Worth it to upgrade to win 8??

[overclocking101]

so as the tittle says, I have Win 7 ultimate X64 is it worth it to upgrade to windows 8 X64? I can get it cheap like $20 bucks cheap but is it worth the hassle of re doing most things? does the "keep files and folders" thing actually work without bloating the o/s to crap?

 

[Alcpone]

I personally wouldn't bother, does win 7 not do everything you need it to?

 

[McSteel]

It'll stuff your files (Users folder, windows folder and some other stuff) into "Windows.old" folder, meaning you'll be down 20+ GB on your system partition, and half the stuff you had won't be there anyway.

The only real benefit W8 brings is Fast Boot, but it gets old fast as W8's overall agility drops faster than Vista's. Speaking from personal experience, 8 is going to start dragging it's feet after only 2 months - I reverted to 7 and am not looking back. And this is after installing the start button and cut-straight-to-desktop to mitigate the pesky Metro UI (don't get me started on that)...

 

[Depth]

Take a look in 1080p

I haven't tried the non-metro but this gives a pretty good idea of the experience. Absolutely something you do not want on a non-touch device.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

not worth it

 

[Deleted member 74752]

Some people love it, but I can't justify jumping thru hoops to get it where it is usable for myself when Win 7 does all I want already.

 

[freaksavior]

I tried multiple times to get it loaded and use it and like it. I've reloaded 7 each and every time. I will skip this os entirely in hopes of a non metro ui.

 

[Liquid Cool]

I have it in use on one of my notebooks, other than this...all Windows 7/Vista/XP/Mint machines. I sure wouldn't pay for it if you're thinking of upgrading...and you won't ever see me recommending it. Worthless in my opinion.

Best,

LC

 

[qubit]

No, it's not worth it.

As you can get it for such a no-brainer price, it's worth having to play around with, but stick to W7 as your main OS.

If MS actually release a patch to fix its most glaring shortcomings (mainly that Metro UI) then you might want to consider moving to it, but not before.

Once you get to the desktop, it really feels like W7 with a square-edged, plain theme, which doesn't look too bad, but isn't a patch on the beautiful Aero desktop in W7.

 

[remixedcat]

Pros:

1. Improved file explorer UI with more options
2. Improved file transfer dialog with speed graph
3. Proper multimonitor taskbar and wallpaper support
4. Built in .iso mounting and burning
5. Better task manager with more info
6. OSD volume controls/display
7. Built in Hyper-V (previously only avalible in server releases) Please note: however it is a bit stripped down

Cons:

1. Networking control accessed via the notifications panel is wierd
2. Shutdown options are hidden in the charms bar

Debatable:

1. No start menu

 

[syeef]

I can get it cheap like $20 bucks cheap

I thought the discount period was over .

So far I liked my Windows 8 pro.

 

[Easo]

Decided to become test rabbit in my office,and set up Win 8 Pro on my work laptop (1st generation i5 with SSD).
Found out that its fast, like, real fast, needs touchscreen, and i can actually access my things at least as quickly as on Win 7.
Getting the feeling that when i will fully adapt it to my needs (basically set up Start Menu and admins will work out quirks with integration into our domain) Win 7 can be put on shelf.

 

[15th Warlock]

I was able to get my copies for $15 each back in October, installed StartIsBack (which I highly recommend) and it boots directly to the desktop, as far as performance, it's basically a bit faster than 7, mine hasn't slowed down since I installed it almost 6 mos. ago (maybe because I'm using SSDs on all my computers) and I really don't have any complains against it.

The task manager is much improved over the one from previous releases (which has basically been the same since XP), it boots much faster, it has proper support for multi core processors, and once you add StartIsBack, is basically like having 7 with all those extra features, even the start menu is exactly the same.

At first I didn't bother using the start screen and I would click on the desktop icon on every reboot, but now it boots directly to the desktop, and frankly I don't miss 7 at all.

I have installed 8 Pro on all my computers and laptops, and if you were able to take advantage of the release price (Windows 8 Pro 64 bit for $15 + Media Center for free) I think you would've got a bargain. Hell, I even got a free copy of it with my Asus wireless AC router back in December, it's like MS was giving the OS away or something...

Having said that, I would've never paid full price for the OS, and if you're happy wit Win7, I wouldn't recommend upgrading to 8 unless you find it on a sale or something.

Also, you don't have to keep your old Win7 installation in your hard drive, you can always delete it after you make sure the OS migrated all your user files and settings, I found the experience of upgrading from Win7 to 8 to be quite painless, and the installation assistant included with Win8 is very robust.

After a few weeks though I ended up nuking my OS partitions (I keep all my user files in a different partition on all my systems) and did free installations on all my PCs, as I found I had a lot of old programs previously installed on Win7 that I didn't use anymore, and it's always better to start on a clean slate with your OS.

