Windows 8 = Same as Windows 7 but a bit faster and a new start menu.
All the fuss is over nothing....
Hopefully Linux support becomes better.
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Linux is a good OS too, as my friends say when Steam comes to Linux, Microsoft will go to **, after using Mac I disliked Windows, if games are made for Mac they work perfectly too, and about Linux operative systems I didn't had any good experience, but as people say is very good but the bad thing is little support from all the world.
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I doubt this will happen.
Linux is too fragmented, lack standards and official support.
Besides, don't expect all games to be ported. Windows and Xbox use DirectX. This makes it difficult to port all games to Linux. And add this to the fact that Nvidia and AMD (despite AMD being an official Linux supporter) don't bother offering much support.
Hell, not even companies that deliver their laptops with Linux don't offer Linux support.
Don't get me wrong, Linux is a good OS with major advantages over Windows and OS X and it's here to stay but it will hardly reach the casual users that lack even the basic computer knowledge or that have better things to do than to search the web to get the things done.
And don't count on the fact that if Valve gets Steam on Linux and other companies get involved things will change. Just take a look at how many companies are supporting Linux now. Even MS is contributing (even if it does this to expand its services, it's still a contribution) and nothing changed.
The problem is that the best Linux distros out there belong to companies that also have an enterprise edition and all their attention is directed to those editions because that's where the money come from.
And to get support for enterprise editions you have to pay.
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I just got a Windows 8 tablet. (Asus Taichi before you ask.)
The changes are far more than the speed and start menu. Many of them are great. But the chopping up of the start menu's functionality has left an unholy mess of an interface behind. If you get a start menu program like Classic Shell or Start8 it' becomes far less of an issue, but it doesn't completely alleviate the annoyances of the OS.
Windows 8 is good if a) you tool the fuck out of it and b) you have hardware that can take advantage of the touch features. Otherwise the OS is completely pointless and you'd be better off with Win7 or Linux.
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What functionality is no longer in the start menu?
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None.
Also what one finds annoying another will find better or more functional.
Opinions.
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Still, it would have been better for everyone involved if Microsoft allowed the option between the traditional start menu and the new start screen. Besides the automatic convenient sorting of programs, I'm not aware of any functionality the new interface lacks, but the functionality has been spread all over the place. To open programs takes more steps and more time, the most obvious control panel link is accessed via charms instead of start, shut-down and logoff are in completely different places, etc. This isn't so bad on a tablet device (the charms bar is great for tablets, though it could still be far better), and it becomes far less of an issue once you're actually done setting up your system after installation, but I was incredibly frustrated with the whole OS until I installed Start8, and I still don't see how the design benefits desktop users.
It doesn't help that the metro interface is utter shit for multitasking, available apps are both sparse and generally lacking in quality (and the store is buggy as hell, not to mention abysmally designed), and half the time if you're not using a start menu program you'll just be bouncing into the start screen only to be bumped back into the desktop for whatever you opened. It's basically an unsightly tumor on the operating system and I still have no idea why they thought it was a good idea. I can even declare that it's not even a good tablet environment compared to the normal desktop with touch+stylus input. All they'd need to do was improve the text input panel by reintroducing input prompts and smaller/cleaner interface the pen-input panel much like Win7 had, and figure out a way to allow the user to smoothly scale up old program interfaces for high-density screens*, and modify the charms bar to allow start-menu-style programs browsing and you'd basically have a perfect productive tablet OS.
I'm not enthused with the way Win8 turned out. The pains can be alleviated for the most part, but I'm reminded of how Vista turned out: an experiment that turned out bad. Still, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and if Microsoft hasn't gone completely pants-on-head retarded I think Windows 9 will probably turn out great in the same way Win7 improved on Vista.
*1920x1080 in 11.6 inches takes a lot of getting used to and no small amount of finesse and customization.
TL:DR version: Opinions they may be, but it's my opinion that Win8 fixed what wasn't broken.
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Vista was fine after the first major update. Anyways, I prefer the start menu, I am not the only one btw...
"Win8 fixed what wasn't broken."
It changed some things, some may like it, others can re-install 7. The folder options and speed increases are always welcome, 7 was lacking but people are to aboard the hate bandwagon to even see straight. I am not even a Windows fan honestly, I much much prefer Linux...but I am not going to lie to myself. I hope Windows dies out in the future, its always gonna be a mess but at least this mess is a little better in my eyes...thats all we can hope for from M$.
Windows 8 start menu > 7's messy menu.
Windows needed a start menu change, comparing 7 and belows start menu to something found on a Linux OS is a downright shame, maybe they could have taken another approach but this is a hell of a lot neater and better Imo.
