Would you do this and switch to Win 8?

[bru]

I bought a laptop about a month ago. It was a pretty good deal and I grabbed it as I thought I wanted Win7 since that is what my desktop is and new Win7 machines would be disappearing soon. Also my reading about Win8 didn't thrill me. Since that time I have watched the deals closely.

Now Win8 is out and the very first day I can get essentially the same laptop for a few bucks less. And I imagine there will be even more deals.

I really thought Win8 suits itself better to touchscreen and of course this laptop doesn't have it and I understand not many do at this point and those that do certainly won't be low priced.

So would anyone here buy the Win 8 computer?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Why consider it since you don't have a touchscreen and by your own admission, your reading about Win 8 didn't thrill you?

Many would consider Win 8 a downgrade. Why volunteer for aggravation?

 

[bru]

Buyers remorse I guess.

And Win8 is the newest, fastest ,etc. Reviews seemed to have turned positive as well. If I wasn't slightly informed I most likely would have not cared and probably gotten something with Win8.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Buyers remorse I guess.

And Win8 is the newest, fastest ,etc. Reviews seemed to have turned positive as well. If I wasn't slightly informed I most likely would have not cared and probably gotten something with Win8.

I can understand buyer's remorse, but......

You knew Win 8 was due soon when you chose to go with Win 7 a month ago.

You informed yourself and found Win 8 to be less than thrilling.

The positive reviews you see don't over-ride the negative conclusions you came to---justifiably in my opinion since you are a mouse and keyboard guy, at least on this hardware.

Stand by and watch for a few weeks when I think you will start to hear uproars from people who just blindly bought new PCs with Win 8 without doing any research such as you did.

What would you have thought if you just blindly bought Win 8 without knowing anything about its interface and what you would encounter on the first boot?

 

[bassfisher6522]

What you could do, as I have done along with many others, is partition your hard drive and install the Release Preview (beta) and try it out. This is a dual boot setup and works very well for trying out new and different operating systems.

I tried this out on my desktop and with older hardware I had a lot of driver issues and just said no to that. Then, recently I tried it on my laptop and it worked surprisingly well. There are some minor differences from the RTM version vs the RP version. Overall it was a nice experience. It took some getting use to, I found it a bit cumbersome or even somewhat backwards but that's probably do to the lack of a touch screen, although I can't verify this.

So, try it and you decide whether you like it or not.

 

[whs]

Windows 8 and the mouse do not go very well together. I would stay with /7.

 

[nasultan1987]

I wouldn't upgrade to windows 8 as it isn't as good as windows 7. It only suits machines with a touch screen or a tablet. If you are a old windows user you will probably not like this OS. If you are a new windows you will not find it intuitive. I don't know what Microsoft were thinking, they should have created windows 8 and a windows 8 mobile.

 

[CreepinJesus]

Windows 8 start screen and the mouse do not go very well together. I would stay with /7.

Fixed your quote.

The positive reviews of Windows 8 all seem to be the ones that have worked out there's a heck of a lot more to it than the new Start screen.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I certainly wouldn't consider buying a new laptop, but you also can't base your OS decisions on reading. Nothing takes the place of trying it out. I wasn't thrilled with Windows 8, until I spent more time with it. After installing Start8 1.0, I'm pretty much decided I'm going to Windows 8 on all of my systems.

 

[strollin]

Windows 8 and the mouse do not go very well together. I would stay with /7.

I don't understand this statement. Win 8 works perfectly fine with a mouse for me. It's designed with a touchscreen in mind but a mouse works fine.

 

[whs]

Windows 8 and the mouse do not go very well together. I would stay with /7.

I don't understand this statement. Win 8 works perfectly fine with a mouse for me. It's designed with a touchscreen in mind but a mouse works fine.

The mouse 'works' - but it is a cumbersome mouse interface. After all, it is a touchscreen optimized interface.

 

[strollin]

Windows 8 and the mouse do not go very well together. I would stay with /7.

I don't understand this statement. Win 8 works perfectly fine with a mouse for me. It's designed with a touchscreen in mind but a mouse works fine.

The mouse 'works' - but it is a cumbersome mouse interface. After all, it is a touchscreen optimized interface.

I guess then that we can agree to disagree here since I don't feel the interface is anymore cumbersome to use with a mouse than any other GUI I've used.

 

[DeaconFrost]

After all, it is a touchscreen optimized interface.

By default, yes, but after installing Start8, I've found that I can use the normal desktop to be productive, and the newer, Modern/Metro whatever UI as a nice addition...but not where I want to be most of the time.

 

[bru]

A well respected Tech writer in our local paper reviewed Win 8. Here are some excerpts...remember I did not say this, he did.

Windows 7 catered to an aging audience who valued the comfort of the familiar over the opportunities of modernization. Windows 8 shows Microsoft’s determination to remain a relevant and important OS in 2015.

These gesture-based controls shine brightly on a multitouch tablet (like the Samsung tablet provided to me for testing). There are keyboard shortcuts as well, and it’s possible to engage them from external input devices. Even if you aren’t using a tablet, the benefits are immediate. Microsoft has taken heroic measures to reduce visual clutter. The result is a UI that’s not entirely unlike staring out at a Zen contemplation garden.

Besides simple usability, The Land Of Tiles And Magic offers a second serious benefit: consistency across multiple classes of devices. When you move from your 27-inch office desktop to your 13-inch notebook and then to your iPad-like Surface tablet, it’s all the same app with the same UI — and Windows keeps your docs and settings synced between the three on its own.

I can give Windows 8 an enthusiastic and unreserved recommendation. I don’t think I’m even going too far to call it the most exciting step forward in desktop operating systems since Mac OS X 10.0.

It’s a fresh look that shows an eagerness to progress beyond the familiar interface concepts that were considered hot stuff way back when Reagan was president. Windows 8 is gorgeous, but not at the expense of power.

Several things in this hit home including the fact that I eventually want a tablet and would prefer it be Windows based so why not have my laptop be Windows 8 too.

But will a Win 8 lappy network well with a Win 7 desktop? I basically use the laptop for surfing so would going to Win 8 be a waste of its technology?

A dual partition sounds like a good idea but I don't think I am comfortable enough to do it.

I guess I'll spend some time on the Win 8 forum and see what I can glean.

Ahh technology...

 

[boohbah]

The result is a UI that’s not entirely unlike staring out at a Zen contemplation garden.

i can just see all those Buddhists contemplating..."oh why oh why did i go with 8"

 

[whs]

I don’t think I’m even going too far to call it the most exciting step forward in desktop operating systems since Mac OS X 10.0.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The only way I would buy a Win 8 machine is if I could upgrade back to Win 7.

 

[bru]

The only way I would buy a Win 8 machine is if I could upgrade back to Win 7.

Actually I heard you can. A machine with Win 8 preinstalled can go to Win 7 but if you upgraded your Win 7 to Win 8 there is no going back.

 

[Layback Bear]

Well lets see a news paper person telling us Windows 8 is great because it looks and works like a Mac. I'm for sure that is not a selling point.

 

[DeaconFrost]

But will a Win 8 lappy network well with a Win 7 desktop? I basically use the laptop for surfing so would going to Win 8 be a waste of its technology?

If you network properly, without the use of "wizards" and such, networking between multiple versions of Windows has never been an issue. The principles behind Windows networking haven't changed since Windows 2000 was released.