Microsoft Will Allow Downgrades From Windows 8 to Windows 7, Vista

[Brink]

Microsoft will allow users of Windows 8 Pro to downgrade their new PCs to Windows 7 or even Vista, according to the operating system's licensing agreement.

Not surprisingly, users may not downgrade to the still-used-but-slated-for-retirement Windows XP.

Downgrade rights -- which let customers replace a newer version of Windows with an older edition without paying for two copies -- are available only in Windows 8 Pro. That fits with previous practice: Only Windows 7 Professional, for instance, was allocated downgrade rights.

Read more at source:
Microsoft will allow downgrades from Windows 8 to Windows 7, Vista - Computerworld

 

[prospero]

Thanks Brink for this and all your news.
I've tried the pre-releases of W8 and could get to love the final release.
But as with Vista I think I'll wait for SP-1.

 

[JonathanV]

Great news Brink!

Unlike Windows 7, you can downgrade to lower version of Windows from Windows 8 Pro. Will it require clean install or use Downgrade method on Windows Setup?
But Microsoft highly recommends that you always have the latest version of Windows to keep your computer secure.

I just using Windows 7 without antimalware for 2 years and I don't see any virus on my computer. Then this year I decided to have antivirus for 6 months without virus infections warning.

 

[z3r010]

I just using Windows 7 without antimalware for 2 years and I don't see any virus on my computer. Then this year I decided to have antivirus for 6 months without virus infections warning.

I cant believe your bragging about being such a dumb ass :sarc:

 

[FredeGail]

Great news certainly.

Windows 8 is also quite cheap as far as I've heard.

 

[JonathanV]

Great news certainly.

Windows 8 is also quite cheap as far as I've heard.

Yeah, it's cheap. Then after 2013, it will be expensive again.

 

[silvermist]

I think Windows 8 will grow on me, but for right now the Metro, ahem, new user interface makes tasks that used to be one or two clicks take three, four or even five clicks. It is clear that Microsoft designed Windows 8 with touchscreen interfaces being the primary target, and all others were secondary.

I have an iPad, an iPhone and an HP TouchPad (which dual boots Android and webOS), so I'm very familiar with and love touchscreens.

But I'm not going to throw away my awesome desktop with dual 23" 1080p monitors just because they don't support touch (unless it's my son planting his fingerprints on them just so he can watch me clean them again).

I can't help but wonder if Microsoft isn't being a bit careless, maybe even reckless, in this move. Windows 8 so heavily favors touchscreens that it would seem Microsoft is expecting touchscreen interfaces to completely, utterly and irrevocably obliterate, decimate, destroy, overtake, crush, splice, splay and accordian-pleat keyboard-and-mouse-based laptops and desktops, relegating them to antique computer museums.

I can use the iPad or TouchPad for a lot of things, but when I want to do a lot of typing or some heavy-duty work, please give me my keyboard and mouse.

 

[Layback Bear]

I just using Windows 7 without antimalware for 2 years and I don't see any virus on my computer. Then this year I decided to have antivirus for 6 months without virus infections warning.

I cant believe your bragging about being such a dumb ass :sarc:

He also thinks it's neat to run 7600 not activated.

 

[Layback Bear]

Going from Windows 8 to Windows 7 is called a upgrade.

 

[0pTicaL]

Going from Windows 8 to Windows 7 is called a upgrade.

LoL, indeed.

Microsoft needs to stop making drastic changes to their OS and start refining it.

 

[Layback Bear]

The only way Microsoft is going to make major improvements in Windows 7 is if the can charge for the improvements. Kind of like Windows 7 Special Edition.

 

[we4r90o]

Just a question: why would one downgrade from Windows 8 to Vista when they could just downgrade it to Windows 7? Just curious.

 

[UnknownReverent]

Just a question: why would one downgrade from Windows 8 to Vista when they could just downgrade it to Windows 7? Just curious.

Some people favor Vista over 7. Although that baffles me, it's true. I think they're doing this so that people will at least try Windows 8 because they know it's going to be horrible by what people have been saying so far. I've heard that they took out disabling the new user interface so you have to use it (Metro). I just think they need to stick with what they have and learn how to tweak it and make it better. Take Windows 7 and somehow make it run smoother, take less resources, faster, and so forth. Possibly changing some minor looks to it. They're taking something that's becoming much like XP was and throwing it out the Window just to try something new. Windows tends to make a decent product and then completely turn it around and make something horrible. Vista is a great example. Resource hog and all.

 

[Maxxwire]

Some people favor Vista over 7. Although that baffles me, it's true.
Vista is a great example. Resource hog and all.

I run Win 7 on my desktop and it is fast, it gets the job done right and I've enjoyed using it for over 2 years, but when it comes to resource consumption even with no program software running it uses about 3X the RAM that my Vista laptop uses because I took the time to cut back on unneeded services and implemented some memory conservation measures and now it runs lean like Vista has always had the potential to run provided some attention is paid to getting Vista to run as it should instead of just giving up on it because it wasn't perfect right from the start...

This is a screenshot I took of the Vista Task Manager with Vista using only 435 MB of RAM after 97 minutes where it takes Win 7 over 1 GB of RAM just to boot up. Unfortunately I found that Win 7 does not respond to the same memory reduction techniques that allow Vista to run so much leaner.

 

[UnknownReverent]

I've always seem to cut down on services and random stuff that I didn't need. It still seemed to take more than 7 has. Then again, I didn't always have the good components I do now. It could have made a difference, but I'm not willing to try to go back to Vista. Vista always seemed slower at everything including start up for me.

 

[Maxxwire]

I've always seem to cut down on services and random stuff that I didn't need. It still seemed to take more than 7 has. Then again, I didn't always have the good components I do now. It could have made a difference, but I'm not willing to try to go back to Vista. Vista always seemed slower at everything including start up for me.

My Win 7 desktop has a WEI score of 7.4 and the Vista laptop has the great disadvantage of having a WEI score of only 2.6 so it is hard to accurately compare the performance of the respective operating systems. That said, I'm very happy with Win 7 on the desktop and the much lighter resource usage of Vista on my laptop which has become the transport for my dedicated Music server.