I have been using Win8 since beta with no issues with any game (and no clear benefits for these games either).
i recommend Win8 at least for these reasons:
Faster boot
As time goes by, focus of driver developers moves more and more to Win8 over Win7 which is a big thing for gaming (even though the kernel driver frameworks and APIs are similar in Win8 and 7 at some point Win7 will be forced to the backseat)
You're likely to get more and more apps for Win8 over Win7 as time goes by (if that's your thing)
What OS you choose now should be the one that is better for you in 1-2 years unless you're happy to upgrade again at that time (which admittedly is made quite easy from 7 to 8 for most users)
The only real gripe against Win8 I can think of is the utterly braindead idea of forcing the tile based UI on non-touch PC users. Luckily, there are a few €/$ software cures for that disease if it's an issue for you.
Hi, agree with above. Better task manager us worth a mention. If you want to see the potential of win8 and where pc's are probably heading, have a play with the lenova yoga (laptop with touch).
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
I got the offer from microsoft and purchased windows 8 Pro with media center (online) for 40 bucks. They are definitely lighter than windows 7 pro and much cheaper (until the end of january).
When it comes to games you will not see much of a difference though, they boot faster indeed but it's not my hobby restarting my pc all the time.
The tile style looks promising but it's unfinished and currently sucks as the windows 7 start style does ( I still prefer windows xp start menu style) and at last i can reset my pc without having to reformat it.
You can also install them legally on 5 different Pcs and it's not actually an upgrade but a full installation since after i downloaded them i formated my computer and perfomed a clean install. Just check if everything is ok using the upgrade advisor and check the compatibility of your Pc components and get a really fast mouse so you can move from corner to corner fast for God's Sake.
Different versions of a ANY software should never be seen as alternatives. If you upgrade you should always upgrade to the newest version!
As for Windows 7 and Windows 8, there is nothing in Windows 7 that cannot be done in Windows 8. Sure, Windows 8 has as default another interface than Windows 7, but with a few "settings" (and utilities) you can get Windows 8 to look and act more or less just the same as Windows 7. The fact that some utilities, settings, and misc stuff is located elsewhere within Windows 8 is not important.
So, the choice is not between Windows 7 or Windows 8, but about if you should run the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Windows 8. If you have a PC capable of run a 64-bit OS, you should install 64-bit Windows 8! Don't listnen to some "gurus" that tells you elseway.
I have not yet found a game that did run under Windows 7 that doesn't run under Windows 8. And very few other program (which has had an alternative for Windows 8).
Before any clown comment my post, I want to tell you that I claim I know a bit about "stuff". I have been in the business since 1974, 7 years before the launch of the IBM PC.
The start button just looks like a tablet... however, I prefer Windows 8. The 'tablet' style start works really well and you can stay signed into your email without the need for outlook ^_^.
have been using windows 8 for a few months now, can't say im impressed at all, for people who say that windows 8 boots faster, thats only to the RT interface, or start screen, launching the rest of the OS etc, takes longer again. As for the start screen, its tacky, and is really just an attempt by microsoft at further monetisation, think of it as a steam app, its there to sell things, but the things it is selling is really just stuff you'd put on a mobile phone, very tacky and its just playing catchup with itunes/steam etc.
You can do everything in windows 8 that you can do with windows 7, except, it takes a little longer as there are more steps involved in finding things. Windows 8 does have a desktop interface, but, in order to launch games, you have to find the program with the file search program (windows explorer) and then copy/paste the exe file to the desktop, once you have done that you can then drag and drop the program to the task bar at the bottom of the screen for one click launching, there is no list of programs, unless you buy one from the microsoft store.
Stability, for the moment, the OS is not that stable, this will improve in time, but coming from XP to Win 8 pro, its one thing i've noticed, most of the MMO's i play have tended to crash the whole system requiring to hard reset to 'unfreeze' them. Its totally random though, and usually only if your playing for 1 hour+
Overal, several times i've been tempted to uninstall Windows 8 and go back to using XP, but as it is, i will be saving up for windows 7/64 as imo, the OS is superior to 8 in terms of stability, and useability, whether or not it boots up faster is totally irrelevant imo, anyone who wants faster boot times would be better off just getting an SSD, as that would affect more than just boot up times anyway.
You don't have to do copy/paste gymnastics to get to and use the desktop or desktop programs. You can put your favorites on the start menu and arrange or sort them into separate sections if you want. Right clicking an icon in the "all programs" will give you an option to pin the application to the start menu and/or the task bar.
I have an icon in the start menu that brings me to my desktop or I click my browser from the start menu. The apps I use the most I pin to the task bar and rarely leave the desktop. The rest of the apps I get to from the start menu or search.
There are really short youtube videos that show some neat tricks and shortcuts.
the only icon i have on my startup screen, is the desktop, and yes you do have to go through all those 'gymnastics' if you want to drop icons onto your desktop or quickbar, fortunately i have quite a few steam games, so i don't have to locate them, but just launch them from within steam itself.