Took a couple hours to adjust and I was golden, nothing seems to take longer to do...at least for me, maybe it differs for others.
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Well it's obvious we're on completely opposite viewpoints if it's your opinion that the Win7 start menu was 'messy'. I maintain and may always maintain that it was a more elegant interface from a more civilized OS.
Granted I haven't even managed to get a proper look at a modern Linux interface in yonks. My dad got a linux machine recently but unfortunately he wiped it and put 7 on it. What I saw though seemed to offer hints of genuine genius.
Also Vista was usable after the first Service Pack, but I still maintained there was little reason to jump to Vista from XP. Windows 7 on the other hand was a substantial update to both, and was well worth adopting at launch. But again, opinions.
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Yup, they are opinions after all and I know some will dislike 8, but I say most should give a it a decent shot, I see many people just saying its bad for the sake of saying its bad. Some seem to deem it the next plague it seems. Yeah Linux is very nice when it comes to its menu system.
Use what you enjoy I say. :-D
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Be careful. The dell doesn't come with a stylus digitizer, don't remember the deal with the lifebook. You may be liable to tear out your hair if you don't have the benefit of a proper, precise pen input.
I suggest looking up the Sony Duo 11 or the Samsung Smart PC Pro.
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Linux support becomes better? Like, more self-help forums with more topics about same-problem-not-exactly-same-distro-useless-solution will open? ^^
On Windows or Mac, stuff just works, or I can get official support to help me, or failing that I still have the only option Linux has (forums) - without hundred distro fragmentation problem, of course, and most importantly, manufacturers actually make drivers for my stuff, unlike Linux users having to get by with generic drivers failing to use most potential of given device.
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+1
Linux will never see widespread adoption as long as it's the cluttered mess it is today. Technically inclined people have trouble with it, and for non-technical people it's simply a nightmare.
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Honestly Dvorak I wish was standard, its better on the hands(In other words less likely to develop carpel tunnel and such like I have WOOO).
It should have been changed back to Dvorak, but alas....it never happened.
I might eventually get one....just because I like trying everything and better for me.
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Its not a nightmare for non tec people.
My Mom uses it and finds it easier then Windows(Less issues) and I had to show her how to drag files to another folder once....so you're wrong, it use to be for technical people, now its fine for the average joe.
Hell isn't that Ubuntus slogan or whatever, its ease of use?
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My grandma uses Ubuntu. It's much easier for her than either mac or windows.
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Have you tried Steam on linux? It is great! everything is gonna be ported over there because Gaben doesn't like Windows 8. Linux is gonna become the gaming platform of choice. :D At least I hope. I am a linux fan and Its upsetting that most the games I want have to run on windows. It's not too big of a deal of course but the fact that Steam is coming over to linux because of windows 8 hate is pretty much great for me!
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Yea, it works fine but not many games.
Even if the 8 hate is unjustified I would like to rid of Windows and use Linux all the time,s o lets hope.
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my high school is half and half. For computer classes, it's pc. For library, teachers, and like digital media classes, it's mac. lolz
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eugh my college said they are going to replace all of the media PC's with macs, there are currently only 30% macs and everyone hates using them
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My school actually upgraded to Windows 7 a few weeks ago.
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Really Xd, I'm in Spain so here with all our "lovely" government this won't happen, but I saw in some big stores, from big companies, they already have i5 or i7, and employees use PC less than 5 min a day. So they need i5 and i7 for nothing, and schools when need an upgrade more than they don't have it, it's pretty sad.
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My high school was Dell specific, minus a few iPads being used by teachers. However, I also went to tech school for half the day, and we used Macs in the class I was in (Graphic Design) The rest of the tech school used Dell computers as well. I've never seen, heard of, or been in a Mac specific school, the products are too over priced to be used as general work machines, and they have a tendancy to crash if you open up more than like 2 programs that have a decent resource need.
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Schools use Windows XP( that is pretty old) or Linux free OSs, never saw Macs XD. I think schools and universities will buy the OS that is cheaper, like happened on my when I was there, they changed half of PCs from Windows XP to Linux specially designed to a zone where I live, and this system was free.
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My middle school had only one room with any computers in it, and they were all Macs that must have been at least ten years old. I swear, these things would run Flash games at 10FPS (and these were flash games from a few years ago, so there were even fewer large Flash games back then). However, my high school was 100% PC. The only Apple products were ones owned personally by the teachers, i.e., the teachers who had an iPhone or who used an iPad to manage class material. They all ran XP Service Pack 3.
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McDonald's is a really great gourmet restaurant. At least that's what I heard, so it must be true.
