What do I lose moving from Win 7 to 8.1?

[Vinton]

Hi all,

First time posting here. I know the debate about 7 vs. 8 and 8.1 is endless; it mainly seems to be about the new interface trying to cover all platforms and annoyance at having to learn the new layout.

My 3-year-old Asus laptop (Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit) is due for a refresh, and before I pay extra for a Win 7 "downgrade", i thought I'd ask what Win 7 functionality and features I would actually lose if/when i switch to 8.1?

I'm not a fan of Metro or the Start screen, and don't need a touchscreen, but I'm happy to install StartIsBack and I also don't mind taking the time to learn where controls and functions are now accessed.

But "under the hood", is there anything important that's gone? I understand that Back-up and Restore is not what it once was but I use Acronis. Can I still? I don't want Windows Media Center, so that's fine, but can I still play DVD-Video by using VLC and third-party codecs? (I understand that MS didn't want to pay to include a DVD-Video codec).

Is it true that Win 8.1 is more robust? Is it true that's it's more secure? Are there still the same Windows MMC Snap-ins?

Thanks for any comments or insight you could give.

 

[ICantPickParts]

Hello!
To answer some of your questions, Yes you can still use VLC on windows 8.1, and 8. But before you upgrade i think you should check to see if your computer has windows 8.1 drivers. There will be some games that wont work on windows 8.1 but to fix that you can install APPLOC like i did and it fixes the problem. I did find the searching in windows 8/8.1 is way better then 7 but that might just be a preferences.

 

[Urzu1000]

I've been using Windows 8 since the preview (beta) version a while before it came out. Coming from Windows 7, I initially didn't particularly enjoy Windows 8. Generally speaking, I have not had a single program that worked on 7 not work on 8. There's a small program you can get from Stardock called Start8. It costs about $5, and it makes Windows 8 look just like Windows 7. It's magical. So far, that's the best program I've found for doing that. The other I've tried (around a half dozen) are rather . . . iffy.

As for some of the benefits of upgrading to Windows 8, ignoring the big UI dispute, it's an excellent operating system. Here's a list of what it changed for me.

* It improved boot speed over Windows 7.
* Windows 8 has built in features (such as being able to double click ISO to mount them, and opening rar files), which cut down on the amount of programs you need to have.
* It has EXTREMELY helpful "refresh" and "reset" options, the latter of which
allows you to reinstall Windows without requiring a disk.
* Various other benefits that don't come to mind at the moment.

I'm by no means a Windows 8 fan boy, but I greatly enjoy the functionality and improvements that this operating system provides. You can easily install third party codecs or whatever else catches your fancy.

Also, to answer your final question about how secure it is, the Defender that's built into Windows 8 has Microsoft Security Essentials built into it.
It will function as a sufficient anti-virus on it's own, but you may wish to get
a second anti-virus if security is a huge thing with you.

Hope I helped.

 

[Vinton]

Thanks to both. This helps a lot.

 

[DukiNuki]

Hey there i used to Love windows 7 & have always refused Windows 8.1

But man after i installed it it was way much faster in ALL games . new games will be Optimized for windows 8.1 & older games will benefit from windows 8.1's performance .

SO Performance wise : windows 8.1 wins



you will not lose anything , infact youll GAIN .


i hate windows 8.1 Metro or the Start screen & other changes , & its not just you & me . But there is this magical lite software called " START8 " which can bring the windows 7 start menu back & lots of other things . you can customize your start menu with it . keep the good stuff of windows 8 & remove & disable what you dont want .

LET me make this simple

Install windows 8

1.Ribbon Disabler to restore windows 7 toolbar
2.Google for a reg file to remove the lockscreen to go directly to loginscreen
3.use START 8 to restore windows 7 start menu style , you can switch between the styles with one click , you can costumize ALOT more by this tool
4.Theres a powershell command ( windows 8 cmd , you have both powershell & cmd on windows 8 dont worry ) to remove all preinstalled apps that comes with windows 8.1

these 4 Steps can keep Windows 8.1 useful stuff & get Windows 7 functionality back for you , its like having windows 7 with much better performance & look so thats all about Gain .