Who has jumped to windows 8?

oldjeep

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I was interested in the new tablet from MS, until I got to play with one!

I'm still interested in the Surface Pro - sort of. If I get one for free I'd be happy to use it, but unless they get the price down to what the Surface RT sells for I would never buy one myself. The smaller form factor isn't worth the price premium that it is going to carry over a regular laptop.
 

colbyt

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

XP was the only windows package that I was satisfied with. I stay away from any new releases until most of the bugs come out.

+1. Amen! or whatever. Since support for XP is finally ending soon, I purchased two copies of windows 7 sp1 this weekend to upgrade the computers here at home. I have no touch screens or any need for software that can use them.
 

oldjeep

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

+1. Amen! or whatever. Since support for XP is finally ending soon, I purchased two copies of windows 7 sp1 this weekend to upgrade the computers here at home. I have no touch screens or any need for software that can use them.

Out of curiosity what did you pay for those upgrades? My main reason for upgrading the one machine I had to pay for was that the Win8 upgrade was $39 and to upgrade it to Win 7 would have cost me around $100
 

SWD

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

Just now thinking about upgrading from XP to Win 7.
 

MTboatguy

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I can downgrade anytime I want, I have a 23 in 1 copy of all the versions of windows 7 and I still have 2 OEM XP pro discs that I purchased a volume license on when I was building computers on the side, my 23 in 1 windows 7 disc is also a volume licensed disc.
 

colbyt

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

Out of curiosity what did you pay for those upgrades? My main reason for upgrading the one machine I had to pay for was that the Win8 upgrade was $39 and to upgrade it to Win 7 would have cost me around $100

I bought full versions for each machine and paid $84 each free shipping. I admit that the $39 download offer was enticing but sometimes after listening to advice you have to do what you think is best. BTW, I skipped ME and I had a free upgrade coming. :)
 

halfmoa

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

Windows Surface works great for entertainment as well...like crashing during your press release.


Give me a stable OS like 7 and I'll be there in a heartbeat.
 

beardeddone

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

There really wasn't and isn't anything wrong with XP, Microsoft literally screwed us on the release of Windows 7 and now 8 which does make sense for touch screen use, I have yet to see anything that requires the use of win 7 for 64 bit usage and the only thing that was really needed for XP was the ability to use all the memory installed in one's system, and win 7 is not upgradable in any respect and if you want to use win 7 over XP you need to do a complete re-install as the so called upgrades only use the previous product id key for verification purposes and any software that was registered for XP use will need to re-installed and re-registered for win 7, I can't see that windows 7 runs any better or worse then XP did and wasn't needed except for Microsoft to make millions of dollars off of it, I personally feel that with the invent of cell capabilities that win 8 will be a flop as laptops have just about seen there usefulness and are just about not needed especially for the younger generation as you can't pry the phones out of there hands...Here I go rambling again..
 

PiratePast40

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I had to buy a new desktop just before Windows 8 came out and can get the upgrade for free. The responses here have been rather confusing so I'd have to ask if anyone sees any advantage to it after the interface issue is resolved. My new desktop isn't touchscreen and frankly, I'm not sure why I would need that anyway for spreadsheets and word docs.
 

MH Hawker

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

7 works fine, 8 not so much. MS is like ever other corp trying to milk a cash cow.
 

MTboatguy

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I had to buy a new desktop just before Windows 8 came out and can get the upgrade for free. The responses here have been rather confusing so I'd have to ask if anyone sees any advantage to it after the interface issue is resolved. My new desktop isn't touchscreen and frankly, I'm not sure why I would need that anyway for spreadsheets and word docs.

If it has 7 on it, I would stick with 7.

Is the upgrade they are offering a download or are they going to give you a disc, if they are going to give you a disc, I would take it, keep it safe and continue to work with 7 until the fur stops flying and see what MS is going to do after the holidays, I know they won't change anything until the selling season is over.
 

PiratePast40

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

It's the download. Won't cost anything to download it and make a copy if I decide to install it later.
 

MTboatguy

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

It's the download. Won't cost anything to download it and make a copy if I decide to install it later.

You can download the .ISO file and burn to a DVD, then if you decide to install, that will work fine, that is what I would do, but I would still stay with 7 until everything gets worked out, that way, if you decide to upgrade, you will be able to download all of the updates for it as well.
 

halfmoa

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I can't see that windows 7 runs any better or worse then XP did and wasn't needed except for Microsoft to make millions of dollars off of it,

I agree. I loved XP and we actually still use it at work on everything but the servers.
 

matt167

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I still run XP, and my desktop is not that old ( built it under 2yrs ago ). Hard to let go of it, but 2001-2013 ( 2001-2009 full support ) is a great run for an operating system. I will upgrade to 7 before all Support and updates for XP end in April
 

RogersJetboat454

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

There really wasn't and isn't anything wrong with XP

I agree, there really wasn't much wrong with XP after years of refinement. But it does have it's limitations when playing with newer hardware and software.

Microsoft literally screwed us on the release of Windows 7 and now 8
I really don't see how Microsoft "Screwed" anybody, with Windows 7 in particular. Vista was a PITA, but 7 is a fine working OS. In-fact, after trying 7 for a month or so when it came equipped on a laptop I purchased, I "screwed" myself and installed 7 64 bit on my desktop that was formerly running an OEM version of XP. :D

Windows 8 I haven't played with, and looking at video and reviews doesn't sound like my cup of tea. If enough backlash happens with 8 (like it did with Vista), I would imagine changes for the better would be made in either service packs or Windows 9.