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i personally hate working with macs i also see them as expensive piles of junk since if you know what your doing you can build a pc better at design that dosent stop design company's selling out for macs for some reason.
i dislike windows 8 because during beta they did not think to give people a start menu
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Only if you don't take care of your windows machine. I've had my laptop for almost three years and I wouldn't notice much lag from it. A reinstall of windows usually sorts out the lag that XP was known for getting.
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you an can easily run Linux even the mac os on a pc
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Windows 8 is great... as long as you don't use it on a PC.
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People develop for Windows because its more widely used and the 80/20 problem. If remaking a game for mac or linux takes as much effort as making the windows version (which it wouldnt but im nice), and they gain maybe 10% more, its not as profitable. Also: only dev for windows - people who want game get windows - available market grows.
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Like Windows Vista, it is a stepping stone based upon another Operating System... designed for the noobie in mind, taking all real control away from the user. It's full of faults, glitchs, navigation problems and bugs - which some will be ironed out in time. However, if you don't have touch screen or a tablet, I personally will throw it out the window if it was given to me freely (which microsoft has already done).
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there's a bunch of programs that gives you a "normal" or customized startmenu if you don't like the win8 look, so that should'nt be a problem.I'ts faster than win7,but still have compatability issues with some programs and games(last i checked,anyway)
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no THE OS F***KING SUCKS (tosses it in the gar-bitch) WINDOWS VISTA SUCKS (tosses it) AND OH WINDOWS 2000/ME (tosses it) THAT ALSO SUCKS
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Gabe is not necessarily hating on the operating system, but on Microsoft's philosophy. It's difficult to prove, but developers have postulated (partly based on code found in Windows 8, partly based on Microsoft's history) that Microsoft's strategy will shift from being open (as it is now, which granted it a virtual monopoly in the computer gaming market) to being far more closed: they will use their power to restrict access to squeeze maximal profits from developers, publishers, and consumers.
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But it won't be fewer games on Windows, it'll be more games ONLY on Windows: they'll leave publishers with two choices - (1) Develop for Microsoft and succumb to their restrictions on platforms, i.e. will only be released for Windows; or (2) Rebuke Microsoft and miss out on the hundreds of millions of potential customers who use Windows for gaming...
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win 8 I strongly suggest not taking it.
Win 7 is better in so many ways.
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Yes it does, you just like those features better then the ones in Windows 8.
Stop it.
The only OS that doesn't really force features is one thats Linux based...
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There was also 'microsoft glitches' in the beta version, trial version, as well as the Win8 Media... which all enabled you to get a copy of the full version of Win 8 for free (legally activated with updated, etc) for life (no limitations). So many, so people considered Microsoft or their employees planted them there on purpose just to increase the convertion of users to Win 8! I had the chance to score Win 8 for free at least 5 times, tried with a friend's pc, hated it's design+navigation+metro+useless features, and ignored the free upgrade offers for Win 7.
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Get Windows 8. Then get the Classic Shell third-party program. It brings the start menu back, and gives you the option to disable all the Metro UI bullshit. Which turns it back into Win7 but faster and with a few nicer features. I don't get the Win8 hate either, except from people who can't use Google and can't find a start menu replacement.
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you tell me. Win8 outscores Win7 in speed in nearly every test (including the fact that it boots up more than twice as fast). Nice features include a more useful task manager, faster computer search, better context menu, Multi-monitor support, and the aesthetics of the new scroll bars and folder view look better (although this one is just opinion, really).
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This might actually work, plus ripping out all the bloatware as well, hacking out the major security holes from the alway on internet connection for the crappy weather app, etc, removing the payment app store, plus more... seems a lot of effort thou?
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All those third-party start menu programs just hide the Modern UI and it's still running in the background. Only using the explorer.exe from Win 7 really disables the Modern UI, but it also breaks other stuff.
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Windows 8 is the first step towards a closed platform, where instead of independently distributed software and the promotion of freedom/creativity... everything is an "app" that is officially accepted, monitored by and sold by Microsoft. Like a smartphone or a tablet. You know that's ultimately what they want at the end.
This kind of stuff is easily avoided by ignoring the whole MetroUI interface, and from a technical standpoint Windows 8 is a much better OS than Windows 7... but it's the first step down a dark path should this idea become the standard.
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Exactly. The MetroUI interface is the only thing I don't like about Windows 8. It's not quite as user-friendly as Windows 7s setup. That said, the only other problems I've had with Windows 8 have been crashing on Battlefield Bad Company 2 (which may have been related more to my graphics card and was fixed with a simple driver update) and the crashing problem with Hotline Miami which they seem to have almost completely fixed with the most recent update.
I liked the look of the whole W7 Aero deal but W8 runs faster without it.
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I agree. Though it's not really a matter of user-friendliness (for me at least). It's just the idea of the MetroUI slowly taking over the traditional desktop in future iterations of Windows... until every application (sorry, "app") you use on your PC is downloaded/bought directly from Microsoft.
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Got my daughter a laptop that came with Win 8 on it - it is not touch based, so it sucks with that OS on it. As someone noted earlier in this thread, you need to mod the hell out of it to remove the UI issues. Is it speedier, sure for most things, but honestly outside of quicker start times for apps and faster boots, that speed isn't going to impress anyone much if other core functions still perform like crap - their "App Store" sucks for a lot of things, especially when you come across things that aren't supported yet, the Task Manager is a bit of a crap shoot if you ask me (way dumbed down), and a host of other issues. Also, most businesses are one or two iterations behind on operating systems, so there won't be any rush to move to this - especially since it is primarily designed for touchscreens and the next version of Office is likely to be cloud-based - both bad decisions on M$'s part if you ask me, as they seem completely out of touch with consumers, but that isn't exactly new either (WinME, WinVista, WinNT 3)...
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code.google.com/p/power8/
app store is great, you wont need majority of apps on thier store, you can still downlod programs normally, you know.
taks manager is actually a lot better than 7, allows you more control over apps, and gives more insight on how unning processes are affecting your computer.
office has been cloud based since 2010, it just wasnt an integral part of the program.
i use 8, and i dont have a touchscreen, its the same as 7, just a different look.
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It's got a ton of improvements. Metro UI can be completely bypassed/ignored if it's not your style. The rest of the changes/upgrades are completely worthwhile.
I had a paid copy of Windows 7 ultimate, and upgraded to Windows 8 Pro willingly.
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What improvements?
From my experience, the only improvement was desktop rendering. Windows 8 has a slightly snappier desktop.
But I don't play around with my desktop. I use applications. In an application, I prefer 7 over 8's overhead.
I'm not saying 8 is terrible, I'm saying it's not an improvement.
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"Win8 outscores Win7 in speed in nearly every test (including the fact that it boots up more than twice as fast). Nice features include a more useful task manager, faster computer search, better context menu, Multi-monitor support, and the aesthetics of the new scroll bars and folder view look better (although this one is just opinion, really)."
-me, 4 posts down
That said, I only paid $15 for my copy, and I probably wouldn't pay much more than that if you already own 7. It's not a giant difference, but it is certainly noticible
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Are you booting up constantly? No? Then why would those 20 extra seconds matter?
I'm really asking. If boot speed is a selling point for an OS, even if it's an improvement what I'm hearing is that there aren't a lot of OTHER more important selling points to talk about.
How is multi-monitor support a selling point? Does Win7 have bad multi-monitor support? No, it works fine. All of my Win7 machines have multiple monitors. The Win8 box I play with only has one monitor, so whatever the difference is, I haven't had a chance to experience it yet.
Faster computer search? I use the Everything app, which is essentially instant, and faster than anything built into Win8. This brings me to a lot of other improvements:
That's one of my favorite things about Windows in general (compared to Linux/OSX/BSD), there are usually free fully-functional user-friendly apps for whatever functionality you desire. Linux often has free fully-functional apps that are not user-friendly. OSX often has fully-functional user-friendly apps that are not free. BSD.... BSD doesn't have a lot.
Win8 bundled apps are possibly better than Win7 bundled apps. But it doesn't matter, because bundled apps are not what I look for in an OS. I wouldn't want to put up with Win8's other headaches just because the task manager is more functional.
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This.
Windows is an absolute WORKHORSE of a system. There's a reason it's so used, and it's NOT because it's installed on most systems. There's OPTIONS out there. Windows happens to be the superior choice for normal day-to-day computing and gaming.
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Windows 8 is Windows 8, but Windows 7 is Windows 7.
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I see so much hate on Windows 8, for example from Gabe Newell (head of Valve), I see is a good system as a lot of ppl say, but the design is made for tablets and touch PCs I think, I'm not a Windows fan, because I'm using Mac, I consider Windows only as a gaming platform, if game devs would stop making games for Windows I won't use it anymore for example and A LOT of people too!!! So Microsoft will lose money.
Now I like to buy a Windows to play games that I can't now, but I will keep my Mac for normal computer use because I really consider that Windows is only valid to play games and nothing more. So now I can't decide if get Windows 7 or get Windows 8 now.....what should I do? since Gabe hated Windows 8......maybe only because Xbox Live is making competition to Valve( like some rumors say), but really Windows is overused.
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