Originally posted by b00feyblitz No clue what you are talking about. Most people don't like windows 8 because of the Metro Interface. Other than that it's a really decent OS.
So is Windows 7
That's the thing - as far as gaming goes - there is zero reason to go with Win 8 over Win 7
Now upcoming Windows 10 - that's a whole different discussion.
Windows 7 will have support discontinued in 5 years, while Windows 8.1 has about 9 years left. That's the primary reason I'd go for 8.1 today.
Congratulations this comment has been selected as the blue ribbon winner. This was why I went 8.1 despite all the hate at the time I purchased.
Wow, I probably won't have the same pc 5 years from now. The only reason I use 7 is because some games require it or I'd still be using xp. So I'll leave 7 when new games won't run on it anymore. Or, use Linux more when they support more games.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Originally posted by b00feyblitz No clue what you are talking about. Most people don't like windows 8 because of the Metro Interface. Other than that it's a really decent OS.
So is Windows 7
That's the thing - as far as gaming goes - there is zero reason to go with Win 8 over Win 7
Now upcoming Windows 10 - that's a whole different discussion.
Windows 7 will have support discontinued in 5 years, while Windows 8.1 has about 9 years left. That's the primary reason I'd go for 8.1 today.
Congratulations this comment has been selected as the blue ribbon winner. This was why I went 8.1 despite all the hate at the time I purchased.
Wow, I probably won't have the same pc 5 years from now. The only reason I use 7 is because some games require it or I'd still be using xp. So I'll leave 7 when new games won't run on it anymore. Or, use Linux more when they support more games.
You can run whatever you want but I'm curious about the part in red. I've never run into any game that will run on 7 but not 8.1. Which ones are you talking about?
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Originally posted by Iselin You can run whatever you want but I'm curious about the part in red. I've never run into any game that will run on 7 but not 8.1. Which ones are you talking about?
It is WinXP vs Win 7. Read the other part of the sentence
You can run whatever you want but I'm curious about the part in red. I've never run into any game that will run on 7 but not 8.1. Which ones are you talking about?
It is WinXP vs Win 7. Read the other part of the sentence
Pretty much the same, although when i started having problems running games on XP, i took advantage of the, at the time, 'cheap' upgrade to Win 8 from XP, i think it cost about £24, so i took it, used it for about 6 months, but wasn't happy with it, too slow for the most part, too many steps to do things that used to be just a click away, and memorising all those hot keys was something i never got the hang of - i just about manage with ctrl+c/v, in the end i bought a copy of Win 7, and tbh, never looked back, i still have that copy of Win 8, but i'll never use it again, by the time there really is something better out there than Win 7, i'll probably be looking at building a new PC anyway. Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm for Smart Phones is another reason why i never took a liking to Win 8
All that needs to be said has already been said in the thread. Unless MS went back to the drawing board with 10 (I still see the ugly tiles) i'll stick with 7 until DX 12 or otherwise is required. There really shouldn't be any technical barriers to allow 7 to use DX 12, so it'll only be because of financial gain on MS's side.
Originally posted by Timesplit All that needs to be said has already been said in the thread. Unless MS went back to the drawing board with 10 (I still see the ugly tiles) i'll stick with 7 until DX 12 or otherwise is required. There really shouldn't be any technical barriers to allow 7 to use DX 12, so it'll only be because of financial gain on MS's side.
Other than the new features support they dropped few days ago? Yeah, keep waiting for Dx 12 on Win7
I will be ecstatic the day virtualization improves to the point where OS choice becomes moot.
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
Originally posted by Nanfoodle Windows 8.1 is by far the best OS they have made yet. Its benchmarks are just that good. The UI is designed to work with a mouse and touch screen so sometimes the mouse interface can seem a little odd and chunky but thats how it had to be to cover the new touch screen PCs. Once you get used to the UI its much faster then windows 7 interface. There are many ways to get to the same thing. So no matter where you are messing around its easy to get where you want to.
If only I could disable the touch screen functionality on my work computer. Damned annoying having things pop up every time I touch the screen.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. Benjamin Franklin
Originally posted by Timesplit All that needs to be said has already been said in the thread. Unless MS went back to the drawing board with 10 (I still see the ugly tiles) i'll stick with 7 until DX 12 or otherwise is required. There really shouldn't be any technical barriers to allow 7 to use DX 12, so it'll only be because of financial gain on MS's side.
DX12 will probably never be a requirement, even now, developers are only just getting to the stage where a minimum requirement is DX10, if they use it at all, and that's new releases!
But it doesn't really end there, these days the only real reason to have Windows on a home PC, is to play games, and its only a matter of time before that becomes a personal choice rather than the only choice.
