Windows 7 vs Windows 8

[DRE]

I'm trying to decide which version of Windows I should install on my new Macbook. I almost installed Windows 8, but the amount of bad reviews I've read and the amount of customization needed just to get it working the way I want seems more of a pain than it was adjusting from Windows to Mac OSX.

 

[Jaxel]

Unless your macbook is a touch screen... go Win7.

 

[BlackJacket]

There is no update for Macs yet to run Windows 8. Plus, Windows 7 is far easier to use. I am running 8 on my macbook and cant right click. Have to wait for an update.

 

[Mnikolic]

Same here. I tried to install Windows 8 on my MacBook... and the sound didn't work, although I had everything installed.

So go Win 7 or stick with Mac OS 10.

 

[MattW]

I installed Win8 on my Ultrabook when I got the chance to upgrade from Win7 for £15. Only had it installed for 30 minutes before rolling back to Win7. As already mentioned, touch screen....Win8.....anything else, Win7.

 

[oman]

Windows 7 is my favourite. Tried windows 8, and don't like it.

 

[TsinJu]

I had Win 8 installed on my Laptop couple Days ago. Day after i reinstalled Win 7
Win 8 might be good on Tablets and/or Touchscreens but uncomfortable for "normal" Laptops
You have this Tiles Screen and Desktop too. The Tiles Screen on normal Laptop is just a different thingy then the Start Button is. So no really use for it.
What i liked is IE10, but for that i dont need Wndows 8

Maybe a next Version Win 8.1 (blue) can be more usefull

 

[lazer]

Touch screen technology isn't anywhere near ready for "Proper" computing.

This is Microsoft's (late) effort to leverage a share of the tablet market - but with a full OS? No, no NO MS!

 

[Aarmin]

I'm using Windows 8, and personally... I don't like any of the OS, but I would choose 8 without hesitation over 7. Its noticeably faster with my Intel SSD (330 series). The unity interface is a little annoying to me, but I do not miss the start menu at all... just find the unity menus a little unintuitive.

The Windows 7 start menu is gone, and replaced with the start screen (I don't know the technical terms). You can actually pin and un-pin programs from your start screen in Windows 8, and re-arrange theme.

The start menu "apps" are no good. The only "app" I use is the Weather one, and I actually really like it. The Hulu+ app would be nice, but most of the content I view cannot be viewed on devices and that includes the Hulu+ app itself even though its on the computer (yes, stupid). Thankfully you can unpin all the unwanted apps from the start screen, but they are still on the "all apps" page which I hardly ever view.

I personally would choose W8 over W7, but if W8 doesn't work well on a Mac (yet), then I could see the use for W7.

 

[Chris D]

On the contrary, I quite enjoy using Windows 8 on a non-touch screen laptop.

It doesn't feel much different to Windows 7 in general usage. Yeah there's a start screen instead of a start menu but if you make use of desktop shortcuts and taskbar pinned items then you rarely notice that there's this new touch friendly UI in front of everything.

That being said, there's not a whole lot of benefit of using Windows 8 over Windows 7. So my answer is: "Toss a coin".

 

[Luke F]

You have to try Windows 8's interface to appreciate it (I thought it looked awful from media coverage and using it in a VM). Microsoft have actually got something right for once - Metro fills a niche rather than 'replacing' the desktop.

Not many people would go and get native applications for the various websites they use (most are cumbersome, poorly designed, and/or resource hogs), plus there is no standardised way of presenting or creating them. Metro fixes all that. It creates a viable alternative to a tablet on your desktop or laptop PC. No trouble getting around it extremely quickly with a mouse, but as an osu! player I'm perhaps not the best person to believe there

Windows 8 is also slightly faster (though boot to the desktop is slower on an SSD, as MS have tried to slow down the starting of background apps to make the machine 'usable' sooner for those on HDDs - at the expense of anyone who relies on macro scripts, VPNs, etc.).

The killer feature of 8 for me is the fact that it's more realtime than any Windows OS to date. Microsoft have obviously realised that you have to be unbelievably lucky to get a windows installation where there isn't tiny stutters/hitches in games or video - as these would ruin the Metro interface. I've never seen such perfect frame timing on a PC before - it's not far off that of the handful of console games that run at high framerates, and of arcade machines. (Though this is a bit of an OCD obsession of mine, 99.9% of people don't notice or care about a mistimed or dropped frame here and there)

 

[DRE]

So basically... Windows 8 is faster?

 

[EQnoble]

I have tested both, most of my useful and more intensive applications run better and or faster on 7.

If you can deal with that apps crap use windows 8, If you don't want your computer to feel like a toy, use windows 7.

 

[DarkGizmo]

I prefer 7. I bought my new laptop with having Windows 7 64-bit in mind. I feel like Windows 8 is better suited for touch devices and not standard traditional PC's without touch screens.

 

[DRE]

About the speed... I use msconfig in Windows 7 to disable useless startup programs so I should be ok if I decide on W7.

What makes me curious about W8 is that I read that the trackpad touch gestures work on W8 but not on W7.

 

[EQnoble]

http://trackpad.powerplan7.com/

 

[Raitsa]

Windows 8 with http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ , booting directly to desktop & without logging screen seems very good.
No sign of the useless (for me) tiles etc.

Took me 2½ hrs to install, including formatting the PC.

 

[DRE]

My mom bought a Toshiba laptop and asked me to set it up. I just got done setting it up and asked her to come look at this.

She's like 'Where's the start button?'

Me: There's no start button, just a start menu. Then I showed her the 'charm bar'.

Mom: Oh nooooo son throw Windows 7 on there please. Who's idea was that? They need to be fired.

Me: I can tinker with it to make it look like Windows 7 first if you want and the guy who came up with this idea resigned from Microsoft.

The Microsoft executive at the helm of the Windows 8 launch leaves the company, effective immediately.

 

[DRE]

I decided to install both. Gonna quadruple boot Mac OSX, Ubuntu Studio, Windows 7 and 8.

I tried VMWare Fusion to see what Windows 8 looks like as the only other OS and it ran too slow. So 4GB is not enough.

I installed reFind and am gonna use Bootcamp to create drivers for Windows 7 and 8 so I can put them on their own partitions.

I won't be using Bootcamp to create the partition though because I need it for the other two OSes.

I guess I'll give Windows and Ubuntu about 30GB each.

 

[Brandon Sheley]

Neither my computer or laptop have a touch screen, so win8 is of no use for me