Windows 8, 8.1 & 10 versus Windows 7

Fafhrd · 08 Jul 2015

Fileformatconverters.exe Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats from Official Microsoft Download Center will allow older Office editions to open the docx and xlsx formats.

Although MS don't mention it, even Office 97 programs work with it! Note the compact toolbars that could not possibly work effectively with touch screens - but are absolutely brilliant with a mouse. Office 97 does a full or custom install in less than 5 minutes on Windows 8 or 10 compatible hardware, and the component applications are much snappier than their modern counterparts. When you print your documents, you can not tell which edition was used.

Windows 8, 8.1 & 10 versus Windows 7-screenshot-8-.png

I think that In XP and possibly Windows 7, Excel and Powerpoint could use the functionality of the fileformatconverters to save and open recent formats directly from the file save and file open dialogs, but that functionality has been lost in Windows 8 and 10, but I may not be remembering correctly.

Geneo · 08 Jul 2015

I don't know if anybody mentioned this, but besides DX12, you will get support for all new technologies that may not be available in older windows versions. For instance, Windows 7 doesn't support UASP for USB 3.0 storage devices. You won't see support for USB 3.1 (at least for Windows 7 I bet). For new processor architectures new features will not be supported. As far as future technologies, older Windows are more than likely a dead end.

Tony K · 08 Jul 2015

Fafhrd said:

...... but I may not be remembering correctly.

Thanks for that, Fafhrd. :)

Lol. You did a lot better than me. I couldn't remember term "Compatibility Pack".

groze · 08 Jul 2015

Geneo said:

I don't know if anybody mentioned this, but besides DX12, you will get support for all new technologies that may not be available in older windows versions. For instance, Windows 7 doesn't support UASP for USB 3.0 storage devices. You won't see support for USB 3.1 (at least for Windows 7 I bet). For new processor architectures new features will not be supported. As far as future technologies, older Windows are more than likely a dead end.

Geneo
Actually windows 7 can support USB 3.0 using third party drivers.

As far as Uas it depends on your motherboard.

Source

That site also has some other workarounds to make UAS work.

A lot of windows 7 computers didn't come with USB 3.0 slots, so they won't benfeit even if they upgraded to windows 10.

lehnerus2000 · 08 Jul 2015

groze said:

Geneo
Actually windows 7 can support USB 3.0 using third party drivers.

I installed an expansion card with 4 USB 3.0 ports (my motherboard had 1 port).

As an additional bonus, the driver for the new expansion card provided better performance.
I had to disable the motherboard USB 3.0 driver though.

Geneo · 08 Jul 2015

groze said:

Geneo
Actually windows 7 can support USB 3.0 using third party drivers.

Yes I know that. I have such a setup after-all

As far as Uas it depends on your motherboard.

Source

That site also has some other workarounds to make UAS work.

A lot of windows 7 computers didn't come with USB 3.0 slots, so they won't benfeit even if they upgraded to windows 10.

It won't work in Windows 7 without windows driver support for it too. I can tell you for a fact that Asus does not support UASP on Windows 7, at least with the Intel USB chipset, even though that article and early Asus marketing implied it did. All the Asus supports for 7 is USB boost which is useless and not the same. On the same board, UASP works on WT0TP.

As mentioned, you can get a add on card for usb 3.0, 3.1 too I suppose for Windows 7. So maybe that was a bad example. Maybe a better one is new power management features on new Mainboard/chipsets.

But my point is sooner than later there will be technology Windows 7 or 8 can't support but Windows 10 will (first instance being DX 12), since W10 will continually evolve to support new things.

Delicieuxz · 09 Jul 2015

Windows 7 is not old or worsening. It will be supported still for 5 years, which means that we've just recently passed its mid-life. And the 5 years of further support is just what is already guaranteed from Microsoft. It could turn out to actually be a lot more - that all depends on what the demand for it is in 5 years.

And Windows 7 is by no means outdated by other Windows OSs. After all, the biggest selling feature of Windows 10 is that it has the start menu - which was also the biggest selling point of Windows 8, once it was added.

Because there are feature removals in Windows 10, and other changes in customizability, in some ways Windows 10 is outdated when compared to Windows 7. And the vintage hard-angled visual design of Windows 10 belongs in the 80s, and so is outdated. Also the lack of games compatibility at launch for Windows 10 is extremely outdated next to Windows 7, which runs pretty much everything (more than both Windows 8 and 10).

So the most that can be said regarding differences in packages between 7 and 10 is that there are trade-offs - seemingly with most of the benefit at this time residing with Windows 7. If not for direct X12 and the free upgrade offer, Windows 10 might've been destined to flop like Windows 8.

There are other good things about Windows 10, but nothing amazing or revolutionary, and nothing that would particularly warrant losing the compatibility and other assets of Windows 7.

I'm going to dual boot Windows 7 and 10. I hope Windows 10 becomes the best Windows OS, but at launch the OS is all about the free upgrade offer, and directX 12. The rest is like mere curtains hanging in a house for sale. And much of it is designed to accommodate the seller, Microsoft, and not the buyer, who is every end user.

Delicieuxz · 09 Jul 2015

Geneo said:

I don't know if anybody mentioned this, but besides DX12, you will get support for all new technologies that may not be available in older windows versions. For instance, Windows 7 doesn't support UASP for USB 3.0 storage devices. You won't see support for USB 3.1 (at least for Windows 7 I bet). For new processor architectures new features will not be supported. As far as future technologies, older Windows are more than likely a dead end.

Isn't all that stuff dependent upon the motherboard manufacturer, who supplies the chipset drivers for their board, and also things like USB 3 drivers? Maybe Windows 10 just has native drivers, though I'd expect motherboard manufacturers to continue to supply their own drivers for those things, as they already do.

CountMike · 09 Jul 2015

Actually, biggest W10 selling point is interoperability with various devices and planed ability to run same Apps on all of them. Speaking of Apps, that's a part that differentiate from W7 too. Win7 is far from obsolete system but good part of new features will be available on 10 only. Personally, I don't see why should I use 7 when I can have W10 free, even if I don't use all of it's features.

Geneo · 09 Jul 2015

Delicieuxz said:

Isn't all that stuff dependent upon the motherboard manufacturer, who supplies the chipset drivers for their board, and also things like USB 3 drivers? Maybe Windows 10 just has native drivers, though I'd expect motherboard manufacturers to continue to supply their own drivers for those things, as they already do.

Not all, there are things like power management features that are integrated in windows. Some new hardware may require Windows 10. Maybe a better example would be Thunderbolt 3, which may require some OS functionality.