Currently, anything other than playing games, can be done as easily, if not faster, on none Windows Operating Systems, and for those who rarely exit facebook or twitter, etc. OS's like Ubuntu are not just easier to use, but often safer too. And for system startup speeds, OS's like Ubuntu are a hell of a lot faster from a cold start than any incarnation of Windows.
Once more developers support Linux natively alongside Windows, its likely that Microsofts days as an OS vendor will be numbered, unless of course they start making OS's that the end user wants rather than prurient attempts to commercialise the PC desktop.
You can run whatever you want but I'm curious about the part in red. I've never run into any game that will run on 7 but not 8.1. Which ones are you talking about?
It is WinXP vs Win 7. Read the other part of the sentence
Woops...
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Originally posted by Timesplit All that needs to be said has already been said in the thread. Unless MS went back to the drawing board with 10 (I still see the ugly tiles) i'll stick with 7 until DX 12 or otherwise is required. There really shouldn't be any technical barriers to allow 7 to use DX 12, so it'll only be because of financial gain on MS's side.
DX12 will probably never be a requirement, even now, developers are only just getting to the stage where a minimum requirement is DX10, if they use it at all, and that's new releases!
But it doesn't really end there, these days the only real reason to have Windows on a home PC, is to play games, and its only a matter of time before that becomes a personal choice rather than the only choice.
Currently, anything other than playing games, can be done as easily, if not faster, on none Windows Operating Systems, and for those who rarely exit facebook or twitter, etc. OS's like Ubuntu are not just easier to use, but often safer too. And for system startup speeds, OS's like Ubuntu are a hell of a lot faster from a cold start than any incarnation of Windows.
Once more developers support Linux natively alongside Windows, its likely that Microsofts days as an OS vendor will be numbered, unless of course they start making OS's that the end user wants rather than prurient attempts to commercialise the PC desktop.
You should really look into next gen games. ALL of them have Dx 11 renderers. Some even have multiple renderes, E.g. Dx 10/11/Mantle
Windows 8.1 is fine. I don't like the metro interface but MS did make it a bit more accessible in 8.1 than 8. But there really isn't a reason to go out and upgrade to 8.1 if you are looking for a performance boost. 8.1 is a lot faster to install and get up to date than doing a fresh 7 install with all the Service Packs, etc. I do believe free support expired for Windows 7 as of yesterday.
I have my issues with W8, but it is nowhere near the mess that Vista was.
W8's faults mostly begin and end with an idiots decision to force people into a touchscreen interface when they use a mouse. That's easily remedied, and in a just world the person behind it is enjoying their job as a greeter at Walmart.
The best example I can give... I have a budget ACER laptop from 2007 that has outlasted its battery in usability, because of W8. W8 boots up quickly, and uses little memory(good for a machine that can only hold 2 gigs).
I remember having Win95/98 machines that were more than "worthy" of Windows XP, in terms of specs and power. But yet, due to reasons that may or may not have been Microsoft's fault, were just left out in the cold. In comparison, W8 not only accepted older, even crappy hardware, but made it better. The OS loads faster, and leaves more memory available than W7, and most certainly Vista.
Jensen Harris, the Metro/Win8 Touch UI designer, is indeed no longer at Microsoft, although that's recent (*Oct 2014), and he's probably getting paid a lot more than flipping burgers (although I tend to agree with you).
He was "hated" long before Metro though - he was responsible for the 2010 Office "Ribbon" interface design, which most offices hated.
His attitude on his design changes was, to paraphrase, "It's better, they will just get used to it", and "Resting on familiar is the way to mediocrity" (the latter is a direct quote)
Turns out, a lot of other people didn't so much think it was that much better.
One interesting case study which I think Mr Harris would have been wise to investigate before going on his near-religious crusade against the familiar UI: The QWERTY keyboard. It was actually designed to slow down typists, but we still use it today. Why? Despite several alternative keyboard layouts and more efficient input methods, QWERTY is standard and familiar. Standard and familiar tends (not always, but tends) to be more productive.
Jensen Harris, the Metro/Win8 Touch UI designer, is indeed no longer at Microsoft, although that's recent (*Oct 2014), and he's probably getting paid a lot more than flipping burgers (although I tend to agree with you).
He was "hated" long before Metro though - he was responsible for the 2010 Office "Ribbon" interface design, which most offices hated.
His attitude on his design changes was, to paraphrase, "It's better, they will just get used to it", and "Resting on familiar is the way to mediocrity" (the latter is a direct quote)
Turns out, a lot of other people didn't so much think it was that much better.