I have yet to see anything that requires the use of win 7 for 64 bit usage

If you use your computer for surfing the Internet, or running spreadsheets in Excel, a 32 bit OS is fine. That is why Windows 7 is also offered in a 32 bit format if you want. If you like your PC to do gaming, work related stuff like CAD, or run some of the other memory intensive software out there, you can't beat a 64 bit OS.
XP came in a 64 bit flavor, but was an afterthought. Many of the hardware manufacturers didn't offer drivers for XP Pro 64.

and the only thing that was really needed for XP was the ability to use all the memory installed in one's system

Yep, an XP 32 bit system will typically only show 3.12 gigs of ram when the max of 4 is installed (the rest of that last full gig being set aside for other hardware). Even if you could get that extra .88 gigs of RAM back, how much faster is your computer going to be? With modern multi-core processors, a PC thats limited to 4GB (thanks to a 32 bit system only having so many address lines) is going to have a serious bottle neck in the memory department.


win 7 is not upgradable in any respect and if you want to use win 7 over XP you need to do a complete re-install as the so called upgrades only use the previous product id key for verification purposes and any software that was registered for XP use will need to re-installed and re-registered for win 7

Yep... did that, believe it was worth it.

I can't see that windows 7 runs any better or worse then XP did and wasn't needed except for Microsoft to make millions of dollars off of it, I personally feel that with the invent of cell capabilities that win 8 will be a flop as laptops have just about seen there usefulness and are just about not needed especially for the younger generation as you can't pry the phones out of there hands...

Personally, I think 7 is just smoother than XP, especially on a newer machine with newer hardware.
But that's just my opinion....

Microsoft is like any of its competition; a corporation that wants to make billions, and keep making billions. In order to do so, it has to advance it's software to keep up with industry changes, innovations, and user demands. Or it dies.... You can't honestly expect them to do this if they were still pedaling XP, which was released 11 years ago when computers were built just a little bit different than they are now....
 

colbyt

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

I still run XP, and my desktop is not that old ( built it under 2yrs ago ). Hard to let go of it, but 2001-2013 ( 2001-2009 full support ) is a great run for an operating system. I will upgrade to 7 before all Support and updates for XP end in April

Don't make the same mistake I just did. Support ends April 8, 2014.
 

oldjeep

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

and win 7 is not upgradable in any respect and if you want to use win 7 over XP you need to do a complete re-install as the so called upgrades only use the previous product id key for verification purposes and any software that was registered for XP use will need to re-installed and re-registered for win 7

That is not exactly true. What you need to do is upgrade to Vista first and then run the Win 7 upgrade. The same is true of going from Vista to Win 8 - you just need to install the intermediate product first(Win 7).
 

waterinthefuel

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

There really wasn't and isn't anything wrong with XP, Microsoft literally screwed us on the release of Windows 7 and now 8 which does make sense for touch screen use, I have yet to see anything that requires the use of win 7 for 64 bit usage and the only thing that was really needed for XP was the ability to use all the memory installed in one's system, and win 7 is not upgradable in any respect and if you want to use win 7 over XP you need to do a complete re-install as the so called upgrades only use the previous product id key for verification purposes and any software that was registered for XP use will need to re-installed and re-registered for win 7, I can't see that windows 7 runs any better or worse then XP did and wasn't needed except for Microsoft to make millions of dollars off of it, I personally feel that with the invent of cell capabilities that win 8 will be a flop as laptops have just about seen there usefulness and are just about not needed especially for the younger generation as you can't pry the phones out of there hands...Here I go rambling again..

I'm curious to know if you were having issues with the "." key on your keyboard. You literally typed one of the longest sentences on the planet.
 

FastFission

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Re: Who has jumped to windows 8?

+1 on pretty much everything that RogersJetboat454 says.

I loaded Windows 8 over the weekend on my Windows 7 64 bit laptop. It's about two years old but does have an early dual touch screen.

I'm kind of on the fence about whether I prefer the touch interface, but it does work pretty well. I think that it should be a pretty decent interface for someone with a tablet. I think the version of the Surface with the full Windows 8 Pro would be a pretty nice machine. Admittedly, tablets aren't for everyone, but I've seen some real neat applications. One that I've seen for the Ipad is a digital aviation sectional that integrates with the on-board GPS. I can imagine similar applications for boats.

I do like the speed of the new OS. Internet explorer is WAY faster, at least subjectively. Opening the I-boats site takes about three seconds for me, even with all the ads. I don't like the way the touch version of internet explorer handles favorites, but if you load from the desktop the interface is almost identical to Windows 7. In the touch interface, many of the functions that used to be on the start bar are now on the "charm bar" (kind of a silly name). The Metro apps (I'm sorry, but I find the "Modern Interface" name a bit pretentious) rely on the charm bar for settings, and you need to use the search function to find things like the control panel, but I didn't find that hard once I figured it out. My biggest issue with the Metro interface is that you only have one window visible at a time. That is probably a reasonable simplification for a tablet, but it doesn't work that well for a lot of the things I do on my laptop. Luckily, the desktop application fixes all that.

If you don't like the touch interface, it's a single click to open the desktop, which is identical to the Windows 7 interface except for the start button. I do miss that functionality, but there are a couple of open source replacements which essentially restore it. I decided to give the new interface a try first before I put the start button back.

I really haven't run into any big issues with the OS. The biggest problem I have is that the current drivers for my touchscreen are a bit flakey, so I'm using it as a single touch screen right now. That appears to be a driver issue rather than an OS issue. So far, the speed boost and some of the security improvements are worth the upgrade to me. I do have a personal fondness for fiddling with new things, so I may not be representative. I would say that unless you like learning new ways of doing things, and if you don't have a touch screen, the benefits may not be worth it to you. There is a bit of a learning curve to the metro interface.

My 2 cents...
 
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