 

[naoan]

Nope, not worth it at all, if you want 7 to be as "fast" as 8, just reinstall it (or try to clear everything irrelevant running in the background with autoruns from sysinternal) and disable some animation and fade from performance options (DON'T disable aero, that will disable HW acceleration too).

 

[Steve Kosh]

Been using Windows 8 Pro since it was out. Got it for $!5 I think because of that promo they were doing. Took a little time to get used to the new UI, which I like. I basically just went through trying stuff out, see what lead where, and such. I use the regular "Windows 7" desktop and not the Metro UI, but I still use the UI to open programs or search for things I want to get at. I don't use any of those Start button tools that add back the Start button as I don't feel like I need it. I can just simply press the Windows key and start typing to find the program/file I want. It takes maybe half a second to switch from the desktop to the new start menu. The only real gripe I have about Windows 8 are the apps. I just don't like how they work.

 

[naoan]

I can just simply press the Windows key and start typing to find the program/file I want. It takes maybe half a second to switch from the desktop to the new start menu.

Funny that I've been doing that since, well, forever in 7 (and Vista), and it doesn't unilaterally took my whole damn screen with it.

 

[Steve Kosh]

Funny that I've been doing that since, well, forever in 7 (and Vista), and it doesn't unilaterally took my whole damn screen with it.

I can just simply press the Windows key and start typing to find the program/file I want. It takes maybe half a second to switch from the desktop to the new start menu.

Only reason I included that part was to imply that it doesn't take a significant amount of time to switch from the regular desktop to the Metro UI without having a start button on the desktop. It takes nearly the same amount of time to open a program on Windows 8 than it does on 7 through Metro compared to the start button.

 

[naoan]

It doesn't take any time AND significant screen real estate or distract me from anything I'm currently doing in 7, how is the whole flipping back and forth between a completely asinine interface help me in any way?

Also, many user have reported that the sometimes you need to expand extra category first before getting your intended search result with W8, requiring extra steps and time.

Those are subjectively minor but may add up in time and ultimately frustrates people rather than having any tangible benefit.

 

[remixedcat]

I've rarely used my start menu in 7 or any other windows OS so I don't miss it much.

 

[Raw]

Window8 Error: 009 Unexplained error - Please tell us how this happened

so as the tittle says, I have Win 7 ultimate X64 is it worth it to upgrade to windows 8 X64? I can get it cheap like $20 bucks cheap but is it worth the hassle of re doing most things? does the "keep files and folders" thing actually work without bloating the o/s to crap?

This has been hashed over so many times....


Window8 Error: 009 Unexplained error - Please tell us how this happened

Window8 Error: 00E Mouse not found - A mouse driver has not been installed. Please click the left mouse button to continue.

Window8 Error: oRD Rodney Dangerfield error - Press Respect key

Only 36% of users found Win8 was worth the upgrade in a poll here.


http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179784

 

[20mmrain]

I run windows 8. If you are asking is it worth it for you to upgrade to win 8? Well that is something only you can decide.
But for me it was.... I enjoy trying out the latest of everything. I'll tell you the OS is not as bad as people have said. And no you don't need a touch screen in order for windows 8 not to feel awkward.
It actually feels fluid and just fine without one.
I will say it did hurt my benchmarks for awhile until just recently. That was the only downside I noticed.
I say go for it if you are someone who likes playing with the latest software and tech. But if that doesn't bother you.... than wait until there is a reason to upgrade. Like DX12 possibly in windows blue.

 

[cdawall]

Tried it and considered it a waste back on windows 7 on everything.

 

[dcf-joe]

I was skeptical of Windows 8, but I decided to try it. I purchased and installed Windows 8 Pro x64, with StartIsBack. It starts up and shuts down faster than Windows 7, the general speed of the OS is faster than Windows 7 (to me.)

The biggest plus of StartIsBack, is that Windows 8 boots straight to the desktop, there is an extremely functional start menu, and all of those ridiculous corner "charm" things are disabled.

 

[brandonwh64]

I had some driver issues with mine and had to reinstall windows 7 but over all it seemed nice.

 

[lemonadesoda]

There are some major improvements in the kernel and system utilities, for multitasking, multithreading, etc. Other than that, you get the new kids box-of-chocolates design and UI.

Since I'm not a gamer and don't need DX11, I'm struggling to find a reason to upgrade my machines from XP.

YES, I bought a copy of W8. It installs NICELY, and it boots NICELY. But once you get it working in a productive environment (installing ClassicShell etc.) then it really isn't giving me a significantly better experience or additional features. I struggle to find my upgrade rationale.

Metro needs an upgrade to add the CLOSE button, to get mouse control back again without having to use a mouse to mimic some kind of phone gesture. An updated W8, aka W8.11 or W9 will I'm sure be great, and time to upgrade. But now? No.