I have access to a copy of Windows 8 Professional for free.

[GoldenI]

However, I am trying to decide on whether or not I should install THAT, or Windows 7 Professional. I am building a gaming rig within the next week or so, and I am on the fence as to whether or not I am going to install Windows 7, or Windows 8. The reason as to why I am thinking more-so towards Windows 7 is because I have read that Windows 8 does not allow you to get rid of the Metro interface permanently; every time you log in, it requires that you disable it. I have also heard that it may be completely omitted from the OS in the near future.

Is it worth the installation??? It's either Windows 7 Professional, or it is Windows 8 Professional. What should I go with, and why?

 

[jaffar_fg]

I would suggest you to go for Windows 8 since lot of things are about to happen soon. Since you mentioned Gaming, there is a possibility of syncing between XBOX(if you have own) and you Gaming rig. Also, Soon we can expect PC games with Kinect Compatibility on Windows 8. I may be wrong but this what I believe. Hope it helps.

 

[patrucker]

Most review sites have shown a small performance increase in Windows 8. It's not earth shattering, but it is there. I have considered Windows 8 myself. Just waiting on the right deal.

 

[getochkn]

MS has said the latest DX won't be on 7, only on 8, so as new games come out and are DX 11.whatever, that will be only 8.

 

[unoriginal1]

Windows 8 free? No brainer. Not a fan of 8, but for the price of free I'd install it any day.

 

[Guest]

However, I am trying to decide on whether or not I should install THAT, or Windows 7 Professional. I am building a gaming rig within the next week or so, and I am on the fence as to whether or not I am going to install Windows 7, or Windows 8. The reason as to why I am thinking more-so towards Windows 7 is because I have read that Windows 8 does not allow you to get rid of the Metro interface permanently; every time you log in, it requires that you disable it. I have also heard that it may be completely omitted from the OS in the near future.

Is it worth the installation??? It's either Windows 7 Professional, or it is Windows 8 Professional. What should I go with, and why?

Do you already have access to Win 7 Pro? Or would you need to pay extra for that?

And there is no real world performance increase from Win 8 to Win 7 in current games. Heck toms did an article about this subject a week or 2 ago. I suggest you give it a read as it has some useful info.

The Metro UI is not as bad as everyone wants it to be. Most people who complain about it have never used it. Plus there is a tile to get to desktop, it just doesn't have the start button, but there are ways of getting it back.

 

[bryonhowley]

I have been running Windows 8 exclusively since the Windows 8 Release Preview and really like it. Metro is not bad at all plus it does start up faster and shutdown faster than Windows 7. Even finding and running apps and games takes less steps with Windows 8. As far as "get rid of the Metro interface permanently" the desktop is only one mouse click away from startup. Log in click Desktop and that is it.

As for running apps or games from the Start Menu or Metro there is less clicks with Metro.
With Windows 7 you click the Start Menu>All Programs>Scroll to the app or game then click it to run.
With Windows 8 you click the Metro Menu>Scroll to the app or game then click it to run.

As for games running faster with Windows 8 I have seen some that perform the same and a few that do seem to run faster it really depends on the game it seems. But I have not seen any that perform worse by any means. The other thing I really like is the fact that Windows 8 supports native 3D witch is really nice with my Panasonic 50" 3D plasma. My AMD FX rigs do seem to be a little faster with Windows 8 than Windows 7 plus all of my hardware on all of my rigs was fully supported.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

For a Gamer...7 every time...

All the best Brett

 

[chugot9218]

If I didn't have a free copy of 8 available as well, I would have just bought the cheap upgrade and waited to install it in the future. Although I am not too concerned, I have heard quite a bit about compatibility issues and such with 8, and as 7 works just fine for everything I have to do, I will stick with that until/if 8 becomes the new standard.

 

[littleleo]

I've seen the claim but all the test I've seen run don't show any improvement on gaming performance going to Windows 8. I'd go with Windows 7, and you can always go to Windows 8 later after all the bugs have been found, and fixed why be a guinea pig?

 

[unoriginal1]

Guess im kinda dumb in my post. I assumed you only had 8 for free. But now (bright light finally went off :/) I realize you can turn that 8 into a 7 key for free. Changing my opinion to install 7 .

 

[edogawa]

Windows 8, it's great, I've been running it since release day without any issues. It's incredibly easy to use metro and charms. It definitely boots faster and runs very well.

I highly recommend this, it's 5 dollars, it will bring back the Start Menu like it was never gone; you can still use metro and charms still. Plus this program will take you directly to the desktop. Besides the time I fiddled with Metro, I have not used it since I installed Start8, you can forget it was there.

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

Everything from applications to games run very well. Windows 7 feels kind of slow to me now that I exclusively use Windows 8. There is a lot of nice features and changes under the hood that I like too.

So basically, there is NO reason to buy Windows 8, it's slower and more expensive. Windows 8 upgrade can be used for clean install.

40$ Windows 8 upgrade + Start8 = 45$ = Great Deal for a Windows OS.

 

[chugot9218]

I cannot recall whether it was on here or Techcrunch, but they have an article on a process that lets you create a "charm" (whatever the taskbar program items are called now) that is basically a shortcut to the StartMenu executable, you don't need to spend any money for that. I think there is a workaround to get to desktop right away as well without having to buy any programs, but I do not know it offhand.