Windows 7 vs. 8

[Ca$h Money]

I've been using Windows Vista for the longest time and am ready to upgrade. I've heard mixed reviews about both, and am leaning towards 7, but wanted advice.

 

[Raynor]

i would say windows 7, its awesome and stable, as for windows 8 haven't used it myself and will not use it for my self

 

[Cloakedsphere]

Windows 7 is just a somewhat updated version of Vista. If you're looking for something new then go with 8.1. If you're looking for the same thing just with a little more stream line and optimized, go with 7.

 

[SturmBruder]

My problem with 8 is its too different than 7, mainly no start menu. I know but listen. I have 7 at work, and 7 on my desktop. Got 8 on my kids laptop and I don't spend enough time on it to know how to use everything. If a me and a 10 and 13 year old can't figure it out after 1 to 1-1/2 years then it is not intuitive. They basically use it for Youtube....sad.

I'd go with 7. Loves me some start menu!

 

[Cloakedsphere]

My problem with 8 is its too different than 7, mainly no start menu. I know but listen. I have 7 at work, and 7 on my desktop. Got 8 on my kids laptop and I don't spend enough time on it to know how to use everything. If a me and a 10 and 13 year old can't figure it out after 1 to 1-1/2 years then it is not intuitive. They basically use it for Youtube....sad.

I'd go with 7. Loves me some start menu!

There are free add-on's that bring back the start menu you know? They install themselves directly into your OS and not just into your main documents.

So the issue with the start menu is a very invalid one to be perfectly honest. :/

 

[Lava]

I upgraded from 7 to 8 around a year ago and love it. Sometimes some old programs have trouble with 8 but mainly everything else works fine. So if your looking to use your desktop and load it up with some old/rarely updated programs I would go for 7 it's the safer bet. But hands down Windows 8 is much better in terms of performance and speed. There is a lot of misguided hate for Windows 8 though.

As someone else said you can get the start menu back and you don't ever have to use metro if you don't want to.

 

[_Sushi]

Get Windows 8. There's literally no point in paying $$$ for an older license of anything. If the start menu really bugs you, you can install an aftermarket start menu.

 

[Ezekiel]

Get Windows 7 unless you feel the need to relearn things just because you can with Win8. Win 9 from the snapshots I've seen so far is going to go back to something far more similar to Vista/Win7. Win 8/8.1/8.1u1 is a dead end.

 

[Snipeye]

As someone else said you can get the start menu back and you don't ever have to use metro if you don't want to.

I wouldn't say misguided hate exactly. The hate was legitimate, but MS has made updates and tweaks since its original release. Win 8 has a stigma because of its bad launch, however.

I'm interested in seeing what Win 9 may be like, as I'm hearing rumors and leaks of it. It may be released next year...?

 

[FireHazard772]

Personally I like Windows 8 (particularly after updating to 8.1 which gives a 'start menu' of sorts - it's not the same as previous windows start menus but it's still useful), but I can kind of see why others don't like it, such as perhaps with the UI might take some time to get use to.

 

[Hellboy]

I'm using win 8 and I don't have any issues. I actually like it's fast boot time, faster responses, there are some difference between 7 and 8 but they become your end nature once you get used to them. If you still have reservations then wait till Win 9 comes out. It will be out next year with start menu and Cortana integration.

 

[Hellboy]

Also Win 9 public beta should be out this fall or general public and you can also try it out. I won't advice anyone to buy Win 7 because of its age. Its an older OS with few years of service/support life left and after that MS won't support it even if there are major bugs or zero day attacks. So IMO, do not go with win7.

 

[Johnny]

I personally like both operating systems. I have Windows 8.1 on my living room PC and my laptop and Windows 7 on my gaming PC. The only reason I have 7 still on my gaming rig is because I don't want to reformat. Not that it matters though because both perform similarly.

I'd probably go with whichever you could get cheapest if I were in your shoes.

 

[Assassin +]

Personally hate win8, my friend got a new laptop a few months ago and it came with win8. It took us a while to figure out how to really use it, it seems to have been meant more for touchscreen devices. Like some people have said, the start menu thing is annoying but I guess there are fixes for that. If win9 is coming out in a year or less I'd either wait or get whatever is cheaper until you can get win9. It always seems that every other year is good. XP was good, vista was bad, win7 was good, win8 bad. I've heard many complaints on win8 so hopefully microsoft learned from it and win9 will be good again.