Why do you prefer Windows 7 over Windows 8.1 ?

[ceo54]

Hi,

While Windows 7 is an excellent piece of software and I might add most successful one too, Windows 8.1 is just better in every way or so I thought.

I personally hate Windows 10. I don't like telemetry, forced updates and communism but Windows 8.1 has got nothing of sorts. Like Windows 7, user have full control over the OS and it's operations. It has a solid kernal. I've been using it for six years and never seen any crash or BSOD's. It has got various major improvements, fastboot, WASAPi, DPi scaling etc that Windows 7 doesn't have. Add modern Task manager to that list as well.

I concur that Metro UI doesn't suit everybody but isn't there all sorts of utilities to accomplish Windows 7 like UI, Startisback, OldNewExplorer etc ?

So, why do you prefer Windows 7 over Windows 8.1 ?

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to convince anyone to use Windows 8.1, I just wanna explore the advantages Windows 7 may have over 8.1 that I'm not aware of.

 

[Megahertz07]

"The best software is the one you know how to use it"

People (like you) that like or use Win 8, are very little on the Windows share (6.95%).
Win 7 still has 35.6%

Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | StatCounter Global Stats

 

[ceo54]

"The best software is the one you know how to use it"

People (like you) that like or use Win 8, are very little on the Windows share (6.95%).
Win 7 still has 35.6%

Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | StatCounter Global Stats

Knowing workarounds the software just doesn't cut it. If a certain software acts in a specific way one doesn't want it to, looking for alternatives is an obvious choice. Same as software might not do stuff one wants it to do regardless of how they know to use it.

Last time I checked Windows 7 was up at 49% and Windows 10 was at 26% seems like things are changing for worst . If Windows 10 had failed that might have altered the direction the development is going towards. Apparently ain't gonna happen. That means more learning, tweaking, testing and learning again. I use Windows 7 too on my backup PC. I know I'll have to leave both Windows 7 as well as Windows 8 when I upgrade to a newer hardware because of the driver limitations. Heck I'll switch to Linux. That would mean learning would pay off instead of wasting my time with Windows 12.:devil:

Thank you for posting the stats though. It's the very reason I wanted to understand what people find so appalling about Windows 7.

 

[file3456]

NSFW Francis Hates Windows 8 - YouTube

 

[townsbg]

Knowing workarounds the software just doesn't cut it. If a certain software acts in a specific way one doesn't want it to, looking for alternatives is an obvious choice. Same as software might not do stuff one wants it to do regardless of how they know to use it.

I've contemplated going with 8.1 or 2012 r2 when 7 goes out of support and I've even set up virtual machines for testing but I don't like the UI. Granted there are tweaks and I would definitely need classic shell but I'd rather not need that. That's why I'm not rushing to install it and in fact I'm going to take my time. I'm not in a hurry to spend all that time setting up a new system especially if it requires a lot of tweaking. Really I could never get the UI to look the same as 7.

 

[BuckSkin]

It is amazing how little I actually know about what I am doing; however, I have been appointed the computer fixer guy in my family/neighborhood; I guess because they know a whole lot less...
That being said, several of my relatives have Win 8.1 on their machines and I absolutely abhor it.
Besides just being ridiculous, it is my experience that 8.1 has more unnecessary little problems that cause inexperienced users to have to come hunting for help, the most common problem being that, if for whatever reason the machine shuts down and must be started, although they have the correct password, they can get no further than the log-in screen.

If I had to abandon Windows 7, I would abandon Windows completely and go Linux.

 

[ceo54]

I've contemplated going with 8.1 or 2012 r2 when 7 goes out of support and I've even set up virtual machines for testing but I don't like the UI. Granted there are tweaks and I would definitely need classic shell but I'd rather not need that. That's why I'm not rushing to install it and in fact I'm going to take my time. I'm not in a hurry to spend all that time setting up a new system especially if it requires a lot of tweaking. Really I could never get the UI to look the same as 7.

Well you can. Get OldNewExplorer, a theme that was ported from Windows 7 to 8, Aeroglass (for system wide transparency) and StartIsBack and voila! This means you're essentially running Windows 7 shell over 8's kernal.

 

[ceo54]

It is amazing how little I actually know about what I am doing; however, I have been appointed the computer fixer guy in my family/neighborhood; I guess because they know a whole lot less...
That being said, several of my relatives have Win 8.1 on their machines and I absolutely abhor it.
Besides just being ridiculous, it is my experience that 8.1 has more unnecessary little problems that cause inexperienced users to have to come hunting for help, the most common problem being that, if for whatever reason the machine shuts down and must be started, although they have the correct password, they can get no further than the log-in screen.

If I had to abandon Windows 7, I would abandon Windows completely and go Linux.

I never heard or experienced that specific problem you mentioned. I've had a few share of problems on Windows 7 but nothing so far on 8.1 I've been using it for six years, it's solid as steel. My Windows 7 breaks sometimes but 8.1 never in my living memory.

However I'm curious to know what these problems you mention that make inexperienced users run for help ?

 

[sdowney717]

I have windows 7 on just one PC only because of WMC. And I have a Macrium backup of the drive.
I did not like windows 8 at all, but I like 7 and 10. Honestly the tracking of 10 does not bother me very much.
Google also tracks you.

Has anyone used the TOR browser? I found Fox-news prevents a connection if your using TOR.

 

[johnhoh]

It takes very little effort to make windows 8 look and feel like windows 7. Download classicshell...
Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

and also check out the few tweaks here...
Here's how to make Windows 8.1 more like Windows 7 (in case you're weird like that) | Windows Central

My desktop, taskbar, start menu, and explorer have not changed their look or function in 20 years. No reason to!

 

[feetand nches]

It is amazing how little I actually know about what I am doing;

Hahaha, that is so funny...thanks!

Windows 8 is fine if you use it enough and can get on with it well. I have it on one machine and it runs very well. It's just a little quirky, getting around and finding the tools I want quickly even with Classic Shell. Windows 7 is just simple and logical, and maybe just what we are familiar with.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Tech community is always trying to change things for the better, when they are just making things more complicated. Not to mention some of us are forced to keep learning all this junk. Windows 10 is hard to keep up with, all the changes every few months it seems. I think there should be an alternative to 10, like an advanced Windows 7, with all the old interface but the base of 10. Not to mention trying to make one device connect to every other device on the planet is getting quite confusing and
complicated.

 

[Megahertz07]

There should be an alternative to 10, like an advanced Windows 7, with all the old interface but the base of 10.

That will be amazing. A win 10 core with the GUI of win 7. A Win 7 SE.

Does anyone know how to create a web petition list to collect signatures and send to M$?

 

[Brds7t7]

I dual boot both 7 and 8.1, and I actually really enjoy using 8.1. I'd much rather use it over the Windows 10 bloat.

I strip out all the metro apps and the store (never had any use for them at all), apply classic shell to get the Start Menu back, install OldNewExplorer, make a few group policy changes to disable certain things like OneDrive, and it works extremely well for me.
It has some minor annoyances, but nothing that stops me from using it. It opens up my programmes a lot snappier than 7. I know it's had a lot of hate, but I've never had any issues with it.

Windows 7 is still my go-to OS, I'll continue to run it for a few years. But, I have no issues running 8.1 once I've tweaked it to how I like it, and it certainly got better after all the major updates. Plus, it doesn't annoy the c**p out of me like Windows 10 does. I'm really not interested in an OS that has major updates twice a year. I just want one that runs my programmes well. That's all I need.

 

[dijon6444]

Hmm I dont know why, probably because Windows 8.1 always has these updates, which takes time on a big hard drive like mine.