Will windows 8 get better, or is it another vista? then again... how is vista doing in support?

[Lil Chillbil]

Ok so let me state that I Love windows 8. Only issue is the support for programs I like and some 3rd party games from ea like battlefield play 4 free and the original crysis. We seem to be entering another early 00's awkward phase with windows where right now you can pretty much choose between xp, vista, 7 and 8 and get some good use and support out of all. My question is when xp is dropped and 8.1 is standard. will all games being made from then on support 8 like they did 7? or will support dwindle even more

 

 

 

also how is vista in the way of support (just asking cause I do it and restore tons of systems with xp and in 2014 would like to put a more modern os without buying a 7 license)

 

 

[Lyons]

It's still early days when looking at the time line of an OS version's life. I haven't come across any support issues since release in all honesty. Want to name some examples?

[Lil Chillbil]

Ea has now made full support for battlefieldplay4free as of last weeks update... I am one happy elf :P

 

 

 

starting to think things will get better for us early adopters

[mr moose]

I don't think win8 was that bad, I think it was mainly just a learning curve that most people didn't want.  Once one or to tech gurus bagged it then everyone jumped on the band wagon. And no one wants to be the oddball that doesn't know what he's talking about.  I equate win8 with JarJar binks,  without him the story doesn't work but because a handful of "cool guys" said he was ridiculous and made fun of him now no one wants to admit they liked him.

 

Sure it has some quirks that need ironing out, but people have to remember the OS was designed to integrate many platforms.  SO people who went from tablet to pc to phone would still be familiar with the os.

[SteepGnomeKing]

I got to say the strongest and weakest thing about windows 8 is the multiplatform. 

 

Weak because it doesn't work fantastic on all platforms 

 

Strong because you use it at one place it's the exact thing on something else and you know how to work it.

[grayperview]

No, you can't polish a turd....

[EChondo]

I've personally had my hand at Windows 8. I enjoyed the benefits, but I experienced slow downs in accessing things or going from A to B. It just feels like extra clicking that shouldn't be needed. I've learned nearly all keyboard shortcuts possible, and I do love Windows 8 to an extent, but I'm sticking with Windows 7 until they return the interface back to the way it was, and I don't feel like I should have to buy 3rd party programs/themes to get it the way I like(even if it is cheap).

 

Also, I don't use Windows Aero. It's a small drain on resources and it isn't the best thing to run during certain programs. So my interface resembles Windows XP in a way(which I love), but has the Windows 7 environment.

 

Overtime Windows 8 will get better, but I would love to have an option to change it back. Leave it default the way it is now, but give us(me and anyone else that doesn't like the UI) the option somewhere to change it back. I understand that change is needed for the "future", but why deviate from something that isn't broken in the first place? Why take away that option? It just doesn't make sense to me to limit us like that and impose restrictions.

 

Either way, I'll probably be running Linux fully by the time Windows 7 isn't supported anymore. Windows is a great OS, but I don't like the way it is headed.

 

Oh and for the record, Vista sucked at first, but if you have had Vista SP2, then you should know how good Vista can be.

[Ashwin]

I'm still using 32 and 64 bit vista operating systems, I run a dual boot on my main system that has Ubuntu 13.04 on it. Linux still doesn't really have much support from the game houses, although it is growing. Now with steam supporting Linux, there should be more head room for game houses to start developing on Linux.

To be honest vista is fine, haven't had any issues, but the only problem I face is that windows is just a poorly coded piece of software that is a resource hog.

File structures cause a lot of issues especially with malware and viruses.

I'm thinking of upgrading to win 8.1 pro at the end of the year or early next year when it becomes more apparent if DDR4 would be coming to the consumer.

If there's anyone out there that hasn't tried Linux out, go ahead and play around with it. In my opinion apart from gaming, it's brilliant.

[TopWargamer]

Windows 8 won't work with some games. Fix that, and I'll start using it.

[SteepGnomeKing]

Windows 8 won't work with some games. Fix that, and I'll start using it.

 

For me, I got about 150 games triple A to indie and haven't met one that doesn't work yet.

[mr moose]

Windows 8 won't work with some games. Fix that, and I'll start using it.

which ones?

[TopWargamer]

which ones?

Back in the beta days of Windows 8, I tried to play Down of War II Retribution, wouldn't run. Recently my friend tried to get GTA4 to work on his computer (which has Windows 8) and it wouldn't run.

 

I've only had compatibility problems with those 2 games. 

[GoodBytes]

Vista was ahead of it's time. That was the main problem it had.

