Windows 8 vs Windows 7

[JonathanH]

So recently I have been thinking of upgrading my OS to Windows 8 from Windows 7. Is there actually any improvements or performance gains from upgrading?

[wtfxmitchell]

yes, linus made a video about it 

[Coombzy]

performance gains perhaps a tiny amount IE a few FPS and if you don't like Metro you can of course install classic start I would say stick with Windows 7 tbh I have.

[sabot]

Some amount of performance gain, not worth all the crap Microsoft added.

[Darell3]

I moved to Windows 8 because it knows how to efficiently use my FX processor. After hard research, it said to be 14% performance increase from Windows 7 to 8 if you have a FX Processor. I have noticed this.

[Samdb]

Windows 8 has a slightly performance increase over Windows 7.

[Streamline]

I had Windows 7 on my old machine and am now using Windows 8 on my new machine. Both are/were using SSD's, and my new machine with Windows 8 is starting up a lot quicker than W7. With Startisback installed it's just like Windows 7, so I don't see why anyone shouldn't go for Windows 8. 

[fracking4oil]

Some amount of performance gain, not worth all the crap Microsoft added.

 

 

All what crap Microsoft added? Only thing most people complain about is Metro and that they don't understand how some features work so they claim it's broken or bad when in fact they're just doing it wrong or the long way. It's like complaining a car doesn't turn when you flip the turn signal or doesn't brake when you press the horn.

[GoodBytes]

Performance increase in Windows is not much. It should not be a buying decision.

However if you want the new FEATURES of Windows, then yes of course.

 

I agree with fracking4oil. It's new and people are too lazy to spend 2 min figuring it out. They complain for month on end and say it's crappy, everywhere they go, spending a total of hours saying this, when they could have spent less time learning it, and start to be comfortable with it.

 

Windows 8 has a long list of features, you should check it out.

 

Here are some of my favorite features:

 -> File History. Have a backup on a different drive or network computer or drive, which allows you to go back in time, if you need to recover something deleted or modified. Re-install Windows? All you do is sleect the drive used, and click on the "Turn On" button in the File History panel, and Windows will redetect everything and resume backup operation.

 -> OnScreen Volume, and screen brightness (for laptops/tablets) meter.

 -> Quick access to power user panels, like: Program & Features, Command Prompt, Device Manager, etc.. from the power menu. Simply right-click on the Start button.

 -> Collapsed by default, Ribbon bar on Folders, give you quick access to the command prompt which is opened at your current location, and ability to show/hide folder quickly and easily, among other option

 -> Pinning folders for direct access to them and have direct access to all my games in one location: Start Screen.

 -> Improved driver structure allows me to switch hardware that uses the same driver, to not require to re-install them, or have Windows re-instal them. This means keyboard/mouse on different USB ports, won't make you wait while Windows detects them and install the built-in drivers. If I swamp graphic card and the same drivers works on both, then it's fine.

 -> Music app - free streaming music service (with ads), get XBox Music Pass (cheap), and you have it no ads. and you can download the song for offline play on Microsoft devices (Windows XP, Vista, 7 needs the excellent Zune desktop application, available for free)

 -> Super quick to switch between local accounts.

 -> Hyper-V (if you are interested in virtual environment)

 -> Ability to load ISO's under a virtual disk drive.

 -> Burn ISO's

 -> New Task Manager

 -> Much improved file collision system

 -> Much improved disc error check and repair (much faster)

 -> New file transfer dialog, with cool transfer speed graph

 -> New file transfer pause/resume ability

 -> Auto change from wireless to wired. And if you have 3G/4G type of thing in your device, and it will auto-switch to a wireless as soon as it detects one it can connect to, to limit using your bandwidth (and of course, switch to wired if you plug one)

 -> Improved power saving features

 -> Instant wake up from sleep

 -> Instant wireless/wired reconnect upon wake up

 -> Improved SSD support (not much to improve from 7, but it's something). Basically what's added, is that Windows will execute a manual TRIM at the same time as defragging you HDD.

 -> Improved printer (mostly under the hood, and you won't notice things, but it makes adding printers easier, support for a wide range of printers. Basically, it should make setting up a printer a bit easier)

 -> Much improved 3D performance for applications

 -> Large disk support. While I don't use this feature at the moment, it's nice to have (2TB or more support on a partition)

 -> Storage Space

 -> Reduce number of restarts from Windows Updates.

 -> Refresh your PC feature

 -> Faster boot

 -> FULL UEFI support, allowing for really fast boot (~6sec) on ready system (GOP ready graphic card (or made ready by firmware upgrade), full UEFI supported motherboard, GPT partition for Windows).

 -> Much improved dual monitor support, with multi-monitor support wallpaper, and task bar spanning on multiple screens with options on the behavior of the task bar.

 -> Ability to install or re-install Windows 8 by keeping personal files

 

That is what I like about it.

[Komeli]

I have windows 8 on my laptop and I have not had any problems it boots really quick. Spend a bit of time and I find the new metro screen is was better and Easier to use once you have done a bit of personalising. To hate an OS just because it doesn't have a little orb is no reason to hate it.

[Mophead]

I'm currently triple booted and Windows 7 and Windows 8 are two of my Operating Systems. I started with Win 7 and I've slowly moved over to Windows 8. With Classic Shell giving me a start button and everything seeming a bit more snappier, I find it very hard to go back to Windows 7. There is a performance increase and quite a lot of compatibility issues have been fixed (e.g. Borderlands 2 would't work on my Win 8 when it first came out..)

[WoodenMarker]

Windows 8 is better but many people don't like the new design. Get it if you don't mind it. 

[cxz]

Well when I used it I liked the design and some functions. You get used to it after awhile.  Only problem or should I say problems was running games on it.  Every single one gave me some kind of problem.  That was about a year ago, so might have changed. lol 

[xDLGx]

 -> New file transfer dialog, with cool transfer speed graph

 

It's amazing that it took MS like 20 years to fix that