Should You Switch to Windows 8?

[Nords]

Bah! Overlapping windows are so overrated. Windows 1.0 on DOS 5, running on this tricked out 286 turbo box. If I want web access, gotta boot Windows 3 and run Mosaic...

When I was blowing code at Naval Postgraduate School we could choose to work on a hotshot 386 running Win1.0. It was laughably clunky as we sat there on our Sun Unix workstations and Silicon Graphics Irix machines, feeling so superior next to that troglodyte of an OS.

25 years later my daughter sits there with her Macbook feeling so superior next to that troglodyte using Win7 on a "desktop"...

 

[photoguy]

The releases are not always backwards compatible with other applications. Unless there is a compelling need, why upgrade?

I always wait at least a few months after the release of a new OS and I double check to make sure that all of my peripherals have new drivers and work with the OS update. Even then, I update my laptop first and double check that all my stuff works before moving my desktop. No sense updating the OS and finding out I can't use my photo printer, or monitor calibrator, or scanner, etc.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have always immediately upgraded to the new Windows version and often even did the pre-release versions.

But, the research I've read about Windows 8 is really horrifying for anyone who isn't using a tablet. Even the positive reviews (few though they are) are not exactly glowing.

From what I can tell it is very nice for tablets. It may even be adequate for people who simply consume content -- although it offers few advantages for desktop users and those don't outweigh the disadvantages. It is not good at all for those who must do actually work on a desktop.

From what I can tell, I've seen no real reason for any desktop user to upgrade and it makes many routine tasks more difficult.

A sampling of articles:

Mobile Opportunity: Fear and Loathing and Windows 8

Windows 8: Microsoft’s radical operating system redesign will aggravate you to no end. - Slate Magazine

Final thoughts on Windows 8: A design disaster | ZDNet

 

[obgyn65]

I won't upgrade since I just bought a new PC and an ipad. Windows 8 will hopefully be installed on the next PC I will buy in a few years.

I dunno about taking the dive...

Should you switch to Windows 8?

From this article, I'm thinking by 2014, maybe it's time for me to switch from XP to Windows 7?

 

[Dawg52]

I use whatever comes on a PC when I buy one. Never bothered with upgrading. The only tinkering I do is with the browser. Currently use Google Chrome.

 

[Walt34]

Still using Windows 3.1 and I can't imagine how many discs it would take to upgrade all the way to Windows 8. Not gonna do it, I'm telling ya.

I'm almost that bad. I didn't go from Win98 to Win7 until I bought a new computer and the only reason I did that was because some software I wanted to use wouldn't run on Win98.

So unless I see a compelling reason I won't move to Windows 8.

 

[mickj]

Anyone using 16-bit Windows programs (under XP, for example) should be aware Vista/7/8 will not run them. IMO that's one of the bigger drawbacks since I still use/enjoy some 16-bit programs dating from the 1990s.

If you get the right version of windows 7, it has XP mode that you can run any windows XP compatible program.


edit: just saw that this was already answered earlier in the thread

 

[ERD50]

I have heard a lot of negatives about Windows 8 for PCs. Tablets maybe, put PCs

... so far I am unimpressed. I do not own a tablet, so why should my OS function as if written for one? ...

... But, the research I've read about Windows 8 is really horrifying for anyone who isn't using a tablet. ... it offers few advantages for desktop users and those don't outweigh the disadvantages. It is not good at all for those who must do actually work on a desktop.

This is one of the great advantages of Linux - you are not locked into any one configuration. How the 'desktop' looks and works is all defined by modules, and it is pretty easy to remove/add these modules and configure it the way you want.

The most popular Linux release, 'Ubuntu' made this move to a tablet-like interface, and a lot of users did not like it (me included). But you could tweak it to remove that interface, or just load an alternate distribution, like Xubuntu, which has the same underlying components, but a more traditional 'desktop'.

When I'm on the family's Macs, and there is some utility, or configuration change that I feel I need to make computing better on that system, half the time I find that someone sells that little utility for $30 or so. Heck, I might want 5 of those, and that adds up. In Linux, the users are providing these utilities, almost always for free. Sometimes they might be a bit limited or buggy, but often, they are better (and more configurable) than their commercial versions.

-ERD50

 

[braumeister]

I don't see a simple upgrade path from my current MacOS 10.7.4 to Windows 8, so I guess I'll stay with what I've got.

More seriously, I attended a course in another state last month, and as we all introduced ourselves in the first session, one person said he had recently worked for Microsoft. Another class member immediately asked him if he had any knowledge of Windows 8.

His reply surprised everyone: "I was on the Windows 8 development team, and it's a disaster. That's why I'm no longer with them."

Exactly how long ago that split came, and exactly why he left were left unasked, but it was certainly an indication that it might be wise to wait for 8.1 or so, rather than jumping in with 8.0.

 

[walkinwood]

The $40 upgrade cost from XP, Vista or Win7, will make it enticing.

I run vista and haven't had any of the issues that people talk about. DW on the other hand is running XP on an ancient notebook, so we're waiting till vendors ship W8 to upgrade or better still, ship with W7 with an upgrade coupon for W8.

 

[Nords]

I don't see a simple upgrade path from my current MacOS 10.7.4 to Windows 8, so I guess I'll stay with what I've got.

I'm not sure that even qualifies as an "upgrade"...