Is the switch from Windows 7 to 8 worth it?

[abaga129]

Good morning/evening everyone!

Lately my computer has been very bogged down so I decided it's time for a clean install.

I know Windows 8 has gotten a lot of hate mainly because of the new interface. I hated it too but I'm starting to think I can deal with it. Is there much of a performance improvement from Windows 7 to 8? My laptop needs whatever it can take

And a side note: would I be able to reuse my licenses from Reaper, Recab, Ableton, etc.?

 

[StefTD]

You can use something like Classic Shell to get a normal desktop pretty similar to Windows 7 or wait until Windows 8.1
rolls out, it's going to feature a classic desktop layout again.

I just got a new laptop (lenovo ideapad u510 with 24gb ssd) and it's definatly faster with Windows 8.

Windows isn't installed on the ssd and I am still booting in about 10 seconds, you can change autostart applications
from the task manager and so on. I hated it for the first 2 days, put Windows 7 on there, had a few problems, changed
it back and now I am really digging it.

I don't use it for recording, only graphic/webdesign stuff, but Adobe Creative Suite 6 runs without a problem and every
device I hooked up worked just fine, from an old as fuck printer (that won't run under Windows 7 64 Bit, wireless router,
cheapass interface to a strange multicard reader for my CF Cards).

No clue about the licenses, sorry.

 

[~BURNY~]

I'm in the process of switching from XP to 7.

Sorry it doesn't help.

 

[~BURNY~]

Windows 8 looks like a trap btw.

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

I'm in the process of switching from XP to 7.

Sorry it doesn't help.

One of the best choices I ever made.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

I'm in the process of switching from XP to 7.

Sorry it doesn't help.

XP it´s probably the best windows IMO and doesnt suck a lot of ram like 7.

 

[~BURNY~]

XP it´s probably the best windows IMO and doesnt suck a lot of ram like 7.

XP would not acknowledge my 16gb of ram (new computer )

I certainly had a long and interesting ride with XP though.

 

[Sloan]

I absolutely love Windows 7, but I have read of performance gains from Windows 8.

If I were putting together a new machine, I would definitely give 8 a try even though the Modern UI doesn't make sense with my workflow/needs.

 

[LBTM]

Is the switch from Windows 7 to 8 worth it?

short answer: no

 

[UncleBob]

short answer YES

I upgraded to 8, then screwed up my registry and had no choice but to do a clean install and decided to go back to 7 and I regret it a lot now, there's no real huge difference (never really used the start menu in any version much) but the small differences and tweaks in 8 make it much better I'd say.

 

[indecizo]

^ doesn't detail the differences

OP: Just ask yourself this - Are you going to run win 8 exclusive programs? are you going to use a touch screen? If not then don't get win 8. The gain in performance is so minimal you'd notice it only with a really old hardware.

 

[Clockwork]

Got 7 on my desktop and 8 on my laptop honestly 8 is not bad. If you don't want to use the start menu interface then don't, you can just go straight to the desktop and use it like a computer with 7. Although having a touch screen makes a lot of features on 8 more convenient. I'd probably just go with whatever you can get cheapest because they seem very similar to me.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

For those of you who like Windows 7 - do you experience the same latency I do? XP was much faster in that regard, at least in my experience. The latency of Windows 7 really bugs me. But maybe it is my machine.

 

[Terminus]

Yeah I have been holding off on "upgrading" from XP for years since the Great Vista Disaster of ought 6. It's always worked for me...and I've also heard you can't go directly from XP to 7 or 8 (true?).

 

[arvoitus]

I don't understand those people who are still using XP because "Win7 uses a lot of RAM" ...
Come on, this is 2013 and every computer comes equipped with at least 4GB ram (which XP even can't use).

Windows does pre-allocate RAM and cache often-used items, and that's where the big (RAM usage) difference between XP and Vista/7 comes from.

I mean, i have three PC's and they all have 8GB of RAM installed. Who cares if Windows 7 uses 1GB compared to the 128MB that Windows XP uses ... i got enough memory.

 

[Sloan]

7 absolutely slays xp

 

[StefTD]

^ doesn't detail the differences

OP: Just ask yourself this - Are you going to run win 8 exclusive programs? are you going to use a touch screen? If not then don't get win 8. The gain in performance is so minimal you'd notice it only with a really old hardware.

I don't use a touch screen or Windows 8 exclusive programs, but especially with Classic Shell, it's just
a better version of Windows 7 (and I actually really like Windows 7).

 

[Line666]

Every second version Microsoft seems to come out with an experimental offering to test out new features but that ultimately gets forgotten over the years because its not refined enough to constitute a mass switch over; see Windows 2000 and Windows Vista and now I'd say the same for Windows 8. Is it a bad operating system? Probably not but Windows 7 will likely remain the standard until the next Microsoft OS comes out.

 

[kaomao]

Xp was great
windows 7 is a lot better IMHO, way faster,
The fucking XP registry is a plague, once you install too much shit, it slows down everything

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I don't understand those people who are still using XP because "Win7 uses a lot of RAM" ...
Come on, this is 2013 and every computer comes equipped with at least 4GB ram (which XP even can't use).

Windows does pre-allocate RAM and cache often-used items, and that's where the big (RAM usage) difference between XP and Vista/7 comes from.

I mean, i have three PC's and they all have 8GB of RAM installed. Who cares if Windows 7 uses 1GB compared to the 128MB that Windows XP uses ... i got enough memory.

My laptop has 3 GB of RAM and it says 2.6 GB usable. Is that why I am getting the latency? Maybe I should get more.