Hey guys, finally thinking about updating from 7 to 8.1 is it worth it? I have had a look on the internet but I would rather have an input from people who are using it daily rather than just for the sake of a review. Any advantages or disadvantages? Of course I would want my start bar etc back what is the best way to go about this? I was told by a friend to use Stardocks Start8 and Stardocks ModernMix. Is this the best option? Thank you in advance Luke
Just use classic shell and untick internet explorer and explorer on install. Gives a perfect start menu for free. Otherwise the main advantage i found was faster boot times and now better performance in games though only marginally.
I have been using 8.1 for a long time now and cannot go back to Windows 7. I don't use a Start Menu replacement tool since I just pin everything that I mainly use to the Taskbar or a desktop shortcut. I like the speed at which Windows 8.1 boots in to Windows, it is currently taking around 3.8 seconds according to the Task Manager, but I might have to time it.
Stick with 7. I like 8 a lot, but i also prefer the start screen to the w7 start menu. Removing that, the only day to day benefits i see is the ability to load iso file. Sure it'll start faster, but not massively so if you don't have UEFI, and even then i believe you have to install it correctly - all from when i remember modd1uk doing it. Now i paid £30 for W8, if you're paying something similar I'd consider it. If you're paying near to £100, i wouldn't bother. 7 is perfectly capable, and W9, iirc, is due out in 2015 with a start menu that will probably be more to you liking. If you do decide to get it, I'd say try it with no menu replacement for a bit, and then go with classic shell if you don't like it.
I'd stick with 7 in your position, unless you really need something only Win8 can offer. The efficiency gains would be appreciated, but £100 is a lot for a faster boot time...
8.1 is lightening to boot. I don’t use the honking start interface thing. Just pin everything on to desktop and desktop shortcuts. I reckon i prefer 7 but 8 feel really quick and lean and upgrading is not as bad as people make out. If your on 7 just stay there if you like it.
There is very little between Windows 8(.1) and Windows 7 in terms of performance since they both perform almost identically to each other. For me I just prefer Windows 8.1 as it actually boots stupidly fast, uses my 3930k better and to be honest it's quicker to install as there are not as many updates to install.
IMHO anyone using it daily will tell you it's great, the best thing since sliced bread. After all they wouldn't be using it if they didn't would they ? "Any advantages or disadvantages?" Yes lots, but that depends entirely on how, or what someone uses their PC for. E.g if you're constantly rebooting, and/or shutting down and starting up you'll appreciate the faster boot up time. If on the other hand you value storage space more than faster boot times you may not want to give up the drive space that's needed for this "feature"
It runs faster if your gaming its 5-10% free performance. If you don't like the UI you can disable it.( I did) For the cost I paid which was around £30 or something for it on launch it does what it does. Choice between windows 7 and 8.1 at full price is a bit more difficult I'd imagine.
Newer systems will benefit more than older ones, motherboard support is key for certain features... Though even on my aging BIOS-based rig it was still notiacbly quicker to boot than 7... It's quicker to boot, and has some under the hood tweaks... The Start screen/metro are [imo] a matter of personal preference, but they are easily worked around/avoided if you in the 'it annoys me' camp... Thinks to consider - Secureboot *will* screw over a dual-boot system, so if you plan to boot another OS on 8.x is installed, even if only a linux live disk you'll probably need to turn it off if only temporarily to do so... Never used any of them as the start screen doesn't bother me, i'd give it a whirl without [a week or so at least], if it still bugs you then try one of the 'start replacers' or whatever they call themselves...
I have one computer that runs Windows 8 and since the update to 8.1 I have started to think that it probably is better now. My opinion is in the ways it was inferior to 7 it is now better/as good as/or sufficiently close enough to merit just choosing it for a new build compared to 7. With a bit of training the childish ui and usability features can now be easily ignored (or otherwise are helpful when you do not need to do proper tweaking. I think since it started booting to my desktop instead of surface I was a lot happier.
You asked if it's worth upgrading, and if you don't already have access to a license I'd have to say no, Windows 7 is still perfectly fine and 8 doesn't offer any huge must-have headline features. What it does give you is a ton of small improvements here and there. However I've been using my windows 8 license since 8.1 came out and I could not be happier. If you fiddle around for a couple of minutes you'll end up with an improved Win7 with none of the nonsense that's been putting people off. You can set it up so it boots you straight to the desktop. Do not buy into a start menu replacement. The only thing the Start screen actually lacks compared to Win7 is the shut down button, but you can still get to the window with all the shutdown options. The new task manager is awesome, tons of little quality of life improvements elsewhere (you can open a disk image file as if it was mounted, it supports dual screen wallpapers natively, if you use your Microsoft account to log in it'll carry a lot of your customization between computers) The only gripe I have with it is that the "hey I'm gonna restart for updates in 15 minutes" no longer has an option to postpone, but I suspect there's a registry setting or workaround for that somewhere.
Do your updates man! 8.1 Update 1 introduced power buttons to the start screen and a few other things as well such as minimize and close buttons on Modern UI apps.
I've become quite used to 8.1 and 7 seems like a relic from a bygone era to me. If you're not sure 8.1 worth the money, then don't pay for it right now. Go grab the enterprise trial and install that which will give you 180 days (90+90 rearm) to decide. I would also agree that start menu replacements are unneeded. The new start screen is amazing if you take a few minutes to organize things. I also pin all my most frequently used things to the taskbar as well since I find pressing win+number quite convenient. Whether 8.1 is much faster than 7... but it feels faster. It's definitely lighter on resource usage, and especially on disk space which could be important if you still happen to use a smaller ssd.
I've been using Windows 8 since it came out and have not looked back. I updated to 8.1 immediately it come out and it was a great improvement. I for one was glad they did not bring back the Start button. I do not miss it one bit. I have Windows 7 running on as a VM, and I just think it looks so dated. My advice would be to take the plunge, it seems that this is the way that Microsoft us going, and it will not go back on a unified UI across all its devices. Therefore, Metro is here to stay, like it or loathe it. I love it. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