Having to use 'workarounds' means that your doing something that it wasnt designed to do, which pretty much describes windows 8, its not designed to be used from the desktop, but wants you to continually switch between the desktop and the startup screen, which is utterly ridiculous.
Windows 8 was not meant for desktop gaming PC's, but even the hassle of having to use 'workarounds' to get the thing to do what you want it to do, would be more acceptable if the OS itself was more stable.
In future you can be sure i will remember the first rule of microsoft OS purchasing, which is never to buy one until after the first patch.. heaven only knows but windows 8 certainly needs one. Though i seriously doubt that by the time they get around to patching windows 8 to where it should be, i will not have already 're-upgraded' my system to windows 7, i lost patience with windows 8 about a fortnight after i installed it, and the only thing that has stopped me reverting back to XP has been the fact that the hassle involved of doing that and then installing windows 7 over it, would be too much of a PITA.
I recently bought a new laptop and it came with Windows 8. I really don't like it (Windows 8 not the laptop). The tile interface is good for a tablet or phone. It's pointless on a non-touch screen laptop or desktop.
The whole interface was too busy and cluttered. I want the operating system to stay out of the way and in the background.
Microsoft should create a completely stripped down version of Windows. No browsers, file managers, media players, anti virus, eye candy with a bare minimum GUI. I know there are hacked versions like this (TinyXP, MicroXP) but I don't trust them.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. -- Herman Melville
Comments
I have been using Win8 since beta with no issues with any game (and no clear benefits for these games either).
i recommend Win8 at least for these reasons:
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
I got the offer from microsoft and purchased windows 8 Pro with media center (online) for 40 bucks. They are definitely lighter than windows 7 pro and much cheaper (until the end of january).
When it comes to games you will not see much of a difference though, they boot faster indeed but it's not my hobby restarting my pc all the time.
The tile style looks promising but it's unfinished and currently sucks as the windows 7 start style does ( I still prefer windows xp start menu style) and at last i can reset my pc without having to reformat it.
You can also install them legally on 5 different Pcs and it's not actually an upgrade but a full installation since after i downloaded them i formated my computer and perfomed a clean install. Just check if everything is ok using the upgrade advisor and check the compatibility of your Pc components and get a really fast mouse so you can move from corner to corner fast for God's Sake.
Different versions of a ANY software should never be seen as alternatives. If you upgrade you should always upgrade to the newest version!
As for Windows 7 and Windows 8, there is nothing in Windows 7 that cannot be done in Windows 8. Sure, Windows 8 has as default another interface than Windows 7, but with a few "settings" (and utilities) you can get Windows 8 to look and act more or less just the same as Windows 7. The fact that some utilities, settings, and misc stuff is located elsewhere within Windows 8 is not important.
So, the choice is not between Windows 7 or Windows 8, but about if you should run the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Windows 8. If you have a PC capable of run a 64-bit OS, you should install 64-bit Windows 8! Don't listnen to some "gurus" that tells you elseway.
I have not yet found a game that did run under Windows 7 that doesn't run under Windows 8. And very few other program (which has had an alternative for Windows 8).
Before any clown comment my post, I want to tell you that I claim I know a bit about "stuff". I have been in the business since 1974, 7 years before the launch of the IBM PC.
(\ /) ?
( . .)
c('')('')
the only icon i have on my startup screen, is the desktop, and yes you do have to go through all those 'gymnastics' if you want to drop icons onto your desktop or quickbar, fortunately i have quite a few steam games, so i don't have to locate them, but just launch them from within steam itself.
Having to use 'workarounds' means that your doing something that it wasnt designed to do, which pretty much describes windows 8, its not designed to be used from the desktop, but wants you to continually switch between the desktop and the startup screen, which is utterly ridiculous.
Windows 8 was not meant for desktop gaming PC's, but even the hassle of having to use 'workarounds' to get the thing to do what you want it to do, would be more acceptable if the OS itself was more stable.
In future you can be sure i will remember the first rule of microsoft OS purchasing, which is never to buy one until after the first patch.. heaven only knows but windows 8 certainly needs one. Though i seriously doubt that by the time they get around to patching windows 8 to where it should be, i will not have already 're-upgraded' my system to windows 7, i lost patience with windows 8 about a fortnight after i installed it, and the only thing that has stopped me reverting back to XP has been the fact that the hassle involved of doing that and then installing windows 7 over it, would be too much of a PITA.
Yes. Resource managment and superfetch are improved. Thread managment is improved
I recently bought a new laptop and it came with Windows 8. I really don't like it (Windows 8 not the laptop). The tile interface is good for a tablet or phone. It's pointless on a non-touch screen laptop or desktop.
The whole interface was too busy and cluttered. I want the operating system to stay out of the way and in the background.
Microsoft should create a completely stripped down version of Windows. No browsers, file managers, media players, anti virus, eye candy with a bare minimum GUI. I know there are hacked versions like this (TinyXP, MicroXP) but I don't trust them.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville