Windows 8.1 or an old version of Windows 10?

[IsaacThePooper]

I was watching JayzTwoCentz and he was talking about how his main system that runs Windows 8.1 runs way better than his better hardware equipped test bench with Windows 10 because of the most recent spectre and meltdown patches.

My PC has been slowing down with Windows 10 more and more than what it used to run like a year ago.

 

So should I go with Windows 8.1 or an earlier version of Windows 10?

 

If an earlier Windows 10 version, which version then?

[kirashi]

5 minutes ago, IsaacThePooper said:

I was watching JayzTwoCentz and he was talking about how his main system that runs Windows 8.1 runs way better than his better hardware equipped test bench with Windows 10 because of the most recent spectre and meltdown patches.

My PC has been slowing down with Windows 10 more and more than what it used to run like a year ago.

 

So should I go with Windows 8.1 or an earlier version of Windows 10?

 

If an earlier Windows 10 version, which version then?

You should be going with the latest version of Windows 10 to maintain its' security, or not connecting it to the internet. Keep in mind that your hardware being older can also cause things to seem slower, so it's going to be hard to pinpoint exactly what older version of Windows 10 you should be using unless you're willing to manually benchmark performance with each version on your hardware.

 

Also, I would NOT recommend ANYONE use ANY version of Windows 8/8.1 as they are a hot mess. Having been through XP, to Vista, to 7, to 8, and finally to 10, I'd actually rather install and use Windows Vista (with SP2 installed) than use ANY version of Windows 8/8.1 because it's that bad.

[IsaacThePooper]

Just now, kirashi said:

You should be going with the latest version of Windows 10 to maintain its' security, or not connecting it to the internet. Keep in mind that your hardware being older can also cause things to seem slower, so it's going to be hard to pinpoint exactly what older version of Windows 10 you should be using unless you're willing to manually benchmark performance with each version on your hardware.

 

Also, I would NOT recommend ANYONE use ANY version of Windows 8/8.1 as they are a hot mess. Having been through XP, to Vista, to 7, to 8, and finally to 10, I'd actually rather install and use Windows Vista (with SP2 installed) than use ANY version of Windows 8/8.1 because it's that bad.

I don't care about security or ease of use, I just wanna play games better.

[kirashi]

2 minutes ago, IsaacThePooper said:

I don't care about security or ease of use, I just wanna play games better.

Roger that; they I'd either go back to Windows 7, at least until support is dropped for it in 2020, or start testing with various versions of Windows 10 from the initial RTM release to find out which one gives you the best performance overall. The first Anniversary update (build 1607) is where I would start, as this is kind of like SP1 on Windows 7 or SP2 on Windows Vista. You can read all about the different Windows 10 versions here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_version_history#Version_1607_(Anniversary_Update)

[IsaacThePooper]

2 minutes ago, kirashi said:

Roger that; they I'd either go back to Windows 7, at least until support is dropped for it in 2020, or start testing with various versions of Windows 10 from the initial RTM release to find out which one gives you the best performance overall. The first Anniversary update (build 1607) is where I would start, as this is kind of like SP1 on Windows 7 or SP2 on Windows Vista. You can read all about the different Windows 10 versions here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_version_history#Version_1607_(Anniversary_Update)

Thanks!

[Delicieuxz]

Windows 7, 8(.1), and 10 all have the same security patches, so they'll all be equally secure (well, Windows 7 and 8 have slightly fewer security vulnerabilities than Windows 10 does) and also all will have the Spectre and Meltdown patches installed if you update them fully.

 

I have a pre-telemetry June 2015-updated ISO of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 for download here: 

 

 

In that post there's also an archive containing all the Windows 7 security-only updates from October 2016 - October 2017.

 

And a license for Windows 7 Ultimate can be bought for $5 or less on eBay, reddit, and other places.

 

I've been running Windows 7 without any updates since summer 2015, and haven't had any malware or virus issues. If you'd like to protect you PC while also disabling Windows Update (the only way to run Windows, IMO), then you could install something like MalwareBytes, Spybot, etc, for 3rd-party protection.

[grss1982]

On 8/3/2018 at 2:19 PM, Delicieuxz said:

Windows 7, 8(.1), and 10 all have the same security patches, so they'll all be equally secure (well, Windows 7 and 8 slightly fewer security vulnerabilities than Windows 10 does) and also all will have the Spectre and Meltdown patches installed if you update them fully.

 

I have a pre-telemetry June 2015-updated ISO of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 for download here: 

 

 

In that post there's also an archive containing all the Windows 7 security-only updates from October 2016 - October 2017.

 

And a license for Windows 7 Ultimate can be bought for $5 or less on eBay, reddit, and other places.

 

I've been running Windows 7 without any updates since summer 2015, and haven't had any malware or virus issues. If you'd like to protect you PC while also disabling Windows Update (the only way to run Windows, IMO), then you could install something like MalwareBytes, Spybot, etc, for 3rd-party protection.

Seems counter-intuitive but I've been running Windows 7 WITHOUT updates since 2015 and it's been rock solid as well. IMHO I've always thought that not having the ability to completely disable Windows Updates was a deal-breaker for me moving to Windows 10. So I stayed with Windows 7 and once that's retired in 2020 I'm planning to go with Windows 8.1.

 

FYI Windows 8.1 is actually way better than Windows 8.  It's like 8.1 was what Windows 8 should have been.

[Delicieuxz]

9 hours ago, grss1982 said:

Seems counter-intuitive but I've been running Windows 7 WITHOUT updates since 2015 and it's been rock solid as well.

It's very strange that there are so many people that get in an uproar about having Windows be fully updated to be protected against threats, and then they do something like install Windows 10, which is statistically the least secure Windows OS:

 

Number of security vulnerabilities discovered per Windows OS per year:

https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=2016

 

            1999----2000----2001----2002----2003----2004----2005----2006----2007----2008----2009----2010----2011----2012----2013----2014----2015----2016----2017

---95      13-------31------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---98      11-------15--------7---------12------------------12------17--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

98se      -----------6--------6----------12---------------------------18--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---NT      64-------28-------24--------23--------18-------24--------------------------------------16-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2000      18-------31-------43--------42--------31-------41------68-------42--------30-------24-------75-------45---------------------------------------------------------------------------

--ME     ----------------------7---------10----------------------------15--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---XP     ---------------------10--------34--------22-------44------66-------56--------34-------34-------89-------98------101-------43-------87--------------------------------------------

Vista      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------31-------29-------76-------86-------95-------42-------95----------34------136------125----------

-----7     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------64------102-------44-------99----------36------147------134------197

-----8     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------58----------38------146------134------229

---8.1     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------38------151------154------225

----10    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------53-------172------268

 

             2018 (as of May)

-----7     --47--------

---8.1    --44--------

----10    --61--------

 

 

By the way, that big jump in security vulnerabilities for Windows 7 and 8(.1) started when Satya Nadella became Microsoft's CEO and started back-adding telemetry updates to Windows 7 and 8(.1). So, running a non-updated Windows 7 from before those data-harvesting updates started being back-added hypothetically might actually provide a person with fewer avenues for exploitation.

 

I have a June 2015-updated ISO for Windows 7 Ultimate 64 for download, here

 

 

 

And all those documented security vulnerabilities don't even start counting the vulnerabilities and security threats that are there by Microsoft's design, and which are used by Microsoft to spy on people and to steal their personal and personally-owned data from their systems without their consent.

 

And then there are Windows 10's tons of additional reliability issues due to the low quality of modern Microsoft's update and new feature testing, as well as Windows 10's abusive Windows Update regime that threatens to restart a person's PC at any time without permission or control by the Windows 10 owner.

 

I've had to completely reinstall Windows 10 three times since 2015 due to Microsoft updates bricking the system. But my Windows 7 installation is still going as rock solid as ever, despite not receiving any updates since mid-2015.

 

 

There's just no comparison - Windows 7 is an OS, and is a rock-solid OS, one made by a company that was in the business of making OSes, while Windows 10 is an unreliable data-theft and advertising platform made by a company that's in the business of harvesting and selling personal data.

 

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[grss1982]

On 8/3/2018 at 7:33 AM, IsaacThePooper said:

I was watching JayzTwoCentz and he was talking about how his main system that runs Windows 8.1 runs way better than his better hardware equipped test bench with Windows 10 because of the most recent spectre and meltdown patches.

My PC has been slowing down with Windows 10 more and more than what it used to run like a year ago.

 

So should I go with Windows 8.1 or an earlier version of Windows 10?

 

If an earlier Windows 10 version, which version then?

Don't. Any older version of Windows 10 will nag you to update to the latest version. Remember you can't turn off updates even if you have a lousy internet connection so one way or the other MS will upgrade you to Windows 10 v1803.

 

8.1 and and 7 were the last versions that would allow you to run off Windows Updates at will.