win 7 pro or win 8.1

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  1. Posts : 19,383
    Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64
       #11

    cobra1gt said:
    hi, I'm wanting to upgrade my win 7 home prem to win 7 pro or win 8.1 which would be the best I hear alot of bad things about win 8-8.1. I'm leaning to win 7 pro ???????????????? I need advice
    Go with 8.1 Pro...its really not at all as bad as people make it out to be. Its pretty easy to fine-tune to your liking once you know how, and finding out isn't hard either. All you need to do is ask at EightForums
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  2. Posts : 299
    openSUSE 13.1 64bit
       #12

    +1 for Windows 8.1.

    Ignore the doom mongers and there reliance on the old start menu.....things move on. I have 8.1 on my work laptop (Not touchscreen) and after a little setting up find that it's actually quite user friendly. I'm not a fan of live tiles but the ones I use serve their purpose. The traditional desktop is there and easily accessed (live tile by default) the old windows key + D comb will get you to desktop as it always has and Windows Key +X will give you a menu to access to other functionality...control panel etc.

    It really isn't that bad at all...and this is coming from a Linux user!
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  3. Posts : 126
    Windows 7 Pro 32bit / Windows 7 Professional
       #13

    Does Windows 8.1 NOT include Microsoft's new ribbon thing in Windows Explorer? If so, that would be fair reason to avoid any flavor of Windows 8. The new ribbon thing Microsoft is so infatuated with is intolerable to me. They went so far as to change WordPad and Paint in versions of Windows 7. It was a pretty simple hack to revert back to the older version of WordPad ... and I have an older version of Windows Live Mail that, thankfully, does not include the ribbon.

    I'm pretty happy with Windows 7 and see no reason whatever to upgrade for upgrade's sake.

    Best Wishes,
    RȘnce
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  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #14

    I tend to like the ribbon. It gives you a certain commonality across different components. And in most components you can always hide it.
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  5. Posts : 126
    Windows 7 Pro 32bit / Windows 7 Professional
       #15

    Goes to show, each his own. I would have thought having standard menus, File, Edit, View, Help ... would be enough commonality. I find the ribbon lacks keyboard support. In fact, even in Windows 7 we've lost keyboard support, or at least there are functions for which there is no keyboard command. I am thinking about the little down arrow between the back and forward buttons and the address bar in Explorer. That's a great little item for which I have not yet discovered a keyboard way to activate.

    I'm curious to see if Windows 9 (or whatever it will be called) contains features and an interface I can appreciate. And I am already looking into non-Microsoft solutions.

    Be Well,
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  6. Posts : 3,724
    Windows 10x64 Build 1709
       #16

    gregrocker said:
    Windows 8 is a touchscreen optimized OS which does not work as well on desktops with mouse and keyboard. For users who want the traditional desktop experience it is often frustrating, which is totally unnecessary since Win7 provides the perfect desktop experience and shows no signs of age.

    I would base my upgrade decision on which of the actual features you may (or may not) need in the higher version. Compare Windows 7 Editions

    Otherwise they are the exact same OS.

    Since Anytime Upgrade is not available in Windows 7 now you'd need to buy a Professional key to insert into Windows Anytime Upgrade - How to to unlock the few extra expensive features you know for sure you need. The best prices I see for these are on Tiger Direct which regularly has Pro OEM for $135, Home Premium for $89. New Egg also stocks these.
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  7. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #17

    SundRance, It is always good to look at alternatives. But the grass is now always greener at the other side.

    I am running a few Linux distros on the side (in virtual or from a stick) and some of them are really nice. But the learning curve is a lot steeper then e.g. moving fro 7 to 8.1. Plus there are a lot of programs in Windows we got used to - and those you do not find. You find other, similar programs, but those are completely different again.

    I am a system guy and I like to tinker with those alternatives. And they may be good alternatives for people that do simple things like web browsing, mail or office stuff. But if you delve deeper into the functions, then you have to be willing to learn a lot more than when you switch within Windows systems - even from XP to let's say 8.1.
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  8. Posts : 126
    Windows 7 Pro 32bit / Windows 7 Professional
       #18

    I love operating systems. I don't play games and the like, but I do enjoy exploring operating systems, and trying to learn how they work and what they do. I do use specific programs too, and would want to try and modify them to run under a Linux system.

    I've been playing with Disc images, but after the last couple of times playing around with some of the flavors available have just about bought onto the idea of duel booting. After than it would just a step away from leaving Microsoft behind. Especially if the three or four software packages I use a lot could be made to function in Linux. We'll see.

    I do love Windows 7 and think it is the best operating system I've had the pleasure of playing with.
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  9. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #19

    Did you try to run the Windows program with the Wine in Linux ?
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  10. Posts : 126
    Windows 7 Pro 32bit / Windows 7 Professional
       #20

    Not yet. I'm happy with my rigs now and I have a machine in reserve. As long as I don't have to move away from Windows 7 and I can keep using application versions that don't use the ribbon, I'm content.

    I'm thinking about portioning to duel boot other systems just to play with Linux versions. I guess if I go that far it's time to start testing running the few programs I do now use.

    As I said, I really, really like Windows 7, and I won't upgrade to a new version without good reason.
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