Windows 8, is good, but it drops something it has been following since Windows 95. Such drastic change is not easy to anyone. But once you learn it, it's actually pretty good.

 

So here is the thing with Windows 8. Windows 8 right now has a great base set up for itself. Now Microsoft need and actually are (see Windows 8.1), balancing the interface for tablets, laptops and desktop.

I expect Microsoft to continue to improve the balance and polish further the Modern UI and Start Screen with Windows 8.2, and so on.

[SSOB]

Seems like windows 8.1 is windows 7 with metro UI , So yes it will get ''better''

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Windows 8 is perfectly fine as soon as you get rid of the ridiculous Modern UI, luckily this is quite easy though.

[GoodBytes]

Windows 8 is perfectly fine as soon as you get rid of the ridiculous Modern UI, luckily this is quite easy though.

No you don't have to do this. You just need to learn the new UI.

Microsoft won't go back.

[Nort]

No, you can't polish a turd....

 You can, your hands will just get dirty.

[GoodBytes]

Seems like windows 8.1 is windows 7 with metro UI , So yes it will get ''better''

huh? No. Windows 8.1 didn't remove any features to go back to Windows 7. The only feature removed is Winodws 7 backup system, which was there for compatibiluty purposes, and Windows Experience Index.

[Whiskers]

No you don't have to do this. You just need to learn the new UI.

Microsoft won't go back.

It isn't always a question of adapting to change, though. A lot of people simply don't like the new interface, myself amongst them. I find it inefficient, inconsistent and sometimes even ugly.

As for Vista, it was pretty bad. Hardware support at launch (and to be honest even until now) was terrible, and I remember a lot of people complaining about it because of that. Printers, scanners, webcams etc - a ton of them lacked compatibility with Vista.

I don't think Windows 8 is anywhere near as bad as Vista. Though I will always feel that Windows 7 was a better system overall.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

No you don't have to do this. You just need to learn the new UI.

Microsoft won't go back.

 

They probably wont no, but I tried living with it, I actually gave it a 2 month period for me to get used to it but it continued to piss me off so after the 2 months I installed Start8 and started really enjoying Windows 8.

[GoodBytes]

They probably wont no, but I tried living with it, I actually gave it a 2 month period for me to get used to it but it continued to piss me off so after the 2 months I installed Start8 and started really enjoying Windows 8.

Here is my start screen (old picture), if you need some guidance.

I don't see it why it could annoy someone, honest.

[GoodBytes]

It isn't always a question of adapting to change, though. A lot of people simply don't like the new interface, myself amongst them. I find it inefficient, inconsistent and sometimes even ugly.

As for Vista, it was pretty bad. Hardware support at launch (and to be honest even until now) was terrible, and I remember a lot of people complaining about it because of that. Printers, scanners, webcams etc - a ton of them lacked compatibility with Vista.

I don't think Windows 8 is anywhere near as bad as Vista. Though I will always feel that Windows 7 was a better system overall.

The issue with Vista on this, is the switch to 64-bit.

Manufactures didn't want to spend money on supported old products. Making 64-bit drivers is not a click away. A lot of the 32-bit drivers was dependent of very old legacy stuff, which company used to safe money instead of making things right. As Vista dropped A LOT of legacy support stuff in order to support new technologies, and desperately needed much improved security, as XP security is almost none existence, as it's based on 1993 code, way before the internet as we know today, still living in the ideal world that no one will do viruses and such and spread it over the internet, and all that.

Hackers, Virus maker, malware makers, knew all the security issues of XP, that is why Microsoft decided to scrap the old NT core and restart from almost scratch with Vista (NT6). The issue with this, is that Microsoft lost a lot of optimization that was developed and improved upon for many years in Windows, and bugs that didn't exists before appeared... as it's new code.

[GoodBytes]

No, you can't polish a turd....

 

:D

[GoodBytes]

Yes and there is an app in the Windows store.

But, I actually prefer the icon.

 

But as you can see you have both. If games dev wants they can make their Modern UI tile. But seeing that most games developer don't know what a temp directory is, and anything about the Saved Games folder, and just dumps all it's crap in your My Documents, I don't see this changing.

I don't know if Microsoft can realistically do anything for this... maybe for Games for Windows might get it, but isn't doesn't seam anyone is working on that system at Microsoft.

[kol]

give the option to remove metro and ill be happy, pretty much all my games but css, tf2 and 1.6 have crashed. But i think that might be because i installed the games on an HDD seperate from my windows 7 install, then reinstalled windows to windows 8 but never reinstalled the games.