One interesting case study which I think Mr Harris would have been wise to investigate before going on his near-religious crusade against the familiar UI: The QWERTY keyboard. It was actually designed to slow down typists, but we still use it today. Why? Despite several alternative keyboard layouts and more efficient input methods, QWERTY is standard and familiar. Standard and familiar tends (not always, but tends) to be more productive.
Butt I do still find it funny that these many years later a lot of people believe they do have to get used to Metro or put up with it if they don't like it.
The very same day I installed it I used the freeware that lets you work in it without metro 100% of the time. But it did (back then) have a couple of bugs so I switched to Start 8 and haven't looked back since.
Other than Metro, there really is nothing to like in 7 more than 8.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
There have been several rumors that Windows 8.1 users will get free or steeply discounted upgrade pricing to Windows 10.
Microsoft did the same thing for Windows 8 when it first released (it was a $30 for Windows 7 users only).
It's probably still a little ways out - usually about 2 months before the release they will start handing out Free Upgrade vouchers to new PC buyers.
Those who purchased retail copies of Windows 8/8.1 will receive free upgrades to Windows 10. Anyone who purchased OEM versions will not get a free upgrade. Anyone who purchased a computer with Windows 8/8.1 will not get a free upgrade.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
I have my issues with W8, but it is nowhere near the mess that Vista was.
W8's faults mostly begin and end with an idiots decision to force people into a touchscreen interface when they use a mouse. That's easily remedied, and in a just world the person behind it is enjoying their job as a greeter at Walmart.
The best example I can give... I have a budget ACER laptop from 2007 that has outlasted its battery in usability, because of W8. W8 boots up quickly, and uses little memory(good for a machine that can only hold 2 gigs).
I remember having Win95/98 machines that were more than "worthy" of Windows XP, in terms of specs and power. But yet, due to reasons that may or may not have been Microsoft's fault, were just left out in the cold. In comparison, W8 not only accepted older, even crappy hardware, but made it better. The OS loads faster, and leaves more memory available than W7, and most certainly Vista.
Technically, W8 is terrific.
I don't know what your problem is and to the people that claim that Windows 8 is too touchy
Your start menu has been turned into fullscreen always on top overlay with HUGE icons and lightspeed fast application search (if you start typing away) and live update tiles that doesn't kill your CPU. Its a technical marvel. It also supports all the mouse controls you would expect it to ... left/right click (with context menus), scrolling up/down to navigate through the overlay. You can do anything, you literally do not ever need to touch the screen to accomplish something. Neither is touch faster than standard keyboard/mouse.
If Windows 8 has proven anything, it is that no matter how good your product is, most people absolutely hate change. You could've gotten it for free too few years ago, completely legal.
I suppose this also settles it why there are so many themepark WoW-clones compared to unique gameplay sandboxes It really is that very simple reason. Most people would just pay to get more of the same. Hell, they even subscribe to it.
Originally posted by DMKano Majority of gaming community are waiting for Win10 and skipping Win8 entirely as it offers nothing for gamers.
I'd actually go so far as to say the majority of gamers don't care about Windows, so long as it runs their games. Most will only upgrade if they get a new computer, if there is something really really compelling about the new version (which hasn't really happened since... the shift to Win95 moved all DOS games to Windows), or a game forces them to (ie. a lot just recently are moving from WinXP because of DX11).
Comments
whoever bitches 8.1 most likely didn't use it.
they flame it because it "has a touchscreen based" interface, but quite frankly: it's desktop interfeacing works just as good as before.
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
Wow, I probably won't have the same pc 5 years from now. The only reason I use 7 is because some games require it or I'd still be using xp. So I'll leave 7 when new games won't run on it anymore. Or, use Linux more when they support more games.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
You can run whatever you want but I'm curious about the part in red. I've never run into any game that will run on 7 but not 8.1. Which ones are you talking about?
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
It is WinXP vs Win 7. Read the other part of the sentence
Pretty much the same, although when i started having problems running games on XP, i took advantage of the, at the time, 'cheap' upgrade to Win 8 from XP, i think it cost about £24, so i took it, used it for about 6 months, but wasn't happy with it, too slow for the most part, too many steps to do things that used to be just a click away, and memorising all those hot keys was something i never got the hang of - i just about manage with ctrl+c/v, in the end i bought a copy of Win 7, and tbh, never looked back, i still have that copy of Win 8, but i'll never use it again, by the time there really is something better out there than Win 7, i'll probably be looking at building a new PC anyway. Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm for Smart Phones is another reason why i never took a liking to Win 8
Other than the new features support they dropped few days ago? Yeah, keep waiting for Dx 12 on Win7
I will be ecstatic the day virtualization improves to the point where OS choice becomes moot.
