Choosing an OS

[Nokuchikushi]

Hey, another thread by me

 

If you'v read my other thread then you know, im buying the rest of my parts for my pc tomorrow, and im stuck *again* on choosing an OS

 

Windows 8 or 7?

 

I will be mainly gaming, playing games like Planetside 2, BF3, Far Cry 3, Crysis 3, Bioshock infinite others which i cant think of right now.

 

Which one is/would be better to buy?

*i have read that Planetside 2 doesnt work on Windows 8, has anyone had any experience with Planetside on windows 8?

[joelthezombie15]

windows 7 from what i hear windows 8 can have some trouble getting games to work but they could have fixed it. and the modern UI is dumb. wait for windows 8.1 though

[BlackOutCrisis]

Windows 7 if you won't want any hassels. Windows 8 if you want like very little increase in performance (like 2fps on average increase :P) and don't mind dealing with random problems.

[Parkway Drive]

Windows 7

 

Switching to 8 you just find that you miss things from 7. With no jumps in performance between the two I'd just go 7.

I know Linus had said the benefit would be the updates and support, but imo the benefits of W7 outweigh the hassle of W8

[Nokuchikushi]

Thnx for the quick replies!

[Keystone Nyan Cat]

I personally had a great deal of problems having Punkbuster working with Windows 8 so I could not use any of my multiplayer games, hence switched back to Windows 7. I personally do not recommend using Windows 8 unless you have the time getting things working and care about the minor performance increases. Also, I like the fact that all my games are on my taskbar and not merged with the rest of the stuff as its with Windows 8 on the metro interface.

[SirReallySam]

If you wanna play some old games like Halo 1 on PC then Windows 7 is the way to go... Halo isn't compatible any more :(

[Scia]

I'd say Windows 8.

It's a lot faster than Windows 7 in general.

I have not had any troubles with any games from new to old.

Buy StartIsBack for 1$ -> Start menu, no "mouse-to-corner" stuff, instant boot to desktop [not even a single flash of metro]

 

I have made the switch recently and I must say I am very pleased.

I could only recommend Win8 + Startmenu, as it will be a faster system and work as you are used to.

[Snickerzz]

For gaming, 7. For work or anything else, 7. I can't live without my start button XD

[ClutchHunter]

If you can get Start is Back or Start8, Windows 8. Otherwise, Windows 7. As a former Windows 7 and current Windows 8 user. 

[pierrelucsav]

Windows 8 is snappier, and performs similarly or a little better in games. People complaining about the UI definitely haven't installed Classic Shell or something similar, makes it basically look like it's Win 7. I have no reason to regret making the switch after 6 months.

[skepticmisfit]

I would say, if you want something that takes a very small amount of time to set up, i'd go with 7. Don't get me wrong, 8 is fine, but you have to get more things set up to make it like 7 is. 7 is more convenient in that aspect. 8 does have its performance improvements, but 7 is fine if you have sufficient hardware.

[Damikiller37]

I have Windows 8 installed and use startisback which is literally "the start menu" since it boots up with windows as a registry and is exactly the same as windows 7 start apart from the fact that it is very customizable. I haven't even launched the "Modern UI" since I disabled it in this software. So more or less I have the same experience as Windows 7 however with super fast boot ups and overall snappier system.

[GoodBytes]

If you want to live in a cave, and be the old grumpy man like the XP users, going "In the old days......" with the cane in the air shaking it because you are frustrated, because you are behind the times as you refused to accept change: go with Windows 7.

 

I say, learn something new. Get Windows 8. Once you pass the steep learning curve (steeper than previous version of Windows), then it becomes a joy to use. And you enjoy the power of the OS.

It's more than just performance in games. It's easier access to power user options, with the power menu (Win+X or right-click on the Star Button/Hot Corner), to quickly jump to important panels (this menu is customizable).

 

Ease of access directly to your games from the Start Screen. No need to open Steam, or Origin or Uplay, go to the library section, close the pop-ups from the store and/or wait for updates, and then click on the game.. and some you have to tell if you want to play the game, or access the game option panel. You can pin any folder you want, and you can customize the layout it as you can on a smart phone.

You get to enjoy free music streaming of 30 million song library and growing, with XBox Music (or for 10$ a month or 100$ a year for the XBox Music Pass, you can download and stream unlimited with no ads. There is a 30day trial. If you get the paying membership, you can use the Zune desktop software to access the music store, if you want over the Modern UI app). It's way better than Spotify or any other music service.

 

Here is my Start Screen:

Bottom right is the most used things, and least used on the far right (or pinned on the Task Bar).

It follows the guideline of the Start Screen design: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/10/11/reflecting-on-your-comments-on-the-start-screen.aspx (great read).

 

Full UEFI support, making your computer (assuming it is fully UEFI ready, and your GPU is GOP ready), boot super fast, down to even about 6sec.

 

Each account can have a different system language

 

Much improved multi monitor support.

 

File History. This replaces Previous Version in Windows 7 and Vista, to a more powerful and complete backup solution, allowing you to have your files backup hourly, or every 10min or 30min.. or 2 hours.. you choose your time, and it will backup. You can go back in time to them, including folders.

 

Setup complex backup type RAID setup without the need to cash out on expensive RAID card with Storage Space.

 

If you are on a laptop or table, auto switch between Metered connection -> wireless -> wired as a better connection is found.

 

You get to enjoy the much improve File collision system, and the ability to pause/resume file transfers.

 

And the smaller things like the ability to load an ISO directly in Windows, no extra software needed, Support for Advance Format hard drive without emulation, native USB 3.0 support, sync your Windows settings between your Windows 8 computers, enjoy the new Task Manager, and more.