Real World Benefits - Win8 v's Win7

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  1. Posts : 79
    Win7 Home Premium x64, Linux Mint 14
       #1

    Real World Benefits - Win8 v's Win7


    I installed Win8 onto a separate partition and I suppose the MetroUI is a matter of personal taste. Personally not really for me but who knows what the final release will be. Maybe Microsoft are testing the waters and if there are enough negatives may give the option for a classic look otherwise as has been mentioned elsewhere, they could have a Vista mk2 on their hands. Read a great deal on here and elsewhere about the new version but I've yet to read anywhere exactly what the real world day to day benefits will be to change from Win7 64bit to Win8. With my limited experience there doesn't appear to be any difference in speed and it's really no big deal if it should shave a few seconds off the boot time. Once the PC is switched on then that's it. No doubt things are different in the touch screen world but for the vast majority of users that are still with a keyboard and mouse can anyone a, b, c those real world benefits??
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  2. Posts : 79
    Win7 Home Premium x64, Linux Mint 14
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Apologies - posted in wrong forum - please ignore
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  3. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #3

    LOL, that's fine.
    A. I see no use for Windows 8 as presented thus far.
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  4.    #4

    It's surely for touch. Why else would they need to improve Win7, except maybe backup imaging. Anyone with 8 see if they fixed that yet?
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  5. Posts : 222
    Win 7 Ult + Starter, XP Pro +Home, 2kAS, Linux Mint 8, SuperOS
       #5

    The benefit to Microsoft is a single codebase for all Microsoft Operating Systems - whether running on 32- or 64-bit PCs, embedded systems or on ARM devices (including tablets and smartphones). Thus the possibility of a single army of OS developers, rather than the multiple teams that have existed ever since Windows 3.1 became a serious alternative to MS-DOS for running applications on the PC.

    In other words, why have separate OSs for Windows Phone, Windows CE, Windows, and Windows server etc all being developed by different teams when one big team can be working on a single modular, scalable OS.

    Microsoft makes most of its "bread and butter" money from OEMs who bundle Windows with PCs, and the rest from enterprise customers. The mobile phone market sells more units than PCs, yet Windows Phone is not competing well with the others like iPhone and Android, so that phone OEM market is where Microsoft sees opportunities.

    Microsoft wants a bigger piece of the action and Windows 8 codebase on all OEM products is what they are aiming for. So it has the same apps, touch screen features as a tablet, and indeed a phone, which can all access the same data via the cloud, BranchCache, or Active Directory Domain Services. Underlying this, the familiar desktop or notepad keyboard and mouse.

    Windows 8 is targeting the enterprise, rather than the home user, who has been happy enough with most of the OS offerings from Microsoft over the last decade.

    For the enterprise, the great advantage Windows has over all the other mobile OSs is the security features that have been hardened over the years by the development of enterprise-wide Windows installations. If you want to trust your online business security - would you entrust it to a Google product? or a Microsoft one? At least that is what is implied.

    If you want Microsoft's words on this, look here:

    Download: Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide for Business - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

    The benefit to home users is that we get to become unpaid beta testers with ever greater ease, pulling apart all the seams and poking around in the stuffing of the full preview version, even before the product (as a cut-down basic version) is preloaded on the next PC we need to buy, with the option of an upgrade for a few dollars more.
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  6. Posts : 6,285
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #6

    So it looks like I need a iso file to create a DVD or Flash drive from so I can install to a separate drive or partition, otherwise it replaces what you currently have and can't be uninstalled. To remove it you would have to reinstall your Windows 7, at least that's what the FAQ says.

    I wonder why they do not allow install to a different drive/partition from the download installer?
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  7. Posts : 4,049
    W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
       #7

    RAM Usage


    It uses 1/3 less RAM on my PC, compared to W7 (800 MB vs 1200MB). :)
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  8.    #8

    Always best to boot the installer, Rich, so the booted OS is C instead of taking another letter.
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  9. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #9

    You can use the W8CP .iso as a stand-alone installer too and can be installed to another partition or VM.
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  10. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #10

    Britton30 said:
    I see no use for Windows 8 as presented thus far.
    That's how I feel. Considering my current primary tower doesn't have a touch screen, I see no reason to upgrade it to Windows 8.
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