I'd say the most obvious performance improvements are boot times. It could just be my SSD, but now my system boots up in 15-20 seconds and programs instantly open afterwards. And there's also the price. If Windows 8 cost $200 then I would never upgrade, lol.
I'm really curious to try 8 on my older laptop, but sadly the license says I can only install it on one PC.
McDougal,
Cheers for the details. Personally with the prices falling on top notch SSD's they are the single most transformational upgrade one can add to their system.
I can't help but say that a well-maintained Windows installation of any version will almost always boot up immediately, and regardless of HDD/SDD. Every single instance of Windows booting up slowly that I've seen to date had to do with underlying hardware or software issues, like HDDs going south or too much stuff loading on startup.
Besides, if we're going to talk about boot up times on a properly maintained installation of Windows on equal hardware, any of the Windows 9x operating systems (not to mention any of its predecessors) would smoke Windows 8 completely. :P
Don't disagree with the first part of your statement, with a clean install all Windows OS will boot quickly.
'would smoke Windows 8 completely'
How do you come to that conclusion?
Personal experience or some other source, just curious.
I find the startup and shut down on Windows 8 to be very fast, even on older hardware.
Sorry for getting slightly off-topic, but I don't think it's entirely true that a well-maintained install always boots instantly.
Back when i had 7 and a regular HDD, my boot time was around a minute (on a clean install), and the older family PCs are longer (of course weaker hardware, but OS is still maintained properly).
It isn't Windows 8 that boots quick, it is the SSD. I have Win 7 with an SSD and I get the 20 second boots also. I just looked at your specs, we have the same CPU.I'd say the most obvious performance improvements are boot times. It could just be my SSD, but now my system boots up in 15-20 seconds and programs instantly open afterwards. And there's also the price. If Windows 8 cost $200 then I would never upgrade, lol.
I'm really curious to try 8 on my older laptop, but sadly the license says I can only install it on one PC
Interesting. I haven't tested Win7 on my SSD yet because I feel like 120GB isn't large enough for a dual-boot. I've heard some people say that if you fill an SSD to the rim it loses performance. Considering I've only got 36GB free, I don't think a dual boot is worth it.It isn't Windows 8 that boots quick, it is the SSD. I have Win 7 with an SSD and I get the 20 second boots also. I just looked at your specs, we have the same CPU.I'd say the most obvious performance improvements are boot times. It could just be my SSD, but now my system boots up in 15-20 seconds and programs instantly open afterwards. And there's also the price. If Windows 8 cost $200 then I would never upgrade, lol.
I'm really curious to try 8 on my older laptop, but sadly the license says I can only install it on one PC
And the i3-2120 is a great CPU, isn't it
Yes, it is great. I got my whole rig in July. It is really fast. In November I got a i5 laptop with Win 7 and a HDD. It is very slow compared to the i3 with the SSD. I was surprised at that. I am going to have to breakdown and get a SSD for the i5 I guess. :)
Only thing I'm worried about is if I start playing CPU-intensive games. Being only a dual-core, it might struggle a bit. But I'm not doing much of that, so it's not an issue.
I've got a 4 year old ASUS with a Core2Duo that could really use an SSD, but I don't use it much and it doesn't have a battery anymore (went through two dead batteries lol) so I don't think it's worth it.
I came to that conclusion owing to the fact operating systems were inherently simpler back then. They simply had less stuff that needed loading on startup. Assuming newer hardware like today's CPUs and HDDs worked with Windows 9x, which from their POV are magnitudes faster than hardware of their era, Windows 9x probably will smoke Windows 8 in a head on bootup match.
Both my Windows 7 machine (in my system specs) and my Windows XP machine running on a Pentium 4 2.66GHz and 1GB RAM boot up in at least under 20~30 seconds from the feeling I get with daily use, I admit however that I never actually timed them with a stopwatch. I might do that some time if I don't feel lazy about it. :PSorry for getting slightly off-topic, but I don't think it's entirely true that a well-maintained install always boots instantly.
Back when i had 7 and a regular HDD, my boot time was around a minute (on a clean install), and the older family PCs are longer (of course weaker hardware, but OS is still maintained properly).
Both Windows installations (both HDD-based by the way) also have a couple non-essential stuff that I have set to run at startup for convenience reasons, but otherwise they're both well-maintained and fast as ever to the point I don't notice too much of a difference with my dad's Windows 7 desktop which uses an SSD.
Of course, YMMV and factors like older or underpowered hardware will definitely negatively impact Windows bootup times. I just wanted to point out that the perk of of Windows 8's fast boot times that everyone is touting around isn't something that is unique to Windows 8 alone. Regardless of HDD/SSD, all versions of Windows (even Windows ME and Vista!) can achieve fast boot times and answer one's calls for performance if they're taken care of properly. :)
Quote