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
If only I could disable the touch screen functionality on my work computer. Damned annoying having things pop up every time I touch the screen.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
DX12 will probably never be a requirement, even now, developers are only just getting to the stage where a minimum requirement is DX10, if they use it at all, and that's new releases!
But it doesn't really end there, these days the only real reason to have Windows on a home PC, is to play games, and its only a matter of time before that becomes a personal choice rather than the only choice.
Currently, anything other than playing games, can be done as easily, if not faster, on none Windows Operating Systems, and for those who rarely exit facebook or twitter, etc. OS's like Ubuntu are not just easier to use, but often safer too. And for system startup speeds, OS's like Ubuntu are a hell of a lot faster from a cold start than any incarnation of Windows.
Once more developers support Linux natively alongside Windows, its likely that Microsofts days as an OS vendor will be numbered, unless of course they start making OS's that the end user wants rather than prurient attempts to commercialise the PC desktop.
Woops...
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
You should really look into next gen games. ALL of them have Dx 11 renderers. Some even have multiple renderes, E.g. Dx 10/11/Mantle
Start 8 basically turns Win 8 into Win 7 , but you still benefit from all updated Win8 systems.
Its perfect.
I have my issues with W8, but it is nowhere near the mess that Vista was.
W8's faults mostly begin and end with an idiots decision to force people into a touchscreen interface when they use a mouse. That's easily remedied, and in a just world the person behind it is enjoying their job as a greeter at Walmart.
The best example I can give... I have a budget ACER laptop from 2007 that has outlasted its battery in usability, because of W8. W8 boots up quickly, and uses little memory(good for a machine that can only hold 2 gigs).
I remember having Win95/98 machines that were more than "worthy" of Windows XP, in terms of specs and power. But yet, due to reasons that may or may not have been Microsoft's fault, were just left out in the cold. In comparison, W8 not only accepted older, even crappy hardware, but made it better. The OS loads faster, and leaves more memory available than W7, and most certainly Vista.
Technically, W8 is terrific.
Jensen Harris, the Metro/Win8 Touch UI designer, is indeed no longer at Microsoft, although that's recent (*Oct 2014), and he's probably getting paid a lot more than flipping burgers (although I tend to agree with you).
He was "hated" long before Metro though - he was responsible for the 2010 Office "Ribbon" interface design, which most offices hated.
His attitude on his design changes was, to paraphrase, "It's better, they will just get used to it", and "Resting on familiar is the way to mediocrity" (the latter is a direct quote)
Turns out, a lot of other people didn't so much think it was that much better.
One interesting case study which I think Mr Harris would have been wise to investigate before going on his near-religious crusade against the familiar UI: The QWERTY keyboard. It was actually designed to slow down typists, but we still use it today. Why? Despite several alternative keyboard layouts and more efficient input methods, QWERTY is standard and familiar. Standard and familiar tends (not always, but tends) to be more productive.
Butt I do still find it funny that these many years later a lot of people believe they do have to get used to Metro or put up with it if they don't like it.
The very same day I installed it I used the freeware that lets you work in it without metro 100% of the time. But it did (back then) have a couple of bugs so I switched to Start 8 and haven't looked back since.
Other than Metro, there really is nothing to like in 7 more than 8.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Those who purchased retail copies of Windows 8/8.1 will receive free upgrades to Windows 10. Anyone who purchased OEM versions will not get a free upgrade. Anyone who purchased a computer with Windows 8/8.1 will not get a free upgrade.
I don't know what your problem is and to the people that claim that Windows 8 is too touchy
Your start menu has been turned into fullscreen always on top overlay with HUGE icons and lightspeed fast application search (if you start typing away) and live update tiles that doesn't kill your CPU. Its a technical marvel. It also supports all the mouse controls you would expect it to ... left/right click (with context menus), scrolling up/down to navigate through the overlay. You can do anything, you literally do not ever need to touch the screen to accomplish something. Neither is touch faster than standard keyboard/mouse.
If Windows 8 has proven anything, it is that no matter how good your product is, most people absolutely hate change. You could've gotten it for free too few years ago, completely legal.
I suppose this also settles it why there are so many themepark WoW-clones compared to unique gameplay sandboxes It really is that very simple reason. Most people would just pay to get more of the same. Hell, they even subscribe to it.
free mainstream support expired but security patches will continue for next 5 years
EQ2 fan sites
I'd actually go so far as to say the majority of gamers don't care about Windows, so long as it runs their games. Most will only upgrade if they get a new computer, if there is something really really compelling about the new version (which hasn't really happened since... the shift to Win95 moved all DOS games to Windows), or a game forces them to (ie. a lot just recently are moving from WinXP because of DX11).