Is Windows 8/8.1 really that bad?

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kylebraxton

kylebraxton

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I created a thread on here a while back and all of your replies helped me greatly and after searching through numerous review sites that didn't really give me enough help, I thought I'd come back here.

I'm currently in the progress of getting a new laptop. As someone who has used Windows 7 for the past four years, I'm a little scared of Windows 8.1. I've read several review site saying how terrible and confusing it is, while I've seen others which are much more positive.

Like my current laptop, I would be using it mainly for searching the internet (for long periods of time), studying and photoshop. I won't be using it for gaming or anything that big or drastic. People who are using it for gaming and anything drastic, seem to be the ones who have gave it bad reviews. So my main question(s) is, is Windows 8/8.1 really that bad? And for the things I just said I would be mainly using the laptop for, would Windows 8 be fine enough for me?
 
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synthaside
For work I regularly hop between windows 7 windows 8/8.1 Server 2003 server 2008R2 and servers 2012 and 2012R2.

The differences are in usability only , server 2012 and windows 8 are excellent in terms of resource management boot times stability and ease of use but require a little bit of getting used to in terms of how you use your machine

Not having a start bar on screen was a little bit irksome at first, until you get used to using the windows key on your keyboard. In 8.1 / server 2012r2 they brought an icon in the bottom left back until you get used to using the windows key on your keyboard rather than point and click .

There are also some excellent improvements to window management allowing you to snap things in much more...
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xTempered

xTempered

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The big thing everyone hates about it is that that Metro bullshit just doesnt work on PCs that type of UI should be strictly used for tablets. The second thing people hate is the Start menu is gone. Everyone says bring the Start button back. They brought it back but it just leads to Metro. What most mean to say is Bring back the Start Menu.

If you have grown accustom to Win7 & the way it navigates stick with it theres no reason to go learn a basically brand new UI when Win7 is still perfectly fine. Microsoft is still supporting it and will continue to do so for quite a while. (Full support for XP just ended April 8 2014 after saying they werent going to support it after 2011).
 
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the great randini

the great randini

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no, its the best os windows has made. you do have to learn, how to find apps in the start menu and navigating is different, but it grows on you.


some of the cool things they added that I like is the task bar and quick launch will go across multiple monitors. you can have a different background on each monitor that changes at a preset amount of time on its own. you get both a metro, and standard version of ie. this comes in handy if you play old games like me sometimes, and they don't support the same resolution that your gaming monitor supports. by using metro version of ie, you can watch Netflix on one monitor and play the old game on the other without it shifting the browser halfway onto the third monitor, like when using the standard version of ie.
 
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kylebraxton

kylebraxton

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My current laptop that has Win7 is constantly messing up and after four years of use, it's time to get another. I use this laptop to study full-time and numerous times it has randomly shut down while I'm doing work and I've lost it. I don't want to get a Win8 laptop, it's more that I need to get another laptop and unfortunately it's all about Win8 now. The whole metro thing doesn't worry me. My main worry is that if programs like chrome, photoshop, word etc still work on it/be downloadable? (I know that sounds like a stupid question but I've seen reviews saying they've had problem downloading programs)
 
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kylebraxton

kylebraxton

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Well this certainly calms my nerves a little. I mean, the laptop I'm purchasing isn't exactly cheap and I didn't want to buy it, start using it and then I find out I can't do the things I used to do on my Win7 laptop. But thanks for your input, it's greatly appreciated. :)
 
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synthaside

synthaside

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For work I regularly hop between windows 7 windows 8/8.1 Server 2003 server 2008R2 and servers 2012 and 2012R2.

The differences are in usability only , server 2012 and windows 8 are excellent in terms of resource management boot times stability and ease of use but require a little bit of getting used to in terms of how you use your machine

Not having a start bar on screen was a little bit irksome at first, until you get used to using the windows key on your keyboard. In 8.1 / server 2012r2 they brought an icon in the bottom left back until you get used to using the windows key on your keyboard rather than point and click .

There are also some excellent improvements to window management allowing you to snap things in much more convenient ways .

On the application support side ..... I have yet to find something that windows 8 cant be either made to run using compatibility modes for windows 7 or XP .... some dogey old .NET 1.0 Client applications have had issues but that's due to them using old unsupported code bases and anything you are likely to be using .
 
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rhapdog

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Windows 8 will run everything Windows 7 will run, with the exception of a few drivers have to be different. Software-wise, Windows 8.1 is the best way to go for compatibility.

I use Photoshop, Comodo Dragon (more secure Chrome clone), and a slew of other programs that I was also worried about at first.

If you'll take the time to get to know Windows 8.1 with an open mind, and stop being worried about start menu this and metro that, I think you'll find you will like it very much.

You can configure 8.1 to automatically go the Apps view, and display the Desktop applications first, so that it behaves just like a start menu without all the active tiles and such. Yes, it is currently full screen, but a more classic start menu will be returning fairly soon, and I have seen a screenshot of it in the works.

Personally, the way I can use the mouse wheel to scroll horizontally through a full screen of icons that are properly arranged, I can find my applications much more quickly than with the old start menu, but that might just be me.

There are a lot of things that Windows 8.1 will do that make things so much easier when you learn them, that I honestly never want to go back to an older OS again, period.
 
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R

Ringoko

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The only reason I went with Windows 8 is it was much much cheaper for a full version DVD, like half the price. Having used it for a couple of weeks it's not terrible, I can find my way around it but Windows 7 is just so much cleaner and intuitive. Also the programs that make it look like windows 7 are clunky workarounds that introduce new problems in my experience.

So unless its much cheaper, I'd recommend sticking with 7 for sure.
 
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rhapdog

rhapdog

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You don't have to use programs to make it look like Windows 7, and just telling Windows 8.1 to work like Windows 7 is currently automatic if you're on a desktop with mouse and keyboard, at least if you've gotten the Update 1.

The only thing different is the start menu. Classic Shell is a 3rd party app that will give you a Windows 7 style start menu, and does not introduce any new problems. There are several programs that try to make 8.1 look more like 7 that do cause problems, but all you really need to add is the Start Menu, which should be coming from Microsoft within the next few months in a free update anyway, problem free, and possibly as early as August 2014. Once that arrives, there should be no excuses to continue to use Windows 7 in my opinion. Personally, I still see no reason, because I've been using PStart even when on XP and 7.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Most of the problems people have run into are driver related and are a direct result of trying to run windows 8 or 8.1 on machines that were designed and intended to run windows XP, windows Vista and Windows 7. In most cases there are updated drivers or workarounds for them but in some cases, well, you can fit a square peg in a round hole but have you seen the peg and the hole afterwards? It's a mess. Which is most complaints are about. It being a mess. There have been some issues with updates from 8 to 8.1, but that's been the case with some of the series of updates ever since Windows ME. As far as the start menu and desktop are concerned, I've been using "Start is back" since the release of Windows 8 and have had no issues at all with it. If you buy a machine designed to run Windows 8 you should not have any problems beyond what are possible with any new machine or OS.
 
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