people have exclaimed their delight at finding a custom PC building outlet that stocks Windows 7 as a pre-installed OS right here in PCS. A very canny move on their part I have to say.

I don't see any evidence that MS forced manufacturers into doing anything?

Really? You've already admitted how easy it is to buy a machine with Windows 8 on, yet it's nigh on impossible to go to PC World or wherever and buy a machine with 7 on it. PC World and the like didn't do this of their own volition, why would they turn down nailed on sales when people are still crying out for 7? If I can find the link where a certain PC manufacturer/retailer CEO lifted the lid on the narrative between themselves and M$ regarding which OS they would be shipping on their machines I'll gladly post it.

Nor do I see Windows 8 being forced onto people.

DirectX 12? Exclusive to Windows 8? There's one in the eye for you gamers!
And see above.
 
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ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
I actually got it from the horses mouth so to speak, I was told that the plan for windows 9 is to revert back to windows 7 design and architecture with improvements taken from the development of windows 8, then for the next version they would produce an updated windows 8, with the road map being each version after alternating between the two types. Believe it or not they already have the next 3 versions of windows planned out in advance.

he was very vague about it obviously, but that was the general gist of what he told me, I could be misunderstanding the vagueness though.

I wonder whether your contact was talking mostly about the UI (which is of course the only real focus of attention for most people) rather than the OS itself? Windows 8 is the first release of Windows to provide real cross-platform support (for tablets of course) and I understand that significant redesign was required to achieve this. Windows 8 also supports UEFI booting as well as USB3.0 and native 4k HDD sector support. I'd would be very surprised if Microsoft were to backtrack on all that to go back to the Windows 7 platform and architecture, what would happen to tablet support for example?

I think it's been well leaked that Windows 9 will probably have two UIs, and that one will be a Windows 7 like UI for the desktop, I do think this is what your contact means. Windows 9 will, I'm quite sure, build on the improvements and changes introduced into Windows 8/8.1 and that internally Windows 9 will be a different animal to Windows 7.
 

Androcles

Rising Star
I wonder whether your contact was talking mostly about the UI (which is of course the only real focus of attention for most people) rather than the OS itself? Windows 8 is the first release of Windows to provide real cross-platform support (for tablets of course) and I understand that significant redesign was required to achieve this. Windows 8 also supports UEFI booting as well as USB3.0 and native 4k HDD sector support. I'd would be very surprised if Microsoft were to backtrack on all that to go back to the Windows 7 platform and architecture, what would happen to tablet support for example?

I think it's been well leaked that Windows 9 will probably have two UIs, and that one will be a Windows 7 like UI for the desktop, I do think this is what your contact means. Windows 9 will, I'm quite sure, build on the improvements and changes introduced into Windows 8/8.1 and that internally Windows 9 will be a different animal to Windows 7.

You're probably right, but he did say something about Windows 9 being an updated version of the Windows 7 kernel whatever that is.
 

Boozad

Prolific Poster
Ubuysa's staunch defence of Windows 8 piqued my interest so I created a Virtual Machine and downloaded the Enterprise Trial version of 8.1 and installed it. I can't say after a couple of days messing about that my mind's been changed, I've got it a bit closer to appearing like W7 but it's miles off from how I'm used to my current setup. I sorely miss the Start menu (obviously I won't be applying paid add-ons to a trial version to rectify that) although I believe that can be overcome, even though I'd be loathe to pay extra for a third party add-on. The look of it feels very basic too, I miss my Aero way too much.

Metro doesn't bother me too much to look at, but why have two different version of programs? I would do away with the Metro solely because I'd have no use for it. The one thing I do notice the most is by not having a Start menu I have to pin everything to the taskbar which gets messy very quickly with 15 or 20 programs pinned there.

As an aside, I purchased Office 2013 Pro Plus today for £9 through the Home Use program our company is enrolled in (I'm still using Office 2010) so as a tester I installed it onto my W8.1 VM and it is vulgar. My God, who thought that was a good idea??
 

Boozad

Prolific Poster
I think Ubuysa always recommends Stardock. I tried a couple in Windows 8.1 but they added a Start button to the right of the Windows button which looked horrible (no way of moving it), it also forced the taskbar to appear in the largest size, rendering my 'Use small icons' choice redundant.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Ubuysa's staunch defence of Windows 8 piqued my interest so I created a Virtual Machine and downloaded the Enterprise Trial version of 8.1 and installed it. I can't say after a couple of days messing about that my mind's been changed, I've got it a bit closer to appearing like W7 but it's miles off from how I'm used to my current setup. I sorely miss the Start menu (obviously I won't be applying paid add-ons to a trial version to rectify that) although I believe that can be overcome, even though I'd be loathe to pay extra for a third party add-on. The look of it feels very basic too, I miss my Aero way too much.

Interesting, I actually prefer the more basic look of Win8.

Metro doesn't bother me too much to look at, but why have two different version of programs? I would do away with the Metro solely because I'd have no use for it. The one thing I do notice the most is by not having a Start menu I have to pin everything to the taskbar which gets messy very quickly with 15 or 20 programs pinned there.

I agree. I don't use Metro apps at all, in fact I don't "see" the modern UI at all either.

As an aside, I purchased Office 2013 Pro Plus today for £9 through the Home Use program our company is enrolled in (I'm still using Office 2010) so as a tester I installed it onto my W8.1 VM and it is vulgar. My God, who thought that was a good idea??

I use LibreOffice - because I'm a cheapskate. :)

What's the best app for a start menu for windows 8.1?

Yes, Start8 from http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/. It will cost you a massive $4.99 (US Dollars) but I rate it the very best of all the offerings. I can't claim to have tried them all but I did try quite a few when I first got Win8 and Start8 is by far the best IMHO.
 

SmokeDarKnight

Author Level
+rep for Start8.

I used that program to basically turn windows 8 into windows 7.

Hide the metro and bring back the start button.

I find the mouse short cuts a little annoying at times on the laptop but havent switched them off yet.
 

nathanjrb

Prolific Poster
I don't use the Metro Apps either... waste of space IMO. But I DO use the tiles quite a lot. There are certain tricks you can do to break up the transition between the desktop and Start UI - such as making the wallpapers identical.
 

Boozad

Prolific Poster
I downloaded the Start8 program for the free trial and I will admit it does make a world of difference. While I could probably use W8 if I absolutely had to with Start8 installed it's still not persuading me to downgrade to it! I basically did it to grab a screenshot for Keynes.

Start8.jpg
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
I downloaded the Start8 program for the free trial and I will admit it does make a world of difference. While I could probably use W8 if I absolutely had to with Start8 installed it's still not persuading me to downgrade to it! I basically did it to grab a screenshot for Keynes.

View attachment 4963

Grrr, mumble, mumble. ;)
 

Boozad

Prolific Poster
OK, after picking up a license earlier in the week I've installed W8.1 as a dual boot. I've only done it as the license cost exactly what I'd pay for it, nothing. But, after installing it and switching between both operating systems I will say I'm impressed wiuth the speed of it. I've installed Start8 and got it running as close to 7 as I can and it's workable. The Start screen and charms and God knows what really are a waste of time and it makes me wonder how quick the OS would be if they weren't there. And OneDrive, I've got to look into getting rid of that.
 
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