I’m using a brand new laptop (2 months old) which came with Win 7. (Sony Vaio i 7 @2.1 Gig, 8 gigs of ram)
I see I can upgrade for $40.
Should I do it?
Pros?
Cons?
Is it worth it?
What are your thoughts?
I just finished my upgrade today (I had a pre-release version.)
Honestly, I’m seeing very little difference between 7 and 8. Right now it’s just about being on the bleeding edge and all that, I think.
Now, down the line it might ease compatibility issues. There’s also the fact that come January 1st the price will triple.
I guess I’d say if you got the cash to throw at it, go for it. You’ll have this computer for a while. Might as well have it fully specced.
I haven’t got my hands on the release version of Windows 8 yet. But I did spend August-September running the open beta.
Win 8 is a huge, HUGE gamble for Microsoft. When I first saw the metro interface, I loved it. It’s sleek, it’s modern, it’s clean, it’s beautiful. It’s entirely perfect for smartphone or tablet interface.
But after using it for a couple of months…
It’s absolutely terrible (IMO) for desktop or laptop. After a day or two running the Win 8 beta, I routinely found myself doing the same thing after logging in. Which was to immediately switch the desktop interface. Having two separate interfaces - Metro and classic desktop - that don’t really play well together - it’s a kludge. It’s an admirable goal - we will have the same OS across smartphones, tablets and PCs/laptops. But I don’t think they quite made it yet.
Microsoft OSs typically go good/bad, alternating. Consider: Win 95 was a mess, Win 98 was for its time decent. Win 2000 they didn’t even bother marketing to consumers (since it was powerful but clunky); Win XP was massively successful and hell that’s what my business still uses. Vista was a mess; I’m running Win 7 now and it’s been my favorite Windows so far. And here comes Win 8 :rolleyes: and I really think consumers and business are just going to ignore it and wait for Win 9 to iron all the dualistic clunkyness that Win 8 has.
…I did love how Win 8 boots silly fast. I hate that Minecraft won’t run on Win 8.
We’ll see how it does. I really do love metro and think they’re on to something there, but it may take a bit to make everything work clean. And I’m really hyped for the first real Win 8 tablet, which I believe launches early next year.
This. But you missed Windows ME, which was an utter disaster as well.
I am fully aware of Win ME. It was never meant as anything but a late-stage hackwork. Microsoft had already committed to unifying its OS between the consumer versions and NT. ME was a cheap, hacky dishonest concession to PC manufacturers so both MS and the manufacturers could make a few more bucks. It was shameful, but it was never a proper OS.
I don’t see any compelling reason to upgrade at this point. Eventually someone will figure out how to write malware that fouls your live tiles and disables the desktop and it will put XP’s “Hey, I’d love a virus!” glory days to shame.
Did no one at Microsoft ever stop to think that if we wanted an interface for a tablet we would have bought a tablet?
Looking at the promos for [del]Windows 8[/del] Metro makes me wistful for Windows ME, even though I was continually running disk checks on that.
So I wouldn’t.
Seriously, what makes them think we want a more generic interface?
Sure…immediately after service pack 3, when it’s the most stable.
Regards,
-Bouncer-
I think some of the Heisenfeatures look interesting.
So they’re like Star Trek movies?
Actually, I’ve never had any complaints about Vista.
My own instinctive response to the idea of Windows 8 is much like Mdcastleman’s.
Sounds like another disaster (ala “Vista”) on its way to you…at 3X the price!
Classic Microsoft marketing-take it or leave it…and you get to debug it!
Never be an early adopter of a Microsoft OS, especially when it’s one of the alternating bad ones.
I have been running Windows 8 since it was released to partners back in August. I have found it quite stable, but I see little value in the new interface apps. For this reason, I paid the big bucks - $5 - for Start8, which brings ack the start button and sets the desktop as the default interface.
I am planning on rolling it out to my staff since there are improved features for enterprise like Direct Access, as well as the fact that Microsoft Partner licensing requires us to use current versions of supplied software.
That being said, I just told my 75 year old father not to bother upgrading from Windows. Unless you need the new features or have a touch-enabled device, there is not much reason to upgrade from 7.
I bought Vista for full retail price the day it came out (and I don’t regret it either but that’s another story) and it is actually the one that is 3X more expensive. Win8 upgrade can be had for $40 if you download it.
However, I fully agree this OS is being released unfinished. To Microsoft, that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
To Microsoft’s credit they are much faster at getting patches out than they ever have been in the past. To Microsoft’s dismay that isn’t going to help in this case.
I’d keep Windows 7. It’s a great version of Windows and I see zero reason for the upgrade yet.
It’s that simple.
IMO, at least, you should only upgrade when the OS you’re using is no longer sufficient for what you want to use it for. Don’t just upgrade for the heck of it; that’s a lot of headache just for the heck of it.
And right now there’s zero reason to switch to 8. By the time 9 comes out, there probably will be a good reason and it’ll (probably) be a better OS.
Despite being in tech for a profession, I am almost always a late adopter of new tech. And so, I recommend not upgrading for at least half a year. By then, we’ll know if it is a good idea or not.
(I only go new tech if it is something I am really *really *sure I will be developing for…)
Metro is, IMHO, the second or third worst UI decision they’ve ever made. First place goes to Microsoft Bob. Fighting for second is the Ribbon Bar and Metro.
If you run all of your apps fullscreen, and only do simple stuff like Word or web browsing, then you can stay in Metro mode and be fine. But then, you may as well just get a pure tablet; there’s no need for a full PC. I’m sure Win8 is fine on a pure tablet.
As soon as you do anything serious, you need to drop back to the desktop. And that switch is clunky at best. Unfortunately, there’s no way to stay at the desktop all the time since you need the Metro screen for launching programs and some other stuff. It becomes a giant, unpleasant start menu that’s hard to read and covers up all your stuff.
I see absolutely no reason why a PC should have the same interface as a phone or tablet. Hell, I see no reason why a tablet should have the same interface as a phone. They’re different tools, with different constraints and goals. Unifying them means you hit the lowest common denominator for all of them.
If Metro is here to stay, then Win7 will be the last Microsoft OS I ever use. Unless, I guess, some third party comes up with a really solid workaround. There are some third-party start menus, but that doesn’t really solve the problem; many OS features will still require Metro mode.
I don’t really see the point either. In any case, I don’t have a phone with the Microsoft OS, so why should my computer have Windows 8? What exactly is the point?
If I have an Android phone, how is Windows 8 going to help me?