Upgrading To Windows 8....Worth It?

[BKS22]

Hey all,

Some time ago I signed up to take part in a early Windows Upgrade Offer to Windows 8. Well they just sent me the email saying I am now eligible to do so. All they need from me is a to fill out a short online registration form and pay $14.99usd

My question is- Has anyone here had any experience with Windows 8 yet? Good or bad? Do you think its worth me upgrading from Windows 7 to 8 for the nominal $14.99 fee?

Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks in advance,

B-

[harrry]

I think you should get the upgrade but hold off installing it for a while.

[BKS22]

I think you should get the upgrade but hold off installing it for a while.

Why is that?

[harrry]

I think you should get the upgrade but hold off installing it for a while.

Why is that?

You can get the upgrade now for that price but not later so you are risking $15 against potentially $200,

It is not an upgrade for everyone and you will get a chance to see how everyone else fares.

Releases always have teething problems you can wait until the first lot are sorted out.

Of course Windows 8 will be an essential for some people ( those who are both keen social media participants and like working in a cloud conected state) for others who work mostly on their PC will be less atractive.

Edited August 24, 2012 by harrry

[endure]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/realworld/376567/honeyball-on-windows-8-its-a-car-crash

[h90]

in some forums people are almost beating each other...

it is total rubbish worse than vista, vs it is the best thing ever....

[rakman]

You might want to download the beta version and try it out:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

I tried it and my first impression, IMHO, it sucks.

We should start an unscientific pole.

[BKS22]

Great feedback fellas. And I appreciate the links.

I think I'll take Harrry's suggestion and register, and keep the download in a file for awhile until it's had time to digest with more users in the general population.

Windows 7 has not given me any immediate reasons to want to replace it.

[smokie36]

Yeah, it will have to have rave reviews to get me to switch from Windows 7.

[ITGabs]

I am running windows 8 in a vmware, my first impresion was i am in a android iphone windows xD full of apps, shops and all those shit

in my experience, 98 was good, win me suck, xp good, vista suck, seven good, 8... suck?

plus all the time the first release of windows are full of virus, botnet, annoying problems, incompatibilities, driver problems so wait the SP1, microsoft have a very amateur release system, comparing with OSx for example

[DrTuner]

I think I've already made up my mind with W8, without trying it. It's a new Vista, pass and wait for next one.

[Notstupid30]

Using Windows 8 Enterprise x 64, I must say i do like the feel of this to windows 7 also the sound quality with Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium is much better on Win 8 to Win 7 but in general the OS feels alot more stable with my AMD FX 8120 to Win 7 with the hotkeys and patch also going put in a SSD shortly get this score up even more ?

[WhizBang]

Windows 8 will be essential if you want to go the tablet PC route, as it is supposedly optimized for touchscreens. Not so sure about it for a normal desktop or laptop computer. I have it running in a vmware virtual machine and at this point I would have to say it is NOT better than Windows 7.

I wish microsoft would concentrate on fixing the many problems in windows 7 rather than trying to push a new buggy OS out the door.

Microsoft are trying to redefine windows. They no longer want to support large applications, such as word or photoshop, instead they want small Apps, like on your smartphone.

Oh yes, those Apps will only be available from the microsoft app store. Can you see where micro$oft is trying to go with this?

Edited August 25, 2012 by WhizBang

[bendejo]

Maybe MS has new marketing pattern: put out a god-awful version of Windows, let the world belly-ache about how bad it is. There will still be enough people paying for it to turn a profit.

Next release put out the same thing with some slight improvements. The call goes out "hey, this one is cool!" and sells like mad.

Worked out pretty well when Win7 replaced Vista.

I'm learning that there are still a lot of people out there using XP, some have gone back from Win7. Wouldn't it be something if MS released XP as open source? Don't hold your breath. Maybe they can release it as Windows Retro.

[agogohome]

Windows 8 is intended for tablets. If you're installing it on a notebook or desktop PC (with no touch screen), then you'll find youself having to constantly revert to the 'Windows 7' style desktop to access programs and files. It's a real pain in the ass, with nothing to gain! It's also worth mentioning that it won't run (properly) some Windows 7 software that's supplied by manufacturers with their equipment. Sony's 'PMB' picture viewer (supplied with every new camera) is one good example.

In the end, I became so frustrated with it, that I reloaded 7 and had to reinstall all my programss again.

[Gary A]

I liked Windows XP and wasn't in any hurry to buy Windows 7. Now I'm in the same position and I like Windows 7. I'll take the same road this time. It will have to be thoroughly tested and reviewed before I dump what I have. I still have an old test copy of Windows 8 on another hard drive. I didn't like it at first look but apparently they have made a lot of improvements since the first test release.

[WhizBang]

Sony's 'PMB' picture viewer (supplied with every new camera) is one good example.

Well, PMB is best avoided anyway.

[agogohome]

Sony's 'PMB' picture viewer (supplied with every new camera) is one good example.

Well, PMB is best avoided anyway.

I'd have to disagree. I've tried many viewers, and found it easier to use and friendlier than most - Unusual for a 'freebie' packed accessory. The callendar style display for locating pictures is a God send, as is the video 'stitching' function. I wish Google's Picasa had similar features.

[happysanook]

for the most part, the critics are giving it excellent reviews...

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/software-and-web-apps/windows-8-review-50005313/

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/operating-systems/windows-8-1093002/review

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/software/376540/windows-8-for-desktops-and-laptops

some against:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-8-consumer-preview.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7-57498666-292/can-windows-8-win-over-cnets-mac-reviewer/

though to be fair, i've never heard of dedoimedo... , and this other neg review comes from a OS Lion nuthugger who's main complaint is that W8 is merging tablet and PC OS...i actually think the move is extremely smart and forward thinking...

it all comes down to your preference of styles...read the reviews and see what you think..they go pretty in depth into the + and - and how the OS has changed.

[Notstupid30]

How can anybody not like Windows 8 it's ace ... Here a good place for tweaks for Windows 8 http://forums.mydigitallife.info/forums/42-Windows-8

[NHJ]

You can take the upgrade but don't install it actually, it looks like a windows 3.11, this windows is really not intended in its current state to be used on a computer.

the interface is very ugly, aero glass is no more exept for the task bar, no more rounding, it's a real jump to the past.

microsoft will certainly listen to the complains and will release a patch/option to add a classical start menu, an aeroglass theme and disable the tiles.

[Turkleton]

Is it really necessary, to post such oversized pictures?

Nobody likes "horizontal" scrolling, neither on W7 nor W8....

[happysanook]

You can take the upgrade but don't install it actually, it looks like a windows 3.11, this windows is really not intended in its current state to be used on a computer.

the interface is very ugly, aero glass is no more exept for the task bar, no more rounding, it's a real jump to the past.

microsoft will certainly listen to the complains and will release a patch/option to add a classical start menu, an aeroglass theme and disable the tiles.

You can take the upgrade but don't install it actually, it looks like a windows 3.11, this windows is really not intended in its current state to be used on a computer.

the interface is very ugly, aero glass is no more exept for the task bar, no more rounding, it's a real jump to the past.

microsoft will certainly listen to the complains and will release a patch/option to add a classical start menu, an aeroglass theme and disable the tiles.

yes... they got rid of aero in the RTM (release to manufacturer) build. i can only guess it's because they want the desktop to look not so pretty so you'll use windows 8 tiles and functions instead.

[ITGabs]

Better than try it with the windowds widgets or theme customization I recommend Rainmeter it's a free desktop customization with thousands of free themes

the example video it is so much but you can get so much personalizated your desktop full of usefull data, rss feeds, weather report, social stuff.

links to everything, real time, temp, processor, internet speed, etc etc etc

[Notstupid30]

Is it really necessary, to post such oversized pictures?

Nobody likes "horizontal" scrolling, neither on W7 nor W8....

Thats nothing to the real size and should count youself lucky i did resized it early on to 3840 x 1080

[jackspratt]

Thats nothing to the real size and should count youself lucky i did resized it early on to 3840 x 1080

This response totally contradicts your forum name.

[BWPattaya]

Is it really necessary, to post such oversized pictures?

Nobody likes "horizontal" scrolling, neither on W7 nor W8....

Thats nothing to the real size and should count youself lucky i did resized it early on to 3840 x 1080

Now I see why I am having to scroll sidewards.

[miksguevara]

why dont you install it on a virtual machine?

[quandow]

I downloaded and installed the beta and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. The basic things people use their computers for are email, web browsing, some minor spreadsheet stuff, and downloading/playing movies. Windows 8 makes it difficult to do all this (they removed the "Start" button and won't play DVD/Blu Ray discs for cryin' out loud!) and without a new computer with touchscreen capability, it's a waste of your time. The most prevalent combination of OS/Office products currently being used are XP and Office 2000, They do everything you need and are stable. Just my not-so-humble opinion.

[Notstupid30]

Is it really necessary, to post such oversized pictures?

Nobody likes "horizontal" scrolling, neither on W7 nor W8....

Thats nothing to the real size and should count youself lucky i did resized it early on to 3840 x 1080

Now I see why I am having to scroll sidewards.

Yea i'm sorry using 23'' inch leds screens here also when resizing i was thinking hardly people use small screens these days and can cope with the size of the picture also they are cheap to pick up ..