Windows 8, 8.1 & 10 versus Windows 7

swarfega said:

I recently had 7 installed after returning from 10 testing, and I found it much slower in both boot time and general usage than 8/8.1. If they keep that up with 10 then all is good.

This is the most true thing I've read in this topic. I have them dual booted together and 10 runs circles around 7, both in boot time and during general usage. Regardless of the new apps/features, the kernel itself in Windows 10 is far superior to that of 7, even on older hardware (Possibly in part due to slimming down the OS to run on mobile devices which don't have the juice of a desktop? ). At first I liked 7 better than 8 but after 8.1 I guess I'm used to both now and don't really have a preference, but the improvements that 10 brings over both ON THE SAME HARDWARE has me sold!

CountMike said:

I'm under impression that at least half W8/10 detractors never used it once they seen looks of Metro/ modern and labeled it "Finger using" OS while it's quite the opposite the case. Full blown desktop OS with elements to be used on smaller, portable devices.

That's quite an assumption! :) Although you obviously disagree, I believe that most people who have used both Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 would conclude that Metro was designed for touch screen devices. The reason I believe that Windows 8 and 8.1 are mobile orientated is because the Metro/Start interface is very similar to the "app" interface that you see on Apple iOS (iPad) and Android-based devices. Furthermore, there was a lot of speculation that Microsoft wanted to move away completely from the traditional Windows Desktop, which caused outrage amongst users. For what it's worth, I have Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 installed in a virtual environment (for the purpose of comparison); I possess good experience in all Windows operating system releases since Windows 3.1.

I just wanted to throw my two cents in on this topic. As I have 3 OS'es currently at home, I can tell you how I feel. I have my current (old) desktop (AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4Ghz) that is running an XP & Windows 7 dual boot, because I need to access XP for some x86 old applications that won't run in a x64 environment so I am keeping that as is. Personally I like those 2 operating systems because it had more of the desktop feel.

Then I have a mini book Acer Aspire E3-111-C32T 11.6" Intel N2830 (2.16GHz) 2GB 320GB HDD, with Windows 8.1. I notice the O/S is a little more snappy (8.1) even on this little guy but I had to install Start8 and 8 Gadget Pack to get the Win 7 feel to get rid of metro. I can't tell you how much the charms and metro interface bother me. I un-installed almost everything I could so which is good and otherwise it does the job.

As for 10 vs 7 in this whole thing, I forgot who posted but I agree with a comment made by a user that said Microsoft is going in the wrong direction. Yes they are. I personally believe they should rid the whole mobile, tablet markets because its an utter failure and concentrate on making operating systems for PC users. Apple iPhone and Androids (Samsung, HTC) dominate the phone market, these days no one wants a Windows Phone or a Blackberry, let alone a Nokia (if they make those anymore). If someone gets a tablet its usually an iPad or an Android device, even Chromebooks sell these days.

Microsoft messed up on Windows 8/8.1 but they are correcting that in Windows 10 with the return of the start menu and certain tweaks, however I personally am not fond of the Settings interface and all those built-in apps that we currently cannot uninstall (such as Xbox, music, etc, etc,). To me personally, this is BLOATWARE.

I will upgrade my factory reset my little guy and update 8.1 to Windows 10 but in hopes that I can remove all the things I don't need. I will switch off Cortana, do searches locally, keep only a local account, and hopefully it will allow me to remove all those applications I do not need such as XBOX, Music, and etc, I know they take up very little space but, personally its like doing a clean install of an O/S. Why do I want all these things there? I would personally remove STORE if I possibly could as it would be of no use to me.

I am certain I am not the only one who feels this way. I think Windows 10 is a step forward from 8.1 but I hope we will be able to customize it like we have in previous versions of Windows.

I will still continue to use my old desktop with XP/7 and I plan on building in the fall an i5 lga1150 computer and I will purchase an oem copy of 10 and use that as my main computer, making the switch after I play around with the release on my little notebook and customize it to my liking. :)

In the end, I like both Windows 7 and 10 (7 being my fav presently) but I hope that in the RTM of 10 we will be able to remove the things that for certain users are unnecessary.

Thanks if you read this novel :)

bromanbro said:

TLDR: Most people just want a simple desktop computer. Windows 7 provides that.

Settings is another example of MS still not understanding that they should appeal to the strengths of respective platforms, not make a "one-size-fits-all" that doesn't appeal the strengths of any platform. Windows 10 x86 should have Control Panel, while RT has Settings. Settings looks completely different from Explorer, task manager, even Edge using a dark theme.


ps: and the Xbox 1 is losing the console race ATM. Meaning that lots of people won't care about Windows 10's streaming features since they have a PS4. MS dropped the ball on that one.

^
Great post, I like this input and information. I agree with you on this.

Not just Xbox 1. Add to that Surface Pro, (tablet no one wants), Windows Phone (phone no one wants), Bing (defunct search engine). Yahoo gets more usage